Nothing on mine touches anything when opening or closing all the way

 

Thanks! Good to know. I’ll keep messing with it. I wanted to be sure before I drilled the holes into the frame.

 

Still haven’t got it. Can’t wrap my head around how the horizontal tube of the carriers changes height through the range of motion, if the spindle is bolted firmly to the frame. Maybe I need more shim?

Another thing that has me scratching my head—the bracket on the tailgate is plumb and level...the carrier itself is not...the carrier sits squarely in the saddle when the tailgate is shut...

Can someone with the AEV carrier tell me if your light mast is plumb/level?

The directions are a little weird...you’re supposed the hold the carrier toward the Jeep, in the saddle, while you tighten it, but it shifts with the tightening. So you think perhaps shim it (they provide shims), but that’s two steps later, after they say to adjust the turnbuckle to draw the horizontal bar into the saddle—which I take to mean it is expected it won’t stay in the saddle after tightening it to the frame...but that’s not clear? Should I shim it until it stays in the saddle without adjusting the turnbuckle to draw it in?