[cbrinly]

I'm going from my Cherokee to a new Wrangler next month. I want to avoid a hitch mount rack because I will use the tailgate as a trunk (tuffy security trunk) and I ride so often that I nearly always leave my rack on my jeep. I've been looking at the Thule SpareMe, Yakima SpareTime and Hollywood spare tire racks.

My tires will be 33x12.50R15 on wheels with a -19mm offset (3.75" backspacing, approximately 7" from the interior of the wheel mounting surface to the outside of the tire). None of the rack manufacturers claim that their racks will fit with a tire of those dimensions. I found one post claiming that the yakima will fit a 33x10 spare which is larger than yakima even claims it will work with. I am in the process of reading the Jeep thread to search for info but it is really long and that will take a while.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: I'm already planning an aftermarket tire carrier to address the extra weight from the bigger tire and bikes, so no worries there.

 

[Mr. D]

I have that size tire on my 2004 wrangler and I use a Yakima hitch rack. I had to use a hitch extender as well to get past my aftermarket bumper and tire carrier.

The yakima hitch rack has 1 large bolt that is the hitch pin. So if I need to get in the back it takes less than a few minutes to remove the rack and open the rear tailgate.

 

[cbrinly]

Thanks for the reply. The wrangler will be a soft top and the tailgate will be my access point to the security trunk, so the bike rack must not hinder access even the slightest bit. I'm only considering spare tire mounts at this point. Thanks all the same though.

If worst comes to worst and I can't find any decent stock standard solutions, I'll just get a Yakima SpareTime or Thule SpareMe and take it to a welder to get the post that goes through the spare extended so that it will fit with my tire. I'd prefer to find something that is made to work though. Ideas?