The Spare Tire Mod (with pics) (1 Viewer)

[Hayes]

93 FZJ80 with 285/75 R16 spare BEFORE:

The spare:

The Spare Tire Mod:
(22 x 5/16 washers on crossmember, 8 x 5/16 washers on crank+ a little dremel action)

93 FZJ80 with 285/75 R16 spare AFTER:

Hayes

 

[MoJ]

Wow, that's a lot of washers.

 

[andrew7elk]

Hello, i dont mean to be rude or anything, i am just wondering what the point of that is???

 

[Wrench]

Why don't you just throw that spare in the back? That setup might be fine for a puny 285 tire. But would be stupid for 35 inch tire. Then again that is way to many washers.

 

[cruiserdan]

Hello, i dont mean to be rude or anything, i am just wondering what the point of that is???

To provide a bit more ground clearance.

 

[cruiserdan]

Why don't you just throw that spare in the back? That setup might be fine for a puny 285 tire. But would be stupid for 35 inch tire. Then again that is way to many washers.

35's won't fit under there anyway.

 

[smokethedog]

I've been wanting to do the same thing. Is that as high as it would go or did you run out of washers?

 

[fj803fe]

35's won't fit under there anyway.

They do, they just look pregnant (he he he). But you're right, the tire mod does not work with a 35" tire due to the rear crossmember. My bro brought me my 5 35" tires out of denver to Moab a few years back with all 5 of his 315s. 4 on the rack, one on the swing, one prego underneath, and 4 on da truck. Quite a site.

 

[e9999]

other threads with pics on this.
As stated before, this mod is not quite as attractive as may seem at first cuz only the front of the spare moves up, not the rear, IIRC. Also, ever since I did mine, it's been more difficult to get the crank to fit and stay in the slot, even though I lowered the crank mechanism.
Still, a fun job to do.

 

[mason]

Thanks for posting that. I'm about to sink some dough on tires also, and was worried the spare would stick out more than the stock one does. Good pics, too!

 

[Hayes]

Yeah.
Isn't that the most amazing modification you've ever seen?

Really, after reading the FAQs it sounded quick, easy, and harmless--so I decided to do it. Like previous posts have stated, it's really a "spare tire leveler," but it does actually give you a few more degrees of departure. The rear of the spare can't go any higher--due to the stout steel bar that presumably handles and load that the spare takes when wheeling (as opposed to the body)--but with the crossmember raised you can slide the spare forward a few inches, giving you a few degrees (see picture).

Not earth-shaking, but easy and potentially useful.

Someday I'll have a fancy $LEE bumper.

Hayes

P.S. 22 washers. I dare you to go for more.

Hayes

 

[landtoy80]

I drove on some of the trails just outside Rifle and I hit the spare tire several times. Once so hard I thought it was going to come through the floor of the cab.
At first I though I was hitting the hitch but after getting out and looking I was it was the spare.

 

[e9999]

moved my spare to the inside.
just could not deal with the tought of a sharp rock slashing a $200 spare...

 

[Hayes]

Yeah. No spare hanging under the rear is certainly the best, but I rarely can spare the room in the cargo area, and I sweat just thinking about getting even a 285 up top.

 

[landtoy80]

I might make a bracket that mounts to the hitch or to the mystry 4 bolts on the bumper that I can mount the tire on when go wheeling.
OR
Do the spare raise mod and find a tall skinny tire that is the same diameter of the 285 and stick it under there and throw on the 285 on the bracket so that way I wont have to drop the spare every time I go 4xing.

 

[fj803fe]

moved my spare to the inside.
just could not deal with the tought of a sharp rock slashing a $200 spare...

$200 Spare!??? 90 bucks- 35x12 Fallmart.

As far as the mod goes-if you want more clearance...go higher wit da truck ya ninnies! j/k

Mine is inside as well. no matter what you do underneath 35s just don't go there.

 

[fj803fe]

or to the mystry 4 bolts on the bumper

Pintle Hook and/or Toy stock 2" reciever. Mystery SOLVED!!!

 

[tarbe]

Do the spare raise mod and find a tall skinny tire that is the same diameter of the 285 and stick it under there...

255/85-16

 

[tech_dog]

I've been combing the forum trying to find pictures of the spare tire mod, and it seems that all the FAQ's and writeups have had the picture links go bad.

Does anyone have pictures, or a link/thread with pictures, on how you do this?

Thanks,

Tom

 

[SWCruiser]

Tom,
I always like to have pics as well but after I got under the truck it was very straightforward. There is a long rectangular crossmember that is attached with three bolts on each side to brackets that are also bolted. All you have to is add some washers to push the cross member a little higher. The device that turns the chain has four bolts attaching it to the cross member. You will have to get longer bolts and washers for that to. I used the number of washers from the earlier post as a baseline and kept adding. I am not how many total as I am not at the truck but there are a lot of washers.

chris