Jeep Expandable Rear Tire Carrier
The customer asked to have the option of carrying (2) 5gal gas cans for longer trips. He did not want them up high blocking the rear view or to the side of the tire blocking the tail lights. With most of the trips not needing the cans, I offered up an adjustable option that allowed two things. One, being able to carry two cans in a very secure way. Two, with the cans removed, being able to move the tire closer to the body of the jeep helping with balance and drop of angle of the jeep. The customer also wanted to only have one handle to open the rear door and not have a latch for the tire carrier. That meant that the tire carrier would need to swing with the rear door and have the door not carry any of the weight.
With the current aftermarket bumper in place, there was very little to work with as far as mounting the axle hub I planned to use to mount the swing arm. Once that was figured, it was time to lay out where the tire would sit when closed and open in relation to the rear door. Since the two pivot points could not be on top of one another, the connection between the rear door and the swing arm, would need to be a floating one. The sliding portion of the tire carrier would be made with hitch receiver tubing, which has no internal weld seam. Using a locking hitch pin, the tire was able to be locked into the two locations. I decided to mount the cans facing each other and tucked under the tire slide, allowed them to be locked into place and the fill caps to not be removed, preventing theft. The swing arm was connected to the rear door with ball joints, allowing the connection to float and not bind.