When adding larger tires to your Jeep you can quickly find yourself in a situation where the spare tire doesn’t fit and hits the bumper. The 315/70R17 BFG KO2 tires we installed on the jeepfan.com Wrangler Rubicon 4xe wasn’t an exception to this reality. Now, the tire did fit and would need some forcing to get the tailgate to close but it just wasn’t acceptable in this way for the long term.
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We didn’t want an elaborate tire relocation solution but something simple. The tire is rather light for its size (thanks to its C rating) and was on the factory wheel. Just a little boost up was all that was needed. There are several options out there but the Quadratec kit was simple and only lifted the tire 1.75″ and out slightly less than 1″. In addition, the kit mount points attach the same as the factory carrier so there’s no more paint contact than factory.
Installation
This job only takes about 30 min. Remove the rear camera cover and then remove the wheel. unbolt the 8 bolts that hold on the factory tire carrier and use a bungee to hold the carrier to the side.
It’s necessary to trim the bottom corner of the rear vent, use a cutter and trim with a razor knife.
This kit uses a series of stacked spacers and captured bolts – pay attention to the instructions. Start by loosely installing at the top moving around and to the bottom. It can be a bit clumsy holding everything but it can all be installed with everything loose. With all the bolts in tighten the rear bolts.
The tire carrier can be installed but it will be necessary to pull the wiring harness from the rear of the tailgate to compensate for the added height. We needed to trim the factory boot to allow it to move on the wiring. There is extra slack within that allows it all to fit.
Tighten up the carrier and double check everything. The tire can be remounted and now will open and close with no contact with the bumper. In the near future a spacer may be added to the rubber bumpers to help with wobble (if there even is any). We also may raise the 3rd brake light but it’s not really being blocked by the tire.
Quadratec Tire Relocation Kit for JL
