33" tire/stock 16" wheel hits tail light lens

[woytovich]

So I have 33" tires on a stock 16" wheels on my Troopy and the spare hits the tail light lens before the door is all the way open. I am thinking of building something to move the stock carrier a little away from the door and a little bit farther to the left (but not so far left as to interfere wit the left door). I saw this picture in very old thread mentioning Feret Offroad in Perth making a "spacer" but I can't find any more info on that/them. Any input on options would be welcome.
PS I HAVE considered under the truck or an aftermarket swing out but I would like to keep the tire on the door if I can.

 

[Irish11]

The further you push it out away from the body the more stress you are putting on the mount, the door skin, and the hinges. Not to mention the weight of the 33 vs the factory wheel/tire combo. At some point that might start to cause damage. A swing out bumper would alleviate that but they are also not cheap. I am curious what others have to say about adding a spacer.

 

[woytovich]

I would make the spacer as small as possible and move the tire to the left as far as possible but I'm not sure that would alleviate the interference with the tail light lens in any case.

 

[LDowney]

Mark,
I encountered this situation on the 70 and fab'd an adapter similar to what you described. The limiting parameter was opening/closing the left door. After a few years, I built a swing out tire carrier that is mounted to my bumper. The adapter was a reasonable temp fix, but I am very happy that it is no longer needed.

 

[FJ73Texas]

There are adjustable tire mount spacers for this very issue for sale in the Japan market. Often listed on yahoo auction or shopping sites.

Moto-rage is one Japanese vendor that carries it. Just have to watch out for the correct bolt pattern (6 lug vs 5 lug).

 

[iwashmycar]

Is it 6x5.5 bolt pattern? They make a bunch of things for the FJ Cruiser to remedy issues with spares hitting the bumper...may be worth a look. Wonder if it could be rotated one set of lugs.....Such as:

Warrior Products FJ Cruiser Spare Tire Spacer; 2007-2009 WITHOUT CAMERA [91635] - $118.89 : Pure FJ Cruiser, Parts and Accessories for your Toyota FJ Cruiser

Pure FJ Cruiser Warrior Products FJ Cruiser Spare Tire Spacer; 2007-2009 WITHOUT CAMERA [91635] - Warrior Products Spare Tire Spacer 6 inch on 5.5 inch for 2007-09 Toyota FJ Cruiser. Designed to mount directly to the factory spare tire carrier, the spacer allows an extra 2 of clearance for...

www.purefjcruiser.com

 

[woytovich]

Larry: I may go down that road myself. On the Troopy the rear bumper/crossmember is less stout than what I've experienced on my 60 and 40. Did you do anything special to beef that up? How did you attach to the tframe?

 

[woytovich]

Is it 6x5.5 bolt pattern?

Yes

 

[woytovich]

There are adjustable tire mount spacers for this very issue for sale in the Japan market.

Cool... thanks

 

[boozewz]

@woytovich Just run a standard 2" spacer and be done with it. I had a similar issue, trying to mount a 35" spare and the spacer cleared it from both touching the tail lights and being able to open the left door. No need to move the spare tire bracket in any direction.

Cheers

 

[woytovich]

@woytovich Just run a standard 2" spacer and be done with it. I had a similar issue, trying to mount a 35" spare and the spacer cleared it from both touching the tail lights and being able to open the left door. No need to move the spare tire bracket in any direction.

Cheers

I'll give that a try.

 

[LDowney]

Larry: I may go down that road myself. On the Troopy the rear bumper/crossmember is less stout than what I've experienced on my 60 and 40. Did you do anything special to beef that up? How did you attach to the tframe?

Mark,
I replaced the rear bumper with one that I fab'd. It is stout enough that I was able to integrate the swing out directly into the bumper. This gave me the strength and space to integrate what I was comfortable with.
I will be at CMCC in 2 weeks, so you can look at how I did (i.e., assess how not to do it. lol). See you then.

 

[coldtaco]

On the BJ70 I had I flipped the carrier and that worked some if I remember correctly, but on that one I ended up with a bumper mounted tire carrier

 

[ATL Cruiser]

@woytovich Just run a standard 2" spacer and be done with it. I had a similar issue, trying to mount a 35" spare and the spacer cleared it from both touching the tail lights and being able to open the left door. No need to move the spare tire bracket in any direction.

Cheers

this is exactly what I am currently doing. Works great, and you can find those spacers absolutely everywhere.

 

[woytovich]

this is exactly what I am currently doing. Works great, and you can find those spacers absolutely everywhere.

This should fit, yes?

 

[ATL Cruiser]

This should fit, yes?

Yes. 6 x 5.5" I have these in silver.

 

[woytovich]

So turns out either it was that my tire is slightly larger and/or the dent in the door from the previous owner that required me to add two of the small slip-on spacers in addition to the 2-in spacer. But with all that it just touches the tail light. I don't love the solution but it will suffice for now.

 

[ATL Cruiser]

Wow. That's wild that it STILL touches even with how far that spare tire is spaced outward.

Making me nervous to upgrade to 33's now. I'm curious how the guys running 35's are handling this issue?

 

[woytovich]

These are 255 85 R16 BFG MTs... which are spec'd at 33.1 diameter... probably a little bigger than most "33s" (the 33 12.50 15 is spec'd at 32.5)

That, and the dented in door.....

 

[LDowney]

Wow. That's wild that it STILL touches even with how far that spare tire is spaced outward.

Making me nervous to upgrade to 33's now. I'm curious how the guys running 35's are handling this issue?

Contacting the tail light lense might be a better contact option than sheet metal ...
If you get overly energetic opening the door and the tire breaks/cracks the lense, that will be cheaper/easier to deal with compared to a body repair.
Many things are a compromise so what is the best choice per your needs/preferences