XJ swing out or make room on roof

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Baby Jeep Overland

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327
Ottawa
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Just got an XJ, dream come true.
I habe a RTT and was planing to use a swing out for spare and fuel but it seems like a lot of weight for the vehicle. Putting a tire and fuel on the roof woried me about being top heavy and keeping duel by the tent doesnt seem ideal.
Can any body give advice?

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mjbateman01

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646
Terrell, TX, USA
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12067

I have a swing out for the spare and fuel cans on my roof rack above. Can not tell you know it has a lot of weight but did want to be top heavy, by the way i have 35" on 15" rims. I have not have an adventure where i have loaded the jeep too much but you could always add-a-leaf if your worried about weight.
 

MoreGone

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Advocate I

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Mesa, AZ
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Well if you plan to use the RTT on the XJ, doesn't sound like you have an option but to use the swingout tire carrier. Not enough room for the spare and RTT. Weight up high is always a concern during extreme offroad too. But sounds like in either case you will have weight, just deciding which weight.

Either way, I would go with the swing out tire carrier. You can easily upgrade the suspension to handle it. They are plentiful and affordable for the XJ (compared to my WJ). You will have room up top for the RTT which can be taken off when not needed.
 
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Horse Soldier

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Pathfinder I

1,798
Louisville Ky
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Davis
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To solve the question of on the roof or swing out carrier I opened the back door and put tire in and out 5 times, then I put it on the roof. On the 4th time it slipped and it bounced right into my wife BMW 7 series. I ordered a swing out tire carrier to the drivers side and added the 12 gallon titan fuel cell for ease of refilling my fuel tank. The Jerry can holder carries water. Wife is still mad.
 

36degreesNorth

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I ran a XJ with a roof mounted spare for 1 trip after that it was inside the rig or on a carrier. The reason, getting a spare off the roof and on the ground to change a sliced tire sucked. Tires are akwared and often have a good bit of weight to them. If you need your spare you want to make changing it as painless as possible. So I vote carrier.
 

BlueRidge150

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Contributor III

154
Greer, SC
To solve the question of on the roof or swing out carrier I opened the back door and put tire in and out 5 times, then I put it on the roof. On the 4th time it slipped and it bounced right into my wife BMW 7 series. I ordered a swing out tire carrier to the drivers side and added the 12 gallon titan fuel cell for ease of refilling my fuel tank. The Jerry can holder carries water. Wife is still mad.

What carrier do you, and others go with. And do y’all have pictures and maybe a brief reason why that particular one was chosen (don’t mean TJ hijack, may help OP too)
 

mjbateman01

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Enthusiast III

646
Terrell, TX, USA
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12067

ForumRunner_20130814_080853.jpg

This is mine, when i had 33" tires.... (old pic) I guess the only reason was that i did not a have a ton of money and picked it off Craigslist. It was pretty cheap and it did its purpose so i cannot complain, over 5 years later.... larger tire and a little rust. I can say it has gone beyond its price and simplicity.
 

Horse Soldier

Rank V
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Pathfinder I

1,798
Louisville Ky
First Name
B
Last Name
Davis
Member #

12114

What carrier do you, and others go with. And do y’all have pictures and maybe a brief reason why that particular one was chosen (don’t mean TJ hijack, may help OP too)
To be honest, my brother is a wielder and he made it for me when I told him what I was looking for. Sorry no pics I'm in Louisville ky and the xj is in ga at the house.