Spare Tire Delete options - recommendations?

[Shibadog]

There are plenty of things in the off-road world that you won't find engineering support for. The point is there are viable options out there to patch a sidewall.

"Maybe if it’s the only way to get out of wherever you are, but it is not a safe practice." are you kidding me?
"Maybe" I don't feel like walking 20 miles, so "Maybe" I'll patch the tire and when I get back to town make the call on a new tire. Good grief we aren't saying you should patch a sidewall and then load your 4 kids, grandmother and a Ming Vase into the Jeep and drive across country at 80mph. We are saying patch it, get back to where you need to be and then decide what to do.

As you say, big difference between off-road and on road. Off road you can get away with a lot of stuff that just doesn’t cut it on road. Be safe and well.

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[Cyclrder]

wow... I almost feel like I'm over at the air-cooled section of the Porsche forums... geez.
I'm glad all of you serious wheelers out there are carrying the spare tire torch for the rest of us losers.... well, I've never gotten a flat with over 100K of driving jeeps on and off road...
I would bet that you are more likely of getting stuck 70 miles from home when your 2.5 year old battery fails (like mine did with my wife driving the car on a late Friday afternoon in NJ trying to get back to Brooklyn).. But on a more practical side of things... I sure have gotten tired of taking my spare off to either go skiing or carrying my FE350 on the rear carrier.

So like the good boyscout that I am.. I have an onboard battery jumper as I have a tire repair kit and compressor too... so all good. Lastly, every time I've gone wheeling... I'm with a number of other jeepsters who are more than friendly enough to let me borrow a wheel to get home.

so for all of you grumpy spare tire carriers out there...stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

for the rest of you interested in the tire delete idea... I didn't want to stick a plate there as my AEV bumper has the perfect slot. So I had the cover body painted and it utilizes the camera from the spare tire holder. It works perfect and really cleans up the back of the car... I can't say that it makes a difference weight wise (but then I have full metalcloak armor on the underside.. so clearly that ship had sailed!) I found a gromet kit off Amazon and so its all good. It is so much nicer and easier for both seeing out of the back of the jeep and just using the rear tail gate for every day use.

 

[blnewt]

Lastly, every time I've gone wheeling... I'm with a number of other jeepsters who are more than friendly enough to let me borrow a wheel to get home.

Your delete plate turned out great, nice work. That post ^^^ makes a big difference regarding running without a spare though. I'd be more likely to delete mine for offroad trips if I was running w/ a similar group the times we go out.

 

[Cyclrder]

I have to be quite honest....I've done everything that you can do to one of these without springs and taller tires as I am limited to the parking garage height. (In fact, with the soft top it hits the ceiling in one spot whereas the hardtop is a half inch lower and barely fits) to make the car as "badass" as possible... but at the end of the day, my wife has commandeered "my jeep" and drives the car into Manhattan (she drives it like a big bumper car through traffic) almost every day and it just makes it easier to see use as an everyday vehicle without the tire. The kids are able to load the dogs and other crap more easily. Plus.. it just looks cool without.

 

[3TV]

I'm going through the decision of whether to leave the spare tire at home or not. My 392 XR came with the Mopar gate reinforcement, but the reinforcement is not strong enough to support my 37" Cooper STT Pro spare tire. The gate rattles when I hit square edged bumps, on road or off road. I have tried readjusting the gate latches a total of 8 times now, with a test drive each time. I haven't been able to adjust the rattle out of it, so I need to either get a stronger gate reinforcement set-up (Thinking about Motobilt), get a rear bumper with the tire carrier on the bumper, or just leave the spare tire off and put a tramp stamp on in place of the OEM tire mount.

Looking back, the last time I needed a spare tire on an off-road vehicle was in 1994, and I go four wheeling almost every weekend. That means probably several hundred off road trips since my last flat on my off-road vehicle. The reason I specify "off-road" vehicle is because I have had flats on other vehicles. My wife's Grand Cherokee that had P-rated tires, and a Jeep Liberty that had P-rated tires, both had flat tires from just driving on gravel roads. But my off-road vehicles have had Toyo, Nitto, or Cooper STT Pro tires on them, which are arguably the toughest tires made, and they have never let me down.

So do I really need a spare? I test drove the 392 today without the spare, and the rattle is totally gone, not even a hint of a rattle. It actually drives better too. That heavy spare tire and wheel hanging off the rear end is noticeable when you take it off. And I already carry a great ARB tire repair kit and have an ARB twin air compressor hard mounted in the Jeep. And I know how to use a tire repair kit, I've done it dozens of times with ATVs and UTVs.

Decisions, decisions, do I really need a spare tire?

