tire carrier

[dellstopjeep]

so im not lookin for a roof rack anymore becasue i dont think its worh the money. I dont want to tie down my spare tho with ratchet ties to the factory gutter mounts. I have seen on LOCKED UP's jeep (he is in this forum and jeep forums) a carrier which looks like to flat pieces of metal or wood attached to the gutter and holdin the tire down. It is called a mopar tire carrier, but i am lookin for one for a 89 xj rather than a brand new one. Does anyone know what im talkin about or can they lead me in the right direction???

 

[Moto]

It sounds like you are looking for a factory roof top tire carrier, that was sold through Mopar. I don't think that you will have much luck finding a brand new one. The only place that I know that you may have a chance at finding one would be at http://www.lambertauto.com/. They are a Jeep dealership that stocks alot of old inventory, another member on here told me about them, and I was able to buy the factory skid with everything for cheap $$. IIRC Sidriptide had found a way to adapt the tire carrier that fits the newer Jeeps, to the pre-97 ones. You should try and send him a PM and ask him about it.

 

[sidriptide]

i scored a mopar carrier real cheap and in order to use it on both my rigs i adapted the roof rack from a 98 XJ (but i think 94 and newer will work.. not sure when they changed styles... ) find the full length rails.. some shorter ones are around.. the newer style rails will line up with the old style nutserts in the roof.. except the very first and very last hole.. i needed to drill 4 new holes and plug the 4 pre-existing ones.. sounds all easy..
here's the problem.. when you remove the old rack from the roof the screws that thread into the rubber nutserts will often pull the metal threads out of the rubber grommet... once this happens its useless.. after years of being compressed and tight they dont respond well to any kind of changes.. the nutsets (as of november) are on "natuional backorder" with DC and that tells me they are just gonna discontinue them..... the newer sttyle rack is help on with rivet-type nutserts.. and the 1/2" hole in the older rig are too big... i ended up using stanless screws and big and small washers to mount the rails on the roof...... now i can use the carrier on both rigs as needed.... i hope you get some usefull tips from my ramblings... the new style rack cost me $25 at a u pull it.... and about $20 in stainless....
mike