Motobilt tire carrier hinge gap fix

[Hydroboy35th]

Hello, I searched for this and didn’t see anything so I thought I’d add this for anyone else that wants an idea.

The Problem:
The Motobilt spare tire carrier replaces your factory hinges and leaves massive gaps to the body around the new hinge.

The Fix:
To remedy the problem I used expanding foam tape. The tape expands to 1 inch and closes the gap, it’s not 100% waterproof but it should help a lot with keeping water out during the rain and when it gets a bath. It only takes one layer around the hinge hole to close the gap.

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[Hydroboy35th]

The foam tape used.

 

[ShafferNY]

Thank you for sharing! I've been looking for a solution to this on the factory hinges. FCA should house addressed this!

 

[TJP]

Looks good. Did you paint the carrier yourself? How do you like it?

 

[spurly]

I'm planning on getting the Motobilt tire carrier but this does leave me with some concerns.

Living in the midwest where we really like to season our roads in the winter, I feel like this is a major entry point for salt, dust, and mud. I'm sure there's some reason behind the gap to allow for any body twist but it seems a bit larger than necessary. I wonder if @Motobilt could make a cover plate with a rubber/foam gasket to keep it clean.

 

[spurly]

Bump.

Wanting to bring this back to the top to see if anyone else has any ideas or other solutions.

 

[TJP]

Bump.

Wanting to bring this back to the top to see if anyone else has any ideas or other solutions.

Spurly,

I think if you’re worried about rust, you may want to consider another carrier.
I had same worry and went w the Rustys which is e coated and powder coated. E coating is dipped, so it gets the insides.

Rusty’s is also ridiculously overbuilt. I hung a 37” on it and you wouldn’t know the tire was there. There’s a slight gap (not as bad as the mb) but I’m going to use that foam tape... just have to get it.

attached pics so you can see all the reinforcements etc.... they are releasing shovel and ax mount, gas and water can carrier and have a jack mount now.

 

[spurly]

Spurly,

I think if you’re worried about rust, you may want to consider another carrier.
I had same worry and went w the Rustys which is e coated and powder coated. E coating is dipped, so it gets the insides.

Rusty’s is also ridiculously overbuilt. I hung a 37” on it and you wouldn’t know the tire was there. There’s a slight gap (not as bad as the mb) but I’m going to use that foam tape... just have to get it.

attached pics so you can see all the reinforcements etc.... they are releasing shovel and ax mount, gas and water can carrier and have a jack mount now.

I'm not so worried about the tire carrier itself rusting, but more so about water and salt getting in through the gap between the body and hinge. I don't have my Jeep with me right now so I can't see how it's covered/protected from the factory, but we really like to season our roads here in Nebraska. What's the gap look like on the Rusty's?

 

[Hydroboy35th]

Looks good. Did you paint the carrier yourself? How do you like it?

Sorry for the late reply but yes I did paint it my self using “Steel-it” black. That stuff is awesome it lays really nice and it also blends really nice. I like the tire carrier itself but if I had to do it over again I’d go with the Maximus-3 carrier. It has heavy duty hinges and the carrier itself is lighter.

 

[Hydroboy35th]

@spurly check out the Maximus-3 carrier. If I had it to do over again that’s the one I’d go with. I really like my motobilt one but the Maximus-3 seems to be better engineered.

 

[conFUcius]

@spurly check out the Maximus-3 carrier. If I had it to do over again that’s the one I’d go with. I really like my motobilt one but the Maximus-3 seems to be better engineered.

After running the MB tire carrier almost six months now, would you still recommend the Maximus-3 over the MB tire carrier? Definitely like MB’s products (have a few already) including their license plate + camera bracket. I was planning on running this with the Mopar set up but am contemplating switching set-up to the MB one since my rear sensors are turned off (they come on because of the 37” tire).

 

[Zotch]

Nice job with the tape.

Looks like a poor design from MB

 

[David P.]

Bump - does anyone have a picture of their Rusty’s tire carrier or CavFab tire carrier with the door open, to show what kind of gap there is?

 

[mvidor]

Hello, I searched for this and didn’t see anything so I thought I’d add this for anyone else that wants an idea.

The Problem:
The Motobilt spare tire carrier replaces your factory hinges and leaves massive gaps to the body around the new hinge.

The Fix:
To remedy the problem I used expanding foam tape. The tape expands to 1 inch and closes the gap, it’s not 100% waterproof but it should help a lot with keeping water out during the rain and when it gets a bath. It only takes one layer around the hinge hole to close the gap.

Bump.

Wanting to bring this back to the top to see if anyone else has any ideas or other solutions.

I used some 1/4 inch rubber glued on with 3M gasket glue. Below are some pictures.

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