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Teraflex HD Alpha tire carrier with reinforcement

cball508

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@Chrisdupe i attempted to install mine tonight and I am having similar issues. I just cannot get it aligned properly. And this is with a stock 33 (I’m installing it now in preparation of my 37s that are on order).

I followed the directions and I noticed that as soon as I unbolted the factory hinges, the tailgate dropped. It wasnt much, but Enough to put some creases in the tape. So as I was installing the Teraflex system, I lifted the tailgate back up enough to where my guidelines were even again. As soon as I put the spare on, cut the tape and opened the tailgate, it dropped a ton. And no matter what I do, I can’t get it to go up high enough to compensate for the drop. I had to call it quits tonight bc I was losing my patience, but I got it to where it’s only dropping about 1/4”. I would be ok with that if it was a 37s, but with the stock wheel I shouldn’t be having this issue. I didn’t have wood shims, so that is going to be what I try tomorrow. Hopefully that works. But really, I think this kit needs shims for where the lower hinge mounts to the tub. Just like most of the other kits.
Same here. It's 1 am. I had to give up with the alignment. Hopefully a fresh set of eyes on the morning and a helping hand will do the trick. When you guys are trying to do the alignment are you keeping the inside hinge bolts (in the body) tight or loose? I'm trying everything to get some wiggle room

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Atom631

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Same here. It's 1 am. I had to give up with the alignment. Hopefully a fresh set of eyes on the morning and a helping hand will do the trick. When you guys are trying to do the alignment are you keeping the inside hinge bolts (in the body) tight or loose? I'm trying everything to get some wiggle room

Jeep Wrangler JL Teraflex HD Alpha tire carrier with reinforcement 20210620_003617
snug as per the directions. But I tried loose and tight. Loose Just creates play and even more sag. But I’ve tried loosening them, Opening the tailgate, lifting it up from the center so that both hinges are as high as possible, then tightening. I’ve tried that with both the Teraflex mounting Bolts (on the tailgate) loose and tight. No dice.
 

cball508

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Where are you guys shimmying? I gave it another couple of hours this morning with the help of a friend. I eventually had to give up. Everything is on, mounted, and torqued down for now. When I open the door it will sag a little bit, but I can still close it. I guess it's going to stay that way for now until I have the patience to deal with it again. My biggest problem is the gap in the top right corner. I feel like in order to raise the top left corner it keeps pinching in on the top right to the point where it's starting to scratch my paint. Had to add masking tape around the edges of the whole tailgate. Pics are with 37" KO2s

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Atom631

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Where are you guys shimmying? I gave it another couple of hours this morning with the help of a friend. I eventually had to give up. Everything is on, mounted, and torqued down for now. When I open the door it will sag a little bit, but I can still close it. I guess it's going to stay that way for now until I have the patience to deal with it again. My biggest problem is the gap in the top right corner. I feel like in order to raise the top left corner it keeps pinching in on the top right to the point where it's starting to scratch my paint. Had to add masking tape around the edges of the whole tailgate. Pics are with 37" KO2s

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the direction say to shimmy on the inside. It looks like they want you to actually use a pry bar right on the hinge with the bolts snug. I’m doing this solo so that’s absolutely impossible to do, esp when you’re a midget like me. I’ve been trying to prop up the tailgate on some cardboard boxes to hold the weight off the bolts while I try to eyeball the body lines.

I have it at a place now where it will have to do until I get the 37s. My body lines look right and according to the directions I should skip adjusting the outer bolts since I’m on 33s, but there was no way that was possible. It had 1/2” of sag without my pulling the tailgate up as high as it could go, which means I’m going to have a bear of a time when I put the 37s on.

tailgate closed. You can see it’s still off about 1/8”
Jeep Wrangler JL Teraflex HD Alpha tire carrier with reinforcement 86090120-83D0-4395-80AD-379B01BFF4D7


tailgate open. About 1/4” sag, but no contact on the latch when closing. Good enough.
Jeep Wrangler JL Teraflex HD Alpha tire carrier with reinforcement 0AC21374-3E70-4591-928B-41A4FB391C33


body lines look good to me. So no idea what’s going wrong.
Jeep Wrangler JL Teraflex HD Alpha tire carrier with reinforcement AE170B79-4F78-4D03-9C0F-4CB0EFC4CF5C
 

KarnaughMI

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So for what it's worth, when I realized I wasn't going to have the simple installation as TF describes I did the following:

Loosened up the hinge bolts on the body and using a prybar I pushed them as high up and as far out as possible. I didn't care about how it looked for body lines, except for how far in/out my alignment was. The bottom stuck out a little too far for my taste, so I loosened up the lower body mount bolts and 2 of 3 on the top so I could push the bottom in a bit to line up. I then tightened them all down to factory specs.

After that I loosened up all the bolts on the tailgate (hinge and Alpha Carrier) and I lifted (or had my wife help) as high up on tailgate as I could from the middle of the tailgate. I then snugged down the hinge bolts and from there it was a back and forth dance of getting the gaps to where I liked them, doing the TF suggestion of loosening all except the bottom inside hinge bolt (snug) and lifting as high up on the end to try and get it to align right. This dropped the bottom hinge side corner of the tailgate, so I had to mess with the body lines again.

What I ended up with is about a 1/8" - 1/4" drop when the tailgate opens with the 37 on it, but the gaps look good. (I'll take a photo or two later).

I called Teraflex customer service, voiced my problems and concerns and gave them my contact information and order number. I also asked to be kept in the loop as to any determination made by them and the growing number of people who are having problems with installation. I specifically stated they need to include shims like some of the other manufacturers are doing and that if they do, I would like them as well as a couple replacement hinge cover stickers.

If anyone is running 40s and this setup and gets everything to line up perfectly, please send pics!

I also think if they made the holes for the Alpha carrier a little bit larger, it may align better. I think those holes are another limiting factor into getting the tailgate higher up.

-Tom

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Chrisdupe

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Same here. It's 1 am. I had to give up with the alignment. Hopefully a fresh set of eyes on the morning and a helping hand will do the trick. When you guys are trying to do the alignment are you keeping the inside hinge bolts (in the body) tight or loose? I'm trying everything to get some wiggle room

Jeep Wrangler JL Teraflex HD Alpha tire carrier with reinforcement TF_Reinf_4
Seems some of us are having the same problem, trying the same fixes, and ending up with the same results. I'm working on getting a set of shims from another manufacturer. Once i receive and install them i will post my results. Hopefully it won't take too long to get them.

I've also reached out to Teraflex. They asked for photos, which i sent. I also suggested to them that they produce and send me some shims similar to other brands to try. I am waiting to hear back from them still.

On a positive note, the reinforcement does seem to do it's job well once the tailgate is closed. It keeps the spare nice and steady with no rattling noises.
 

Dr3wDrop

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That stinks people are having issues. I just installed a Mopar reinforcement bracket and did not have any problems. I am still on OEM tire sizes though.

I just picked up a TF tire mount last week from CL and am looking to install this upcoming weekend. That TF tire mount is heavy! 22 lbs over the 8ish pound guesstimate from OEM plastic.

For those that are still having sag issues check out the two products below. They may help?
https://undercoverfab.com/jeep-jl-1...jl-tailgate-hinge-reinforcement-brackets.html
https://undercoverfab.com/jeep-jl-1...inner-tire-carrier-reinforcement-bracket.html
 

Chrisdupe

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UPDATE: shims arrived and went in immediately. Night and day! I used 3 shims in the bottom and my tailgate now closes as if there were no spare mounted at all! It did take some work. I had to loosen everything up and adjust the tailgate on the bracket to get it to close properly at first but it was well worth it.

If anyone else has the issue of not being able to get the tailgate adjusted high enough to compensate for the weight of the spare I highly recommend you get some shims.

If you purchase this bracket I recommend getting these shims ahead of time. Save yourself the hassle of basically doing the install all over again.

You can reach out to Motobilt and they will gladly sell you a set and get them to you pretty quickly (or wait until Teraflex decides to include them). SJ was nice enough to offer to take care of anyone else that needs these. [email protected].

Cost was about $22 with shipping for 4. I only used 3 and I have a 39” KM3 on Method beadlocks.

UPDATE #2: It appears that Teraflex has manufactured their own shims and should now be included with the reinforcement kit. If you already got one without the shims you could probably reach out to Teraflex and get some.

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SaltyWet

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Just installed mine, closes nice, good enough for me. Aligning was a bit painful, not a lot of adjustment unlike the install video. But I got it pretty close.

Gap on the driver side is bigger then the passenger side but its acceptable. Dropped maybe 1/8th of an inch when open, not really noticeable. I am running 37s so to be expected.

I had to adjust the latch and the catcher so it closed without rattles. Over all was okay, not perfect. Would of expected more for its price.

Video of it opening and closing

Jeep Wrangler JL Teraflex HD Alpha tire carrier with reinforcement 20210627_173736
Jeep Wrangler JL Teraflex HD Alpha tire carrier with reinforcement 20210627_173806
Jeep Wrangler JL Teraflex HD Alpha tire carrier with reinforcement 20210627_173842
Jeep Wrangler JL Teraflex HD Alpha tire carrier with reinforcement 20210627_173945
 

ZeroTrev

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Mine drops a bit, but closes just fine.
 

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SaltyWet

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UPDATE: shims arrived and went in immediately. Night and day! I used 3 shims in the bottom and my tailgate now closes as if there were no spare mounted at all! It did take some work. I had to loosen everything up and adjust the tailgate on the bracket to get it to close properly at first but it was well worth it.

If anyone else has the issue of not being able to get the tailgate adjusted high enough to compensate for the weight of the spare I highly recommend you get some shims.

If you purchase this bracket I recommend getting these shims ahead of time. Save yourself the hassle of basically doing the install all over again.

You can reach out to Motobilt and they will gladly sell you a set and get them to you pretty quickly (or wait until Teraflex decides to include them). SJ was nice enough to offer to take care of anyone else that needs these. [email protected].

Cost was about $22 with shipping for 4. I only used 3 and I have a 39” KM3 on Method beadlocks.

Jeep Wrangler JL Teraflex HD Alpha tire carrier with reinforcement 20210627_173945
whats the thickness on one of the shims?
 
 



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