Rugged Ridge Spartacus HD Tire Carrier Installed

[RUSTYS]

I have one and like it.

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[RubenZ]

This may have been asked, but does it allow any accessory mounts for like a Hi-Lift or Rotopax setup?

 

[RUSTYS]

This may have been asked, but does it allow any accessory mounts for like a Hi-Lift or Rotopax setup?

No but I'm sure you can fabricate something.

 

[Carlton]

I received mine today. The hinges are super tight and won't budge. Even putting all my weight into them, nothing. Currently soaking the hinges with WD40 overnight to see if they loosen up.


Has anyone else experienced this?

@RUSTYS
@TJEli
@OversandJL

 

[RUSTYS]

I received mine today. The hinges are super tight and won't budge. Even putting all my weight into them, nothing. Currently soaking the hinges with WD40 overnight to see if they loosen up.


Has anyone else experienced this?

@RUSTYS
@TJEli
@OversandJL

Tim is probably the best person here because he's probably installed more than one. I do remember it didn't move much and I don't recall trying to bend it before installing. Did you install it to the rear corner and then try moving it twords the tailgate? Or are you just holding it and trying to move it. I would definitely bolt it up first.

 

[Carlton]

Tim is probably the best person here because he's probably installed more than one. I do remember it didn't move much and I don't recall trying to bend it before installing. Did you install it to the rear corner and then try moving it twords the tailgate? Or are you just holding it and trying to move it. I would definitely bolt it up first.

I asked @Tech Tim in another thread. Hopefully he will be on today.

I noticed today that powder coating seems to be coming out of the hinges now since I sprayed the WD40 last night. There was no lubrication on the hinges when it arrived, which seems odd. Yesterday it wouldn't budge by hand or underload. Today, after an overnight WD40 soak, it will move with the wack of a mallet. Still super tough though.

Seems to be a mix of the following:

Bolts are too tight
Powder coating in the hinges
Lack of lubrication

Were your hinges oiled or greased when it arrived?

 

[RubenZ]

Have you tried actually installing everything. Maybe they are supposed to be that tight and once mounted with weight of tire and tailgate and leverage they will start to loosen up.

 

[RUSTYS]

I asked @Tech Tim in another thread. Hopefully he will be on today.

I noticed today that powder coating seems to be coming out of the hinges now since I sprayed the WD40 last night. There was no lubrication on the hinges when it arrived, which seems odd. Yesterday it wouldn't budge by hand or underload. Today, after an overnight WD40 soak, it will move with the wack of a mallet. Still super tough though.

Seems to be a mix of the following:

Bolts are too tight
Powder coating in the hinges
Lack of lubrication

Where your hinges oiled or greased when it arrived?

Like the other poster said, did you install it yet? If I remember correctly it has a total of 6 bolt's that bolt up to the rear corner. Have you done that yet? If not you're going about it all wrong. It's very heavy duty so it should be firm.

 

[Tech Tim]

It was pretty tight, we bolted it up and then started pushing and pulling until it started moving.

 

[Carlton]

I have now installed the Rugged Ridge Sparticus bracket and tire carrier. I followed @Tech Tim 's install tutorial and it went pretty smooth.

Yesterday I did all of the removal work. It took about 30 minutes.

Tip: To remove the stickers over the hinges, poke your finger, or knuckle, in the middle of the stickers a couple times. One of the edges will pop loose then the sticker will peel off with ease. If you don't plan on reusing them you can just cut them with a razor blade.

My plan was to finish the job yesterday but one of the hinge bolts warped. I believe this was due to the paint. I went to Harbor Freight this morning and bought a set that came with larger Torx bits. I used one size up and hammered it into the bolt. This allowed me to get it loose.

Prior to install I completed a couple additional steps.

1. I clear coated the bare metal that is behind the hinges.

2. I attached foam to the back of the hinge and carrier in the areas where is comes in contact with the swing gate to avoid scratches in the point.

The instructions do not include torque specs for inner/outer hinge bolts or carrier bolts. I torqued the inner hinge bolts to 30 foot pounds and outer to 27 pounds. Seemed tight and nothing budged.

With Tim's tutorial it is a straight forward project. Just time consuming. I did it by myself with hand tools.

The most difficult part of the project was reinstalling the side panel. It probably took 30 minutes to get the panel back in place. I now realize that I forgot to put the stickers back over the hinges. Not sure if this really matters or not. Did everyone else reinstall the tape?

All in all it took me about 30 minutes yesterday and a few hours today. That includes interruptions, neighbor talking to me for a half hour or so etc.

 

[OversandJL]

I'm glad to see you got it installed. I don't remember mine being too tight that made me worry about it. I would however recommend torqueing them again after a few hundred miles if you didn't use any loctite.

 

[mopar]

Well I made my own camera cover well sort of I deconstructed the original carrier.

 

[OversandJL]

Well I made my own camera cover well sort of I deconstructed the original carrier.

I was thinking of doing the same thing. Can you give me any tips on how it went.

 

[Tech Tim]

I have now installed the Rugged Ridge Sparticus bracket and tire carrier. I followed @Tech Tim 's install tutorial and it went pretty smooth.

Looks good @Carlton!

 

[Carlton]

Looks good @Carlton!

Thanks!

I've since added a steel rear bumper. The YouTube removal videos leave out a bunch of steps but it turned out.

Will look better once the 38s are mounted.

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