Did Ford make a mistake bolting the spare directly to tailgate?

[Megawatt]

My concern is coming off a waterfall/drop off catching the tire on a rock and push in the tailgate. I rather have a swingout gate for the mount because they save your tailgate. This is a flawed design to have it mounted on the tailgate.

Then it looks like a $1000 aftermarket rear bumper and tire carrier will be in your future to take the weight off the tail gate. This will securely hold of the tire on a structural steel designed tire carrier instead of sheet metal. It’s not a flawed design, it is a cost effective design that works for 99% of 4wd owners.

I went that route on my Jeep With an atlas tire carrier.

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[Hey19]

Never had a vehicle with a tail mounted spare so I will reserve judgment till when I see it and have time to really look at it. As it stands now, I'm kinda feeling it may move to the cargo area on a cool pre-runner style rack.

 

[Garbone]

Tailgate mounted spare was never an issue with my Suzuki Samurai. Had a hardtop, door did go out of alignment when I rolled the truck tho, don't think the vehicle was designed for inversion.

 

[Xodric]

Any Jeep owners had their spare messed with?

 

[Megawatt]

....As it stands now, I'm kinda feeling it may move to the cargo area on a cool pre-runner style rack.

A 4 door wrangler and a bronco are about the same size. In that picture is a 33” MT tire. If you put a pre runner style rack inside the cargo compartment you will loose all that space. A spare tire probably will not even fit on a rack inside the Bronco. Remember the rack is gonna lift the tire about 8” above the floor.

Tailgate mounted spare was never an issue with my Suzuki Samurai. Had a hardtop, door did go out of alignment when I rolled the truck tho, don't think the vehicle was designed for inversion.

A little Suzuki samurai has tiny tires so it hanging off the tailgate should never be an issue. You start to move into 33” tires your looking at 100+lbs. Even more with 35” wheels. Problem is driving on rutted roads and having that 100 lb wheel eventually damaging the tailgate. its will not be a problem for mall crawlers that never drive off road.

Any Jeep owners had their spare messed with?

Get wheel locks on the spare if theft is a possibility. I did recently have my high lift stolen last month. Dork had a 3/4” socket to remove the two bolts holding it down on top of my tire carrier.

 

[Hey19]

A 4 door wrangler and a bronco are about the same size. In that picture is a 33” MT tire. If you put a pre runner style rack inside the cargo compartment you will loose all that space. A spare tire probably will not even fit on a rack inside the Bronco. Remember the rack is gonna lift the tire about 8” above the floor.

IMHO there isn't enough cargo space to really worry about. It is just a thought, something I want to look at. I do have reservations about the longevity of the tailgate with the tire mounted to it. It really is all speculation at this point.

 

[TheWolf]

Any Jeep owners had their spare messed with?

Not that I knew of, it was always as I had left it.

And to be honest, despite a dwindling faith in humanity, even leaving change in the console, or sunglasses in a cup holder, I have never had anything taken from either a CJ-7 or a JKU.

However, when parking topless when I had doors, I was always sure to "idiot-proof" it by rolling up the windows and locking the doors.

Here's to an inherent sense of morals!

 

[quattroa4m]

Any Jeep owners had their spare messed with?

No, a none issue.

This none issue is right in there with plastic bumpers.

If you’re going relatively hardcore off road, chances are, you’re replacing bumpers. And if you’re worried about the spare, chances are you’re ponying up for a dedicated carrier, or putting it on top, in the back, etc.

if you’re worried about caving in the tailgate, a dedicated tire carrier probably isn’t the solution.

 

[NC_Pinz]

Tailgate mounted spare is a non-issue if it was designed well by the manufacturer. My FJCruiser had it and it was fine. Upgraded to 33s and it was a non-issue. The Bronco will be fine.

Oh and whoever said 33s means 100 lbs...you need to go check you info. It is not.

 

[Dillhole]

Oh and whoever said 33s means 100 lbs...you need to go check you info. It is not.

Damn right! My 33" wheel/tire weigh in at a nice 69 pounds. 20 for the rim and 49 for the tire.

 

[Broncocito]

BFG MUD TERRAIN T/A KM3 33 X12.50R17 weigh around 68bs and add some Method race wheels 28lbs you are 96lbs. Just saying. Obviously non-offroad tires or cheap ATs will weigh much less.

Manufacturer	BFGoodrich
Brand	BFGoodrich
Model	BFGOODRICH® Mud-Terrain T/A® KM3
Item Weight	68 pounds
Product Dimensions	32.5 x 12.5 x 32.5 inches
Item model number	01898
Manufacturer Part Number	01898
Cover Included	Rims not included
Special Features	Tread-Attack Tread Design, Mud-Phobic Bars, Krawl-Tek Technology, CoreGard Max Technology
Section Width	12.5 Inches
Aspect Ratio	12.5
Construction	Radial
Rim Diameter	17 Inches
Load Index Rating	120
Speed Rating	Q
Tread Depth	18 32nds

 

[Desert_6G]

It's been brought up before, all that weight... Especially a 35...on that swing gate. Pretty sure Jeeps use a separate tubular hinged mount for the spare? And this opens up a lot of aftermarket cargo goodies to mount to it.
I really don't see this will happen with the Bronc, and that's a shame... And missed opportunity..

I'm sure Ford's engineers are smart enough to engineer it to support the largest tire they offer. I"m sure anything aftermarket Jeep offers are just there to support anything bigger than what the factory offers.

 

[Gotdesl]

I had a 2007 JK that ran 35x12.5r17 on ATX Artillery 17x10 rims. Conjoined weight would have been right at 100 lbs. I never had an issue with that weight hanging off of the tailgate, however it was at the upper limit as far as physical size clearing the bumper and high mount brake light. I would assume with the physical size limitation that the engineers had an upper design weight to match the mounting system. As far as offroad, living in the mountains of north east Alabama gave it plenty of opportunity to become stressed. Assuming the Bronco is at least an equivalent build, I'm not worried about hanging at least a 35" off of it. If you are using the bumper or tire as a ground contact stepping off of rocks or obstacles, you will definitely want something aftermarket. Just my prior experience and opinion in a competitive vehicle, your mileage or experiences may have a different result.

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