Warranty should cover it.

My spare was unfortunately overtightened with an impact wrench at Pep Boys, but nothing bad happened.

 

Warranty should cover it. My spare was unfortunately overtightened with an impact wrench at Pep Boys, but nothing bad happened.

Why on earth would you expect FCA to cover damage caused by user error?

 

I torque down all my wheels with a torque wrench. But I hand tighten the spare tire. I don't think they required as much torque as the wheels on the ground. I was scared the tire carrier would crack if torque down to 100ft lbs

 

Wow.., are you sure you're not over torqued? I did torque my 35" tire with 17" wheel to 95 to Maximus-3 tire carrier.

 

The owners manual, Pg. 561 says the torque spec is 100 ft/lbs and there is no mention to special spec for the spare tire that I have found, maybe just common sense? I hand tightened the bolts first, then started tightening the bolts by rotating to every other bolt. The bottom bolt torqued to 95 ft/lbs, the top two stopped at a certain point and wouldn't tighten anymore. I'll find out the answer Monday at the dealer and if I find out I did make a dumb mistake, I'll let everyone else know the correct torque spec. The cracks are above the bolts in the metal of the carrier.

 

That's way too much torque on the tire carrier. It doesn't see the same forces that an axle hub will. I just snug mine up.

 

I agree. I just don't understand why they only mention one torque spec in the owners manual for the lug nuts/bolts and the only thing they mention regarding the spare tire carrier is the weight limit. I just want to get an answer from them for the correct amount for it; last thing I want is a broken spare tire carrier or worse, tire falling off and doing some serious damage to someone else.

 

according to here it's only suppose to be between 40-80lbs.

http://project-jk.com/jeep-jk-write-ups/jeep-jk-wrangler-torque-settings

 

I don't really care if it's warranty or not. I just want to know from them what the correct torque spec is and feel it should be listed in the manual. You tighten it too much and you get what I did, too loose and you may kill someone l.

 

Well, I went to the dealer today. It turns out that the damage wasn't from over-torquing. The way the racks were above on the plate and around the bolts them self, someone gave my Jeep a love tap at some point, which makes sense since I parallel park on a daily basis, that or someone hit me in a parking lot. Luckily, there is no damage to the body (tailgate), so it was a minor love tap. The dealership wanted $615 to fix it when I can get a new take off carrier for $60 on eBay, I said hell no. As for the torque specs, I asked, and they said there really is no issue with torquing the bolts on it and he didn't give an amount, so I plan on calling before I mount the spare again.

 

Where are you, I have a take-off carrier?

 

While we're on topic, I'll be installing a new carrier this week, the 8 bolts that support the carrier into the tailgate, would anyone mind confirming the torque spec on those? My torque wrench began clicking at 10 ft/lbs.

 

Mopar Spare Wheel Torque Specs (provided by Mopar Mechanic):

If you're wheel is:

Aluminum - 54 ft/lbs
Steel - 72 Ft/lbs

 

No problem... glad you got it resolved.