🔧 Rugged Ridge 11546.61 Spartacus Tire Carrier Hinge Casting for 1997-2006 Wrangler TJ – Heavy-Duty Upgrade Review

A great alternative to a bumper mounted luggage rack. I have no problem backing 35s, although I had to remove the stock bumper to close the tailgate. The stock bumper sticks out too much if you use bigger tires.

This is a very good item and very strong, it was easy to fit but I removed the 3rd headlight and bracket as it was the 3rd Windshield wipers interfered etc. I added another type of 3rd light source. The advice is to heat the torx a bit as it will likely either crack or round off the torx head. Good and a must if you want to fit the big wheel.

The hinge is a nice addition to my Jeep and saves me from the chronic tailgate rattle that was driving me insane. It was relatively easy to install with the included instructions and looks great. I only had two problems with this product. 1) The two spacers that should come with the hinge were nowhere to be found. They are used to attach the spare tire bracket to the jeep after the hinge is installed. I ended up making my own spacers using stacks of washers to achieve the desired thickness. 2)…