Lod Xtreme Bummper/Tire Carrier Write-up
Hey all, After about four weeks waiting time I recieved my new Lod Xtreme Bummper/Tire Carrier. The packaging was good however the end of the bumper did somehow manage to punch a small hole in the box through the foam it was packed in. It came in two boxes, one had the bumper, bolts, and brackets and the other had the swingarm.
The bumper was $468.00 shipped. Seeing as most tire carriers reach prices around $700 to me that ment i would have a place to mount my spare, and my hi-lift while still having money left over to buy something else.
Things I liked after inspecting the bumper and its components...
-The swing arm was much beefyer then my last tire carrier
-Welds looked very good, equal quality to many of the other parts i currently have on my jeep
-The bumper is solid, made out of 3/16 steel
-Latch is simple, but still allows for "slam shut"
-Has frame tie in brackets because it mounts inside the frame rails for greater strength
-The 2 inch hitch reciever was welded on both sides with the safety chain holes hidden out of sight
Things i didnt like as much after inspecting the bumper and its components...
-It didnt come with instructions or a zerker for the swingarm like it was supposed to
-The frame rail tie in brackets were not powedercoated so i had to prime and paint them (not a big deal)
-The D-ring towpoints are only surface welded
-The swing arm simply slides onto the pin on the bumper with no cap
-Seeing as my old swing arm was stolen I would have liked the swing arm to be less easy to pull off the lower part of the carrier.
After install some of the things I liked about the setup...
-The tire carrier sits up close to the body of the jeep, i didnt like how many tire carriers have the tire sitting far away from the tailgate
-No rattles at all so far! The setup is very snug, with the only exception being the handle to the hi-lift jack which I had to tie down (ill buy the handle isolator to fix this)
-install was relatively easy with very few parts to put together
-Since it is adjustable I can someday upgrade to a wider tire or different wheel backspacing without worry
-The tire acts as a stop so the swing arm cant swing to far open and damage sheetmetal
After install some of the things i did not like as much about the setup...
-Although it seems very secure it only is held on by the 6 bolts, i would have prefered to have kept the bolts outside the framerails and added the inner bolts for extra strength
-As stated before there is a lack of security, but this is not unlike many other more expensive tire carriers
-Once again as stated before, the d-ring tow points are only surface welded so i will have to use the hitch on hard pulls
-I didnt like how i had to modify a rubber tire stop that is on the tail gate
Problems i ran into during install...
-Had to buy spray paint and grease (not a big deal)
-it took the longest time out of everything to get the support brackets behind the frame crossmember
-Use a very very short pencil to mark on the bumper where you have to drill, i acually used masking tape on the bumper so i could see where my pencil marks were easier
-When you modify the rubber tire stop dont cut to much off, you want it to be very snug to avoid rattles. Also I made the mistake of cutting off the back of the stop so i could keep the stock rounded look, but i didnt realize that there is a little metal sleeve in the rubber. I cut the sleeve and by doing so wasnt able to bolt the stop back on the jeep. I had to fill the hole with rubber shoe glue and put the sleeve back in. It did however turn out to be a clean look.
-Make sure you put the tire on after you adjust the backspacing bracket and have the tire pressed firmly against the carrier with no play.
www.4x4xplor.com is where i got information to help with install and is also where i found the tire carrier. Its a very nice cite you should check it out if you get a chance, he has some great write-ups. If you need more pictures just ask, sorry if i made them to big i thought it would be better to get the detail.
Like i said the tire carrier is great for the price and would still be great if they had charged more! It was perfect for me because now i have that extra bit of money i can put back into the jeep.
Pictures!
Rear View
Side view
Sing arm
Latch
Pin (missing zerker)
Hitch Reciever
Mounting Plate
After trimming Rubber stopper
) and since i was a little short on cash and heard some good things i decided on Lod. I was just wondering if anyone wanted me to do a short write-up on it like the good, bad, problems with install type of thing? I wasnt sure if it was allowed on a forum like this or if you guys cared to hear about it? Pics will be included of course
