seabass

I changed my rims from the stock backspace of 6.25" to 4.53" along with a 34" tire. This caused the tire to stick out and not touch the rubber bump stops on the tailgate and the tire no longer rested on the bumper like it did previously.

This caused the tailgate to start to rattle as the tire without any support other than the tire carrier acts like a lever. This seems to be a common problem on the forum with varied degrees of damage, I assume based on bumps etc. Most folks end up buying an aftermarket tire carrier. I was prepared to do the same but I though I would try to mod the stock carrier to snug the tire back into the tailgate and rest on the bumper when in transit. Simple to save weight and cost associated with an aftermarket carrier.

I removed 1.7" of length from the tire carrier. Sorry I don't have a before picture, if someone has one of the tire taken from the side sticking out it could be added to the thread.

You take the whole thing apart, including the top two studs that are mounted on a steel band bent inside the tire carrier.

I used a square to scribe a line all the way around the tire carrier. I used a skill saw with metal blade to cut the end of the tire carrier.

Then you take the cut of piece and fit it inside the remaining tire carrier. This allows you to slide the tire mounting piece in and out to get the distance you want. This is how it looks once it is inside the tire carrier.



I used 8 bolts with washers to reattached the tire mount to the tire carrier like this. You replace the steel band with the two studs, I just cold worked the steel to fit then chopped of the extra lenghth




The end result is the tire fits like stock agian. The brake light is in the right position and tire rests on the bumper to take the wieght off the tailgate, and it all cost $8 in bolts.





Might be an option for some folks.

ZoSo-Green

Nice work. Clean and simple.

4play

Awesome, I was worried about ours & really don't want or need an aftermarket bumper.
Thanks!

OoPEZoO

Looks like a lot of trouble when there is already a good ~$16 solution out there that takes about 30 seconds to install, but whatever works for ya

http://northridge4x4.com/proddetail....d=DS-KJ09144BK

4play

Cool , but the wheel/tire is still cantilevered 4" farther out than stock.

azrwilkinson

Mine no longer hit the factory stops, but the tire still rest on the bumper, and the offset is 4.5". So I did the daystar bumps like the guy gave a link too. Wish you had the before pic so we could really see what you are talking about. Good work anyways. Anything to save money!