Member III
Last year I bought a cheap tire carrier rear bumper for my wife’s XJ off of amazon for $500. This is her backup vehicle, never sees offroad, and is seldomly even drivin.
For these reasons I wanted a lower cost alternative to the $1500 Smittybuilt I have on my XJ.
.
.
I like the looks and instillation was straght forward. A couple things I quickly ran into were the receiver pin hole was not drilled and there was no hole drilled on the swing hinge for a grease zirk. All easily remedied. Also, the listing says it will handle up to a 35” tire and Im only running a 32” so no expectations of issues.
.
.
After only 3000 highway miles, I noticed the tire moving around an excessive amount while driving. After inspecting, I found the welds for both tire carrier bars had broke and the bars were cracking
.
.
.
I was obviously very angry about this because of the potential danger. A tire and carrier falling off the back of a Jeep on the highway can get someone killed.
Think twice before buying cheap parts like this. Even if it is a street queen that will never see offroad.
For these reasons I wanted a lower cost alternative to the $1500 Smittybuilt I have on my XJ.
.
.
I like the looks and instillation was straght forward. A couple things I quickly ran into were the receiver pin hole was not drilled and there was no hole drilled on the swing hinge for a grease zirk. All easily remedied. Also, the listing says it will handle up to a 35” tire and Im only running a 32” so no expectations of issues.
.
.
After only 3000 highway miles, I noticed the tire moving around an excessive amount while driving. After inspecting, I found the welds for both tire carrier bars had broke and the bars were cracking
.
.
.
I was obviously very angry about this because of the potential danger. A tire and carrier falling off the back of a Jeep on the highway can get someone killed.
Think twice before buying cheap parts like this. Even if it is a street queen that will never see offroad.
Last edited:
