Gr8tops Exogate HD Tire Carrier Installation

WolfGT · Dec 2, 2012

I like carrying the tire in the back of the Jeep. I like that the weight is right over the rear axle and low. But, having to move it and remount it whenever I need to put the back seat back in and the fact that my storage/hauling space is severely effected, I started looking for a way to mount my tire on the back. Since it's a 35" tire, it doesn't fit on the stock tire carrier (it hits the bumper). It's also too heavy for the tailgate. I don't really like the bulk of the bumper mounted tire carriers so I started looking at the type that reinforce the stock location and enable the mounting of a larger tire. The Gr8tops Exogate is what I decided on.

Here is the box it came in

Here is how it was packed (nice)

And all of the components layed out on the floor

I will try to document this installation for everyone here. If you have any questions, let me know.

97TJGUZZY · Dec 3, 2012

I'm looking forward to the installation pictures. and some reviews.

97TJGUZZY · Dec 14, 2012

we need MOAR pichurs

WolfGT · Dec 27, 2012

Took some time to work on the Jeep tonight, but as you will see, I didn't get far.

Pulled the rubber bumpers off the tailgate and cleaned the dirty spots.

Then removed the plastic cover on the inside of the tailgate. As you can see, I had already removed the third brake light wiring and mud was coming through the hole into the plastic cover. (need to put a plug in this).

Then removed the remaining bracket and cleaned the spot.

Then to the outside. Time to remove the stock hinges. Here is a before picture of the hinges.

The torx (T-40) socket used to remove the bolts.

I was able to break all of the bolts loose except one. Then this happened.

It was my only T-40. I wasn't in the mood to run to the store and my heater ran out of propane so I called it a night..... more to come.

irmoxj · Dec 27, 2012

Looking good Greg. Gotta love torx I break then daily at work

WolfGT · Dec 29, 2012

OK, here we go....

I went out and got another T-40 socket so I could continue this project.....it didn't help. The bit started to twist just like the other so I stopped. I drilled the bolt with the proper sized bit and it popped right off.

The threaded part of the bolt came right out. Could have done it with my fingers if I would have tried.

If I would have read all of the Gr8tops instructions, I would have known that Jeep uses some sort of locking compound on the bolt head (not the threads, the head). And heating the head with a torch for 30 seconds would have softened it. But even knowing that, I probably would have done the same thing because I wouldn't have risked messing up the paint with a torch.

And for anyone wondering, there is no paint under the hinges on a 2002 Jeep Wrangler. No it isn't warn off, there just isn't any there.

The kit came with two little plastic plugs. They are supposed to be used to fill in unused snubber bolt holes in later model jeeps. I didn't need them for this purpose but luckily, one of them fit perfectly in the hole left after removing the third brake light. Nice.

A look at the hardware for the kit (I figured out later that there is one 2" bolt missing from this picture. It fell out of the bag and was laying over by the other parts.)

After flipping the main bracket around 10 different ways, I finally figured out how it goes on. This is it attached. Found out later that it should only be attached with 4 bolts, I removed the top center one. (unless I lost another bolt somewhere).

Time to put the snubber bumpers on. There are two sets of bolts for the bumpers. Depending on what year of Jeep you have, the threads are different. You can see here which ones I needed to use when comparing to the stock bolt (the lighter colored one).

Then I noticed that one of the bumpers is bigger than the other four. Didn't notice this before so I figured I would show everyone. I figured it was the one that goes between the tailgate and the bumper. No other option really.

Here it is so far with the bumpers installed with no spacers.

WolfGT · Dec 29, 2012

Now with the main bracket loosely mounted to the tailgate, it's time to mount the hinges. The upper hinge mounts through the tub and then there is a bracket that goes on the inside that ties the hinge into the roll cage. I removed the roll cage mounting bolt in preparation.

Here is the hinge, spacer bar and tie-in bracket laid out with hardware.

This is the piece that is removed from the inside of the tub. Replaced by the setup shown above.

Here it is installed (not tight yet).

The bottom hinge is installed using the stock nut retainer (like the piece removed from the upper). Here are the hinges loosely installed. Also you will see that the lower hinge has an additional backer plate for weight distribution.

And then attached to the tailgate bracket (still loosely attached)

WolfGT · Dec 29, 2012

I found that the snubbers would not tighten down and sit flush because there was a raised area around the hole on the back (where it was squished in the stock mounting hole). I took a file to each snubber to smooth it out.

Here is the entire setup all tightened up. I wedged a wide screw driver in the bottom gap of the tailgate to level it and then tightened all of the bolts.

And the tire in place.

You can see here that it clears the bumper nicely but the snubbers are not touching. This was expected. But the instructions say to install it this way and then figure out what spacers to use.

Here are the spacers for the snubbers (purchased separately, not part of the kit).

And installed.

WolfGT · Dec 29, 2012

This is when I found out that even with one spacer on each of the bottom three snubbers, they didn't touch. It would take another spacer on each ... that I didn't have. But what I did have was spacers that are meant to go between the tire carrier and the main bracket if needed. I didn't need them. So....I cut them up and made more spacers.

They are not full pieces as you can see, but when they are installed, you won't be able to tell.

Here they are on the bottom three snubbers. Fits good. By my measurements, the upper snubbers would need 3 spacers to touch the tire. And with that many spacers I don't think the bolts are long enough. I'm not worried at the moment. With the bottom three nice and tight, the tire doesn't move much. I'll figure that out at a later time.

WolfGT · Dec 31, 2012

Here are a couple pictures of it open.

VOLT · Jan 1, 2013

Looks good Greg. Nice writeup too.

97TJGUZZY · Jan 2, 2013

Looks good Greg. Nice work with the writeup.