Does anyone know anything about mounting the spare tire on top of the KJ's roof without using a roof-rack? I've seen a guy with his spare chained in between his Thule bars on a Cherokee, but this seems unsafe...Is there anyway to mount the tire atop via a bolt-on mounting system? Whether or not one exist, is the roof stable enough to support a 31" M/T tire on an aluminum rim? I want to move my spare up top so I can mount Jerry gas cans in it's place, but don't want to get a roof-rack just for the spare. Any help is appreciated!

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2003 Limited, Silver - L.O.S.T. # 068957 Rockies
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2127390/14
2006 Kawasaