bhochuli

Hi All,

I would like to carry a 31" spare where the normal spare sits in an XJ. What
kind of bracket arrangement works for this? The normal holddown bolt is way
too short to reach through the 31s since they won't fit the cutout.

Any aftermarket parts/sources?

I am not crazy about bungee cords or rubber straps. I don't want this thing
coming at the back of my head in case of a mishap on or off the road.

Thanks,

Bruce

Matt Macchiarolo

In article <1064969646.257464@sj-nntpcache-3>, "bhochuli" <bhochuli@cisco.com>
writes:

>I would like to carry a 31" spare where the normal spare sits in an XJ. What
>kind of bracket arrangement works for this? The normal holddown bolt is way
>too short to reach through the 31s since they won't fit the cutout.
>
>Any aftermarket parts/sources?
>
>I am not crazy about bungee cords or rubber straps. I don't want this thing
>coming at the back of my head in case of a mishap on or off the road.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Bruce

Tried it in my (now sold) XJ and I found I couldn't set the rear seatback in
place with a 31" tire. If you aren't using your rear seat I guess it would be a
non-issue.
* * *
Matt Macchiarolo
www.townpeddler.com
www.wolverine4wd.org
http://wolverine4wd.org/rigs/macchiarolo_ml.html

Matt Macchiarolo

In article <1064969646.257464@sj-nntpcache-3>, "bhochuli" <bhochuli@cisco.com>
writes:

>I would like to carry a 31" spare where the normal spare sits in an XJ. What
>kind of bracket arrangement works for this? The normal holddown bolt is way
>too short to reach through the 31s since they won't fit the cutout.
>
>Any aftermarket parts/sources?
>
>I am not crazy about bungee cords or rubber straps. I don't want this thing
>coming at the back of my head in case of a mishap on or off the road.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Bruce

Tried it in my (now sold) XJ and I found I couldn't set the rear seatback in
place with a 31" tire. If you aren't using your rear seat I guess it would be a
non-issue.
* * *
Matt Macchiarolo
www.townpeddler.com
www.wolverine4wd.org
http://wolverine4wd.org/rigs/macchiarolo_ml.html

Kevin in San Diego

Yep, the bracket isnt the problem, its the rear hatch and seat. It will lay
flat back there, but then you lose tons of storage. The roof is a tough
place to bring it down from, it makes you tippy and you have less clearance.
The rear bumper is popular but can cost a bunch to do it right. At least you
dont have 35"s :)
KH

"Matt Macchiarolo" <mlmacchia@aol.comspambgon> wrote in message
news:20030930224608.14837.00003317@mb-m03.aol.com...
> In article <1064969646.257464@sj-nntpcache-3>, "bhochuli"
<bhochuli@cisco.com>
> writes:
>
> >I would like to carry a 31" spare where the normal spare sits in an XJ.
What
> >kind of bracket arrangement works for this? The normal holddown bolt is
way
> >too short to reach through the 31s since they won't fit the cutout.
> >
> >Any aftermarket parts/sources?
> >
> >I am not crazy about bungee cords or rubber straps. I don't want this
thing
> >coming at the back of my head in case of a mishap on or off the road.
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> >Bruce
>
> Tried it in my (now sold) XJ and I found I couldn't set the rear seatback
in
> place with a 31" tire. If you aren't using your rear seat I guess it would
be a
> non-issue.
> * * *
> Matt Macchiarolo
> www.townpeddler.com
> www.wolverine4wd.org
> http://wolverine4wd.org/rigs/macchiarolo_ml.html
>
>
>
>

Kevin in San Diego

Yep, the bracket isnt the problem, its the rear hatch and seat. It will lay
flat back there, but then you lose tons of storage. The roof is a tough
place to bring it down from, it makes you tippy and you have less clearance.
The rear bumper is popular but can cost a bunch to do it right. At least you
dont have 35"s :)
KH

"Matt Macchiarolo" <mlmacchia@aol.comspambgon> wrote in message
news:20030930224608.14837.00003317@mb-m03.aol.com...
> In article <1064969646.257464@sj-nntpcache-3>, "bhochuli"
<bhochuli@cisco.com>
> writes:
>
> >I would like to carry a 31" spare where the normal spare sits in an XJ.
What
> >kind of bracket arrangement works for this? The normal holddown bolt is
way
> >too short to reach through the 31s since they won't fit the cutout.
> >
> >Any aftermarket parts/sources?
> >
> >I am not crazy about bungee cords or rubber straps. I don't want this
thing
> >coming at the back of my head in case of a mishap on or off the road.
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> >Bruce
>
> Tried it in my (now sold) XJ and I found I couldn't set the rear seatback
in
> place with a 31" tire. If you aren't using your rear seat I guess it would
be a
> non-issue.
> * * *
> Matt Macchiarolo
> www.townpeddler.com
> www.wolverine4wd.org
> http://wolverine4wd.org/rigs/macchiarolo_ml.html
>
>
>
>

Grumman-581

"bhochuli" wrote ...
> I would like to carry a 31" spare where the normal spare sits in an XJ.

The rear seat gets in the way of carrying it vertically like the normal
spare tire... If you lay the tire flat, it will fit in there since the back
of the rear seat slants to the rear thus making the distance between the
back of the rear seat and the rear door greater at the bottom than it is at
the top of the seat... If you had really wide 31 inchers, you still might
not be able to fit it in even when you placed it horizontally in the rear
area and you might be required to always fold the seat forward...

Personally, I would suggest putting it on the roof... Yeah, it's a little
more difficult to get to up there, but changing tires is not something you
do all that often anyway, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal... I'm
running 31x10.50s on my XJ and I find the roof to be a very good place to
put the spare... I made a 'temporary' bracket that worked with the original
roof rack and left it on there for a year before I got around to building a
more suitable roof rack as a replacement... These days, I have a custom
built roof rack that allows me to carry the spare, quite a few cans of gas,
a couple of coolers, and scuba tanks and it still has room for more stuff...
Of course, with all that up there, it won't fit in my garage anymore... I'm
not a big fan of putting spare tires on the rear hatch or bumper since minor
fender benders can cost a lot of money if they hit your tire and it goes
into the hatch / rear door... Plus, I'm always needing to gain access to the
rear cargo area and putting the spare there would make it constantly in the
way... I've never needed to gain access to the spare, so having it on the
roof makes perfect sense to me... On the other hand, if you are physically
challenged to the point where you can't lift a 31" tire over your head,
perhaps the roof might not be a good spot for your spare...

Grumman-581

"bhochuli" wrote ...
> I would like to carry a 31" spare where the normal spare sits in an XJ.

The rear seat gets in the way of carrying it vertically like the normal
spare tire... If you lay the tire flat, it will fit in there since the back
of the rear seat slants to the rear thus making the distance between the
back of the rear seat and the rear door greater at the bottom than it is at
the top of the seat... If you had really wide 31 inchers, you still might
not be able to fit it in even when you placed it horizontally in the rear
area and you might be required to always fold the seat forward...

Personally, I would suggest putting it on the roof... Yeah, it's a little
more difficult to get to up there, but changing tires is not something you
do all that often anyway, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal... I'm
running 31x10.50s on my XJ and I find the roof to be a very good place to
put the spare... I made a 'temporary' bracket that worked with the original
roof rack and left it on there for a year before I got around to building a
more suitable roof rack as a replacement... These days, I have a custom
built roof rack that allows me to carry the spare, quite a few cans of gas,
a couple of coolers, and scuba tanks and it still has room for more stuff...
Of course, with all that up there, it won't fit in my garage anymore... I'm
not a big fan of putting spare tires on the rear hatch or bumper since minor
fender benders can cost a lot of money if they hit your tire and it goes
into the hatch / rear door... Plus, I'm always needing to gain access to the
rear cargo area and putting the spare there would make it constantly in the
way... I've never needed to gain access to the spare, so having it on the
roof makes perfect sense to me... On the other hand, if you are physically
challenged to the point where you can't lift a 31" tire over your head,
perhaps the roof might not be a good spot for your spare...