 

[Cyclrder]

I'm going through the decision of whether to leave the spare tire at home or not. My 392 XR came with the Mopar gate reinforcement, but the reinforcement is not strong enough to support my 37" Cooper STT Pro spare tire. The gate rattles when I hit square edged bumps, on road or off road. I have tried readjusting the gate latches a total of 8 times now, with a test drive each time. I haven't been able to adjust the rattle out of it, so I need to either get a stronger gate reinforcement set-up (Thinking about Motobilt), get a rear bumper with the tire carrier on the bumper, or just leave the spare tire off and put a tramp stamp on in place of the OEM tire mount.

Looking back, the last time I needed a spare tire on an off-road vehicle was in 1994, and I go four wheeling almost every weekend. That means probably more than a thousand off road trips since my last flat on my off-road vehicle. The reason I specify "off-road" vehicle is because I have had flats on other vehicles. My wife's Grand Cherokee that had P-rated tires, and a Jeep Liberty that had P-rated tires, both had flat tires from just driving on gravel roads. But my off-road vehicles have had Toyo, Nitto, or Cooper STT Pro tires on them, which are arguably the toughest tires made, and they have never let me down.

So do I really need a spare? I test drove the 392 today without the spare, and the rattle is totally gone, not even a hint of a rattle. It actually drives better too. That heavy spare tire and wheel hanging off the rear end is noticeable when you take it off. And I already carry a great ARB tire repair kit and have an ARB twin air compressor hard mounted in the Jeep. And I know how to use a tire repair kit, I've done it dozens of times with ATVs and UTVs.

Decisions, decisions, do I really need a spare tire?

Some times you gotta live a little on the “wild” side… I’d say go without it. The rattles drive me bonkers (I have the mopar performance bumper with a set of Jw speaker LED fog lights installed… unfortunately the internal brackets are aftermarket and rattle when you hit bumps because the secured only on one side…….drives me crazy)

 

[ViperJon]

I've had no spare tire for years. Many positives. Keep a plug kit and DC tire inflator on board. Looks cleaner, hugely improved rear visibility, better departure and approach angles, easier to clean, no weight sagging rear door and looks cool. Oh,.....and for the feeble minded.....when you are going somewhere where you feel you "might" somehow damage a tire you can throw the spare in. Been driving 50 years and have never had a flat while traveling that couldn't be easily fixed with a plug kit and compressor. The benefits far outweigh the negatives.

And best of all....it pisses off the brokedicks with manuals, roll up windows living in doublewides who hate it That alone is worth it.

 

[Old Jeeper]

wow... I almost feel like I'm over at the air-cooled section of the Porsche forums... geez.
I'm glad all of you serious wheelers out there are carrying the spare tire torch for the rest of us losers.... well, I've never gotten a flat with over 100K of driving jeeps on and off road...
I would bet that you are more likely of getting stuck 70 miles from home when your 2.5 year old battery fails (like mine did with my wife driving the car on a late Friday afternoon in NJ trying to get back to Brooklyn).. But on a more practical side of things... I sure have gotten tired of taking my spare off to either go skiing or carrying my FE350 on the rear carrier.

So like the good boyscout that I am.. I have an onboard battery jumper as I have a tire repair kit and compressor too... so all good. Lastly, every time I've gone wheeling... I'm with a number of other jeepsters who are more than friendly enough to let me borrow a wheel to get home.

so for all of you grumpy spare tire carriers out there...stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

for the rest of you interested in the tire delete idea... I didn't want to stick a plate there as my AEV bumper has the perfect slot. So I had the cover body painted and it utilizes the camera from the spare tire holder. It works perfect and really cleans up the back of the car... I can't say that it makes a difference weight wise (but then I have full metalcloak armor on the underside.. so clearly that ship had sailed!) I found a gromet kit off Amazon and so its all good. It is so much nicer and easier for both seeing out of the back of the jeep and just using the rear tail gate for every day use.

I can say in 55 years of Jeeping I only got a flat once.

That said when it comes to the spare tire, it's like a gun or a parachute. Better to have and NOT need than to NEED and not have.

But you spaceless folks I will stop and help you out, loan you my spare if I need to, get you down the road or off the trail. Done it MANY TIMES on trail runs...

 

[SkDmRkLcY]

I have run the Nemesis and now the Warn option. Nemesis is way better I am not impressed with the Warn at all.

I just prefer the look and it drives better.. as I keep the spare inside weight over the axle. The 2 door is just in progress so exploring options but this is good for now, if could end up outside based on bumper I choose etc..

Just switched to the 2 door for my fun Jeep so didn’t want to do anything expensive for spare till I have a firm plan.

 

[3TV]

Wow! Thanks for posting. Nice looking Jeep, and I love that minimalist rear bumper. I had never even thought to look at Nemesis.

 

[SkDmRkLcY]

We put on a light and just took off the bumper for now while looking for something I like, trying to do something new but likely back to Nemesis. New plates are on order. We did space out the camera and it improved the Warn spare delete but I doubt that is staying there long term, but now it is at least not getting on my nerves.

 

[Bay_Area_Guy]

I used the delete kit from American Adventure Labs. Comes with a new LED third brake light. A little more expensive than some other offerings but I like it. I didn’t bother removing the factory tailgate reinforcement from the tailgate.

