Has anyone opened up the inside of the rear hatch?

[xpeppyx]

This is just a random idea that came to me today. I was following a Jeep JK that didn't have his spare tire and that made me focus in on the mount for it. I know we don't have a large enough flat spot to mount it like the JK, but what if you welded 2 6x6" steel plates to the hatch on each side of the license plate. Then you could weld a large connecting bar between them and either bolt or weld a hub attachment to the center or offset depending on where you want the wheel. Of course with an extra 70-80llbs of wheel/tire plus the bracket weight and you'd need to upgrade your hatch struts if there are aftermarkets that fit.

Has anyone looked inside their hatch and seen how thick the metal is? I assume because of the window it's pretty hollow. I did some knocking on the hatch today and it seems pretty sturdy. Like I said just a crazy thought about something that would permanently alter the vehicle and probably decrease resale value, lol. I only think of this because the only aftermarket rear bumpers are soo expensive and no extra departure angle clearance and hitch mounted carriers never look right to me.

 

[Rocket61]

Can't comment on whether it would support a tire and carrier but I had it disassembled when I was replacing my hatch motor and striker. I would say it's the same thickness as a quarter panel or door.

Interested to see if anyone can pull this off. I'm thinking that you'd put a steel plate on the inside and secure it with bolts on the corners. Maybe one big one where the license plate goes or one on each side. I think the metal is too thin to weld. Making the hatch handle accessible and easy to get at would be a challenge. I think if you did it right and made it clean, it shouldn't hurt the vehicles resale value.

 

[drewm]

Umm, seriously? There's no way that thin sheet metal could hold 80lbs, it's going to be bending and flopping around just driving down the road. Look at the size of the metal bars that CBI uses for their rear swing away, you'd need to get close to that in strength yet the sliding glass window is also right there and gets very close to the exterior sheet metal, so there's no room left to build an interior frame. Also the hinges on the top most likely will deform from that amount of weight. I really think you should rethink that idea.

 

[xpeppyx]

Like I said it was just a crazy idea. Adding reinforcement on the inside wouldn't be an issue for me because I don't lower the rear window anyway. I remember Edmunds saying they had issues with the stock mount on the JK flexing the tailgate when they upgraded to a 90lb spare combo. I doubt the hinges would be an issue if you could find stronger struts to support it. I was just trying to brainstorm the feasibility of it. Or the lack of feasibility. I'd probably make a swing down tire carrier that welds to the frame and goes through the bumper before I'd try this anyway.

 

[Rocket61]

I guess it can be done with a swing out arm attached the the frame but at the end of the day, there's room for a full size spare under the back so what's the point? Sure it'll look good but it would be an awful lot of work just to relocate a spare tire. [MENTION=96713]drewm[/MENTION] makes a good point, even if you did get it on there snug it would still warp the door when going over bumps. That's a ton of custom fab work and it would put your truck out of commission for a while unless you're ok with driving without a rear hatch :driving:

 

[Riseagainst]

I've opened the inside of my hatch.

No way it would hold a tire. Ever.

Build/buy a steel bumper with a tire carrier.

 

[MikeInNH]

Build/buy a steel bumper with a tire carrier.

This is by far the best idea. I had to replace the electric latch on my 4runner a couple of months ago...so had take the rear panel off to access the latch. The metal is not even close to holding a tire.

 

[xpeppyx]

Thanks for confirming. I can now put that thought to rest.