Smittybilt HD Pivot Tire Carrier – 07-18 Jeep Wrangler JK/JKU- SB2843

With changing from stock wheels and tires to 17" wheels with -12mm offset and 35x12.5 tires the stock spare carrier wasn't going to work. I didn't want a bumper mounted carrier you had to open before opening the tailgate and hadn't decided what rear bumper I wanted to go with either. Going with the SmittyBilt HD Pivot Tire Carrier gave me options. Installation took about an hour and was fairly straightforward with the instructions actually being useful. With the weight of the carrier and extra set of helping hands are not a must but definitely worth having available. Everything lines up without having to angle bolts or twisting things to get it aligned. The fit and finish of this and all SmittyBilt products I've installed so far are superior to others I've had the displeasure of installing. The tailgate hinges are definitely and upgrade from stock and provide much better support to the tailgate as well as looking awesome. An option I installed at the same time is the SmittyBilt high lift jack mount that attaches to the tire carrier. I was impressed to the point that shortly after installing the tire and jack carriers I installed the SmittyBilt XRC Gen 2 rear bumper and have the XRC Gen2 front bumper on order.

I love everything about this carrier. It is heavy duty and very well made (even though it is made in China). But OMG those instructions suck. They are about three steps beyond suck to be honest. Advice: There is a YouTube video on installing this thing. 2 very important points, one of which I did and the other I didn’t. Put some wood under the tailgate and ensure there is some pressure. This holds the tailgate in place and saves you from a bunch of trouble. Tape the gate in place wherever you can put tape. Don’t scrimp. :). The next is to measure the distance from the studs in the old spare mount to the ground. This will save you some disassembly and adjustment pain (ask me how I know). The best instruction that comes with the mount is the color picture on the outside of the box. That is of more value than the entire instruction pamphlet. Seriously could they use worse pictures and the steps leave out critical things. They reference part numbers of brackets and bolts but the parts themselves are not labeled. So first step is a practice assembly with an adult beverage of your choice. That was something I didn’t do and it would have saved me hours. But it is not on and it is what I wanted, looks good and will hold up. And the story of how one old man got that 20” wheel with 35” tires back on the mount is one for another day.

Great product, works really well. Install was easy once you figure out what to do, as there are parts that are in the bag that are not used (the 4 metal plates) and no details where the EPDM gaskets go (against the Jeep's body) and customer service does not at all respond, ever. All that aside - this product is great. It is really sturdy, supports any size tire really well, looks great, and fits great. I really like it and would buy it again, but the instructions need massive updates, and you're better off asking me how to install it - I will respond much faster :)

BETTER THAN I EXPECTED - I just upgraded this on my 2014 2 door JK. I am running 2.5" lift with 33" tires on 17" MT Rims. My tailgate and vehicle overall is in very well kept shape with 56k miles on it. I see many people running much larger lift/tire set ups. This is a must have for oversize tire. REMOVES the rear end tire shake and noise - vehicle just feels more solid! So why only 4 stars? Included directions are lousy - you tube videos and just some common sense needed to install. You will need at least 2 people to install - it is heavy and tailgate needs some support while hinges are off. .I used my M/T spacer along with the Smittybuilt kit to get my tire bolt pattern to work properly. (otherwise would have been upside down. Expensive - but worth it.

My tailgate now opens as if it was new and had no tire on it! It's amazing how nice this is for an upgrade replacement to the EAG that I had previously. It's nice to have all the rattles gone. I did also install a new upgraded tailgate latch bump stop to go with it. It's really heavy! The instructions aren't great, but here's what I did... Hold that big heavy hinge up to it's closed position. Insert top torx bolt by taillight and get a few threads started. Support it as you insert and thread the lower one. Tighten these down until they're almost seated. Open the hinge to expose the 4 inner torx screws and insert and start those. Once they're all in there, start torquing them all down. Close the hinge. Insert and start the tailgate bolts. Tighten them down until almost seated, allowing the tailgate to be adjusted still. I used a wire cutting tool under the edge of the tailgate to pry and lift the gate until the upper angle on it was aligned with the angle on the upper body. Then I tightened two bolts before letting go of the bottom. Then fully tightened all 4. Hold the mount inside the spare tire to figure out which holes need the studs. I stuck the stud through, and added a lock washer for a larger bolt, and a flat washer to it and then used the supplied lug nut to pull the stud through. The base of the stud will come through the hole, so the over sized lock washer allowed it to come through to be fully seated. The instructions show you how to figure out what depth to set the tire mount to. If you're going to use the brake light mount, install it's "L" shaped brace on the top before torquing that bolt down. Next figure out where you need the tire mount to be on the carrier. That's tricky. I put it where I thought it should fit, and had to move it two holes higher. I have 35" tires and a barricade rear bumper. I needed the bottom of the tire mount barely above the bottom center of the carrier. The brake light extension goes between the carrier and mount. The way it goes is with the channel opening to the brace. This part can be installed after the carrier is bolted to the tailgate though. I cut the bottom end off so I could get it to sit lower than intended. Putting the carrier assembly on the tailgate is awkward, assistance would be helpful. The 4 rubber gaskets in the kit go between the carrier and the mounting surface. With my left hand and my belly, I held the carrier up and pushed a top right bolt through and placed the gasket on it then started the bolt threads. I then grabbed the next bolt for that corner and positioned the gasket in place and started the threads. The bolts are long enough to make this easier to do than it sounds. Then torque the bolts down. Time to put the tire on and see if you got the mount in the right place. My first attempt was too low. Now you can install the brake light extension. As I stated earlier, I cut mine at the 3rd hole from the bottom, so I could get it to sit low enough to line up with the tire. I have a brake light tire ring, so my plan is to use this spot to mount an additional backup light, or the VHF antenna.

Excelente !!

Great product. This instructions are awful but loads of youtube videos available to show how it goes together. Actually very easy to fit.

Mounted this spare tire carrier today. Instructions are lacking but YouTube has some good videos. Very solid and well built. I’m very happy with it! Tailgate is smooth and new hinges are quiet. Holds my 35” spare no problem :) Would definitely recommend this product!!

One of the best tire carrier . It’s sturdy and it can accommodate my 35 inch spare tire . Need to bend 3rd brake light holder a little bit to suit it better

No more clunk! I have a 35 tire on the back of my jk and it was clunking so bad. The stock hinges just can’t handle that weight. This tire holder solved that problem. I give the product 5 stars...........but wow those instructions are garbage!!!! Had to YouTube it and use a few different videos. That was definitely the most frustrating part of this install. It needs STEP by STEP instructions.