@falcon241073 - looks great and I was also considering American Adventure Labs spare tire delete along with Nemesis and Cavfab.

How did the spare tire delete hold up with the Mopar Tailgate Reinforcement?

Is there a noticeable gap or is the setup slightly angled because of the overlap?

I want to leave my reinforcement on but I don’t want to jeopardize the backup camera angle or water tight functionality of the spare tire delete.

 

[falcon241073]

When you remove the spare tire mount there should be two spacers on the handle side under the mounts. I reused those so the delete plate is even. My camera angle is fine. If you have the trail cam up front then the back camera is different and that can get interesting. I don’t know if they have made a different internal camera mount yet for the smaller rear cam if you have the front trail cam. I had to fab my own mount for the rear cam. If you do not have the front trail cam then no worries. It’ll mount up no issues.

as for water tight? It’s the same as when the spare was on the Jeep. Nothing changes there.

 

[J0E]

I'm going through the decision of whether to leave the spare tire at home or not. My 392 XR came with the Mopar gate reinforcement, but the reinforcement is not strong enough to support my 37" Cooper STT Pro spare tire. The gate rattles when I hit square edged bumps, on road or off road. I have tried readjusting the gate latches a total of 8 times now, with a test drive each time. I haven't been able to adjust the rattle out of it, so I need to either get a stronger gate reinforcement set-up (Thinking about Motobilt), get a rear bumper with the tire carrier on the bumper, or just leave the spare tire off and put a tramp stamp on in place of the OEM tire mount.

Looking back, the last time I needed a spare tire on an off-road vehicle was in 1994, and I go four wheeling almost every weekend. That means probably several hundred off road trips since my last flat on my off-road vehicle. The reason I specify "off-road" vehicle is because I have had flats on other vehicles. My wife's Grand Cherokee that had P-rated tires, and a Jeep Liberty that had P-rated tires, both had flat tires from just driving on gravel roads. But my off-road vehicles have had Toyo, Nitto, or Cooper STT Pro tires on them, which are arguably the toughest tires made, and they have never let me down.

So do I really need a spare? I test drove the 392 today without the spare, and the rattle is totally gone, not even a hint of a rattle. It actually drives better too. That heavy spare tire and wheel hanging off the rear end is noticeable when you take it off. And I already carry a great ARB tire repair kit and have an ARB twin air compressor hard mounted in the Jeep. And I know how to use a tire repair kit, I've done it dozens of times with ATVs and UTVs.

Decisions, decisions, do I really need a spare tire?

but the reinforcement is not strong enough to support my 37" Cooper STT Pro spare tire

Donut spare is vastly superior to no spare. My JLR on 38's has the factory 33" spare. Should I blow a rear tire, I'll have to pull off a front, mount the 33, and move the 38 to the rear. So far only blown a front.

Sidewalls can be patched sometime. If your sidewall has patterns like my 43" Trep stickies, you'd need to grind them down to patch. There are limits to how big of a gash you can patch.

My LJR on 43's carries a 42x13.5R20 non beadlock donut spare. My TJR on 33's carries a 31" donut spare.

All those claims of too much weight so delete are bogus, just carry a 33.

I've never had a traffic accident, I think I'll cancel my auto insurance. Those who think every side wall blow out can be fixed haven't seen many rock crawling blow outs. I've smoked sigs for 30 years and never had a flat, so why quit?

I've had no spare tire for years. Many positives. Keep a plug kit and DC tire inflator on board. Looks cleaner, hugely improved rear visibility, better departure and approach angles, easier to clean, no weight sagging rear door and looks cool. Oh,.....and for the feeble minded.....when you are going somewhere where you feel you "might" somehow damage a tire you can throw the spare in. Been driving 50 years and have never had a flat while traveling that couldn't be easily fixed with a plug kit and compressor. The benefits far outweigh the negatives.

And best of all....it pisses off the brokedicks with manuals, roll up windows living in doublewides who hate it That alone is worth it.

better departure and approach angles,

How so? At least on my rigs, the donut has zero impact on departure and approach angles,

no weight sagging rear door

Carry a donut and you won't sag the rear door.

I was shocked that when I ripped a 2" gash in the sidewall of my wife's Leaf (no spare), the fix a flat sealed it good enough to drive the 5 miles home.

 

[Bay_Area_Guy]

When you remove the spare tire mount there should be two spacers on the handle side under the mounts. I reused those so the delete plate is even. My camera angle is fine. If you have the trail cam up front then the back camera is different and that can get interesting. I don’t know if they have made a different internal camera mount yet for the smaller rear cam.

@falcon241073 - Thanks for the super quick reply and that was really informative. I noticed the spacers and am happy to hear that they make the delete plate even with the mopar reinforcement tailgate. I do have the front trail cam so I will cross that bridge with the back camera when I do the install. Thanks again for the boost of confidence!

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