Tailgate strength

[branch906]

Stock spare wheel & tire: +/- 70 lbs

Aftermarket wheel & tire: +/- 135 lbs

I've seen conflicting threads stating the tailgate is strong enough to hold 35's and others stating 85 lbs total weight??

is the tailgate reinforcement kit required? The ones I've looked at don't seem to reinforce the hinges?? I'm not the smartest man on the planet but it would seem to me that the weak point would be the hinges (with the tailgate open).

I would be curious to know if anyone is running a larger tire on the rear without the reinforcement kit? and if you see sagging or cracking, etc...

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[old8tora]

Stock spare wheel & tire: +/- 70 lbs

Aftermarket wheel & tire: +/- 135 lbs

I've seen conflicting threads stating the tailgate is strong enough to hold 35's and others stating 85 lbs total weight??

is the tailgate reinforcement kit required? The ones I've looked at don't seem to reinforce the hinges?? I'm not the smartest man on the planet but it would seem to me that the weak point would be the hinges (with the tailgate open).

I would be curious to know if anyone is running a larger tire on the rear without the reinforcement kit? and if you see sagging or cracking, etc...

There are heavy-duty tubular spare tire gates to be mounted , and swung out , separately from the tailgate . Better get one and have it installed .

When you lift up your aftermarket wheel and tire , be sure to buy hernia insurance .

 

[Goin2drt]

I went to Rebel offload last week. They said they have had a 35" beadlock and beat the Jeep up pretty good at EJS and no issues at all with no reinforcement bracket. Purely unscientific as he did not know the total weight of the wheel/tire and also assume each could be a little different.

 

[old8tora]

I went to Rebel offload last week. They said they have had a 35" beadlock and beat the Jeep up pretty good at EJS and no issues at all with no reinforcement bracket. Purely unscientific as he did not know the total weight of the wheel/tire and also assume each could be a little different.

You are gonna want a heavy-duty spare tire carrier , mounted separate from your tailgate , and also a buddy to help you lift the 135 pound spare wheel and tire .

 

[branch906]

The wheels are dam heavy, that's for sure. This heavy duty tire carrier mounted separate, does it require new bumpers? I really wasn't wanting to add a lot of additional weight (i.e. steel bumpers, winch, etc....) I'll look around and try and find a carrier, hopefully something that works with the back up camera.

Also, not that I think it matters. But I did install a RC relocation bracket for the spare tire. This was prior to understanding the weight of the new tire setup.

 

[old8tora]

The biggest ones also have heavy duty bumpers . Look around on smittybilt , quadratech , etc . Also they range in price from the low to high hundreds .

By the way , nice neighborhood .

 

[branch906]

the wheel/tire in the photo IS THE 135 lb problem.... Got a 5th wheel in the garage waiting on stronger tire carrier.

We love our neighborhood, been here 15 years. Great neighbors, peaceful northern suburbs of Atlanta.

 

[OnlyOne]

Just put the spare on the gate. You won’t hurt it.

 

[mwilk012]

You're looking for the tailgate reinforcement kit. The most likely component to fail here is not the hinges themselves but simply deformation of the tailgate due to the leverage of the tire on its mount.

 

[MacBigButt]

Stock spare wheel & tire: +/- 70 lbs

Aftermarket wheel & tire: +/- 135 lbs

I've seen conflicting threads stating the tailgate is strong enough to hold 35's and others stating 85 lbs total weight??

is the tailgate reinforcement kit required? The ones I've looked at don't seem to reinforce the hinges?? I'm not the smartest man on the planet but it would seem to me that the weak point would be the hinges (with the tailgate open).

I would be curious to know if anyone is running a larger tire on the rear without the reinforcement kit? and if you see sagging or cracking, etc...

As far as I understand it the "85 lbs" over and above the weight of the spare tire. The tailgate is designed to have stuff mounted to it on the inside. Also the spare tire isn't mounted to the skin of the tailgate it is bolted to the inner frame structure.

That said I put the reinforcement kit on. What I've learned is that it does not reinforce the hinge, its adds an interconnect between the inner frame of the tail gate and the hinge. So things bolted to the tailgate reinforcement piece end up being bolted to both the hinge and the inner frame structure of the tail gate. Also adds a place to bolt a jack carrier or fuel carrier to.

 

[crash13]

As far as I understand it the "85 lbs" over and above the weight of the spare tire.

This has also been quoted on Wayoflife forum. He stated that a Jeep rep indicated 85lbs above stock wheel was okay. They had pushed that limit with 37's and never had a problem on gnarly trails.

There are some heated discussions in the comments section, but he is in essence just stating his empirical evidence that it holds up fine.

 

[MacBigButt]

This has also been quoted on Wayoflife forum. He stated that a Jeep rep indicated 85lbs above stock wheel was okay. They had pushed that limit with 37's and never had a problem on gnarly trails.

There are some heated discussions in the comments section, but he is in essence just stating his empirical evidence that it holds up fine.

When I bought the kit I thought it would reinforce the actual hinge, with what I know now I wouldn't have bothered with it.

I'll probably put a rear bumper and frame mounted tire carrier on in the end, but funds are a bit limited for a few months.

 

[branch906]

I put the wheel on the spare tire holder. With the rough country relocation bracket installed, it seems pretty sturdy. I did extend the bump stops per suggestion seen on this forum, turned out nice and I don't see or feel any tire movement from the spare. I think I will still go for the bumper with tire carrier option at a later date. Thanks for the insight, I'm learning a good bit from this forum.

 

[Jeepneck]

I put the wheel on the spare tire holder. With the rough country relocation bracket installed, it seems pretty sturdy. I did extend the bump stops per suggestion seen on this forum, turned out nice and I don't see or feel any tire movement from the spare. I think I will still go for the bumper with tire carrier option at a later date. Thanks for the insight, I'm learning a good bit from this forum.

Do you have a link on how to extend the bump stops? Jessie Lou is about to get new socks and shoes (Fuel Assault 18x9 -12 offset with 285/70/18 Nitto Ridge Grapplers). I'm assuming I'll have to modify the spare tire holder for it to fit...but maybe not?

 

[StevieBuns]

Do you have a link on how to extend the bump stops? Jessie Lou is about to get new socks and shoes (Fuel Assault 18x9 -12 offset with 285/70/18 Nitto Ridge Grapplers). I'm assuming I'll have to modify the spare tire holder for it to fit...but maybe not?

To extend the bump stops I just bought some 1.25” diameter PVC pipe and two “rubber chair feet”. They have these near the rolling wheels section. I just got some black spray paint for them and shoved them into tree existing bump stops to extend them. I’ll try to post a picture when I get a chance. It was pretty simple.

Steve

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