Tire Carrier Upgrade Needed?

[jadmt]

The Mopar tailgate reinforcement is to help tailgate flexing and helps distribute the weight. It's fine for 35" and under. I'm curious if anyone has actually had their hinges fail and at what weight.

I have the mopar hd hinge with my 37's and tailgate opens and closes nice and smooth and no sag..I have two buddies that I wheel with often have the same set ups and no issues for them either. the JL hinges are not like the jk hinges.

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[zouch]

mine was (still is) quiet; no rattle either.

but we've seen a few reports here of them twisting. i seem to be lucky that way.

Wow that's wild. I have 35" KO2's and it is rock solid. Doesn't even rattle on bumps or anything. I think you are the only time I've heard of a JL tailgate twisting.

 

[jadmt]

i didn't have hinge failure, but (as already reported) my tailgate twisted even with the Mopar tailgate reinforcement.
granted a Mickey Baja Boss isn't the lightest, but that was with still only a 35.

so i guess it depends on your definition of "fine".

bad luck for sure. keeping my fingers crossed with my 118 pounder on there.

 

[rhocking]

Researched this subject a lot before deciding how far to take the upgrade. Didn't want to do the entire hinge replacement upgrade unless it was needed due to cost, time and complexity. The general consensus was that the factory Rubicon carrier with some sort of tailgate reinforcement kit was sufficient for up to a 35" tire. The weak link is the tailgate first and then the hinge second. The reinforcement takes care of the tailgate twisting and sagging. This makes sense when you take the plastic inner tailgate cover off and see how the tailgate is made, there is not a lot of stiffening between the hinges. I bought this, https://www.extremeterrain.com/redrock-4x4-hd-tailgate-reinforcement-panel-2018-jl.html. It was relatively inexpensive, in stock and works with the stock Rubicon spare tire carrier. Works as advertised, no tailgate twist or sag. So far, the factory hinges are solid, no slop or sag. We will see how they hold up. An adjustable rubber tire bump stop kit was needed because the tailgate reinforcement kit steps the tire away from the factory stops. As others have posted, it is critical to keep the tire in full contact with both stops.

I went with pretty much the same setup (for 35s) except I went with a clone of the Mopar reinforcement (from Amazon) after researching and seeing a number of YouTube videos comparing the clones to the original and finding that pretty much the only difference was stickers. With 35s I don't think you need the extra beef of Teraflex or CavFav or the other beefier tailgate+hinge reinforcement options.

I also found that bigger adjustable bump stops were needed so factor that in as a minor extra cost.

Pretty much I found that, as pointed out above, this is a much cheaper and a very viable option/alternative to the more expensive solutions that are needed for tire sizes bigger than 35s.

 

[3TV]

The Mopar tailgate reinforcement is to help tailgate flexing and helps distribute the weight. It's fine for 35" and under. I'm curious if anyone has actually had their hinges fail and at what weight.

I bent the Mopar tailgate reinforcement on my 2022 JLUR with the stock 35" spare tire. The spare tire had just barely made contact with a ledge. The contact was so light that I couldn't even feel it as I very slowly crept off the ledge. It was only the faint scuff mark of dirt on the bottom of the tire that confirmed contact had been made. Unfortunately, it also managed to tweak the tailgate when it bent. I replaced it with a Cavfab tailgate reinforcement and the Cavfab part was so stout that when the bolts to the tailgate were tightened down, they pulled the tailgate straight again.

Then two days ago, my 2025 JLR was rearended on a trail ride in Moab. The group had come to a stop to look at an arch, and I stopped behind the Jeep in front of me. Then there was a loud slam, and my Jeep was shoved forward 3 feet despite me having my foot on the brake. The guy behind me had forgot to shift out of drive and stepped out of his Jeep. It surged forward in low range and slammed right into the back of my Jeep. It was a surprisingly hard hit right into my 39" spare tire and rear bumper. I thoroughly looked my Jeep over and couldn't see one bit of damage. The Teraflex tailgate reinforcement and tire carrier were perfectly straight, the tailgate closed normally. The Rugged Ridge XOR bumper is straight. Everything looks and works perfectly despite the hard impact.

So, yah, don't waste your time with the Mopar reinforcement, it is very fragile.

 

[AmericanPatriot100]

I have the mopar tailgate reinforcement kit with the relocation kit for 37s and the XR spare tire carrier. I got them for free. I have 255/85/17 MTBBATs on rubicon wheels everything works great. Except I don’t have a backup camera anymore because the XR spare tire carrier has a different camera housing than the sport tire carrier and rubicon tire carrier. If I had a factory trail cam I’d have the correct camera bracket. No big deal.

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