Jerpy
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2021
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- Location
- California
- Vehicle(s)
- 2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe
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- #1
I originally ordered the Suparee Spare Tire Delete Kit after seeing a video someone had posted online showing their installation. I'm not the most technically inclined when it comes to automotive stuff, but it seemed pretty straight forward. Unfortunately, it was not (is it ever?).
First things first, this video shows a basic removal of the spare tire and installation of the kit. There's a few little things that aren't addressed such as the precise order in which stuff needs to be installed and, in my case, removal and relocation of the pedestrian alert speaker. Before I did any of the following, however, I spent some time preparing the Suparee bracket by connecting all of the pieces (brake light, camera, license plate lights) and soldering the wire to the license plate lights.
NOTE: Make sure you label the connectors! The connector for the brake light and the pedestrian alert speaker look VERY similar (and I think they have the same connection type). Also, I'd recommend watching this video before performing the removal of the stock spare tire mount as it has some additional tips that I found helpful. Lastly, here's a good video showing where to properly fish and connect the wire for the license plate lights.
Once the spare tire housing is removed, you'll notice there's a couple of plastic grate pieces with rubber flaps to keep out the elements (see above). I wasn't super crazy about these, so I ordered a RedRock Vent Cover to use instead. To me it just gives a much cleaner look underneath and is probably slightly more weather resistant. The problem with this, however, is feeding through the wires for the third brake light, backup camera, and license plate lights -- the vents aren't large enough to get the connectors through and there's really no grooves in the plate to allow the wires to be fed.
I didn't want to take my chances with cutting the wires and resplicing them and, ultimately, I wanted something a little more user friendly should I decide to a) sell the vehicle, b) put the spare back on, or c) upgrade to an Artec Spare Tire Delete; so I drilled a 1" hole into one side of the vent cover to get enough clearance to feed the wires (and their connectors) through. In addition, I used a deburring tool to scrape the inside of the drilled hole to remove any sharp edges.
Luckily, I live close to an electronics store and found these awesome little 1¼" rubber grommets that I could mod to fit in the hole and allow the wires to come through, but still provide some shielding from water or mud. I simply drilled the center hole a little bigger and used a box knife to cut a slit in one side to accommodate the wires. Feel free to DM me your address if you want me to mail you some of these grommets (they're 3/$1).
With the wires fed through the vent cover and the grommet in place, I was finally ready to mount everything to the rear door. You have to connect the brake light first, then the rear camera (otherwise the camera connector partially blocks the brake light connector). I used the plastic washers from the original spare tire mount to provide some space between the vent cover and the door to hopefully avoid any scratching of the tailgate, then placed the vent cover, and finally mounted the Suparee assembly (again using the bolts from the original spare tire mount). I also added some rubber tailgate plugs to cover the hole where the wires originally came out of and the spare tire bumpers. Overall, I think it looks pretty clean:
I'm still trying to figure out where to mount the pedestrian alert speaker, but for now my spare tire is gone, I have increased visibility out the rear window, and a new spot for my license plate.
One thing I'm not terribly crazy about is how exposed the wires are: if someone wanted to be a real dick it wouldn't take much for them to snip the wires and disable your rear camera, brake light, and license plate lights.
First things first, this video shows a basic removal of the spare tire and installation of the kit. There's a few little things that aren't addressed such as the precise order in which stuff needs to be installed and, in my case, removal and relocation of the pedestrian alert speaker. Before I did any of the following, however, I spent some time preparing the Suparee bracket by connecting all of the pieces (brake light, camera, license plate lights) and soldering the wire to the license plate lights.
NOTE: Make sure you label the connectors! The connector for the brake light and the pedestrian alert speaker look VERY similar (and I think they have the same connection type). Also, I'd recommend watching this video before performing the removal of the stock spare tire mount as it has some additional tips that I found helpful. Lastly, here's a good video showing where to properly fish and connect the wire for the license plate lights.
Once the spare tire housing is removed, you'll notice there's a couple of plastic grate pieces with rubber flaps to keep out the elements (see above). I wasn't super crazy about these, so I ordered a RedRock Vent Cover to use instead. To me it just gives a much cleaner look underneath and is probably slightly more weather resistant. The problem with this, however, is feeding through the wires for the third brake light, backup camera, and license plate lights -- the vents aren't large enough to get the connectors through and there's really no grooves in the plate to allow the wires to be fed.
I didn't want to take my chances with cutting the wires and resplicing them and, ultimately, I wanted something a little more user friendly should I decide to a) sell the vehicle, b) put the spare back on, or c) upgrade to an Artec Spare Tire Delete; so I drilled a 1" hole into one side of the vent cover to get enough clearance to feed the wires (and their connectors) through. In addition, I used a deburring tool to scrape the inside of the drilled hole to remove any sharp edges.
Luckily, I live close to an electronics store and found these awesome little 1¼" rubber grommets that I could mod to fit in the hole and allow the wires to come through, but still provide some shielding from water or mud. I simply drilled the center hole a little bigger and used a box knife to cut a slit in one side to accommodate the wires. Feel free to DM me your address if you want me to mail you some of these grommets (they're 3/$1).
With the wires fed through the vent cover and the grommet in place, I was finally ready to mount everything to the rear door. You have to connect the brake light first, then the rear camera (otherwise the camera connector partially blocks the brake light connector). I used the plastic washers from the original spare tire mount to provide some space between the vent cover and the door to hopefully avoid any scratching of the tailgate, then placed the vent cover, and finally mounted the Suparee assembly (again using the bolts from the original spare tire mount). I also added some rubber tailgate plugs to cover the hole where the wires originally came out of and the spare tire bumpers. Overall, I think it looks pretty clean:
I'm still trying to figure out where to mount the pedestrian alert speaker, but for now my spare tire is gone, I have increased visibility out the rear window, and a new spot for my license plate.
One thing I'm not terribly crazy about is how exposed the wires are: if someone wanted to be a real dick it wouldn't take much for them to snip the wires and disable your rear camera, brake light, and license plate lights.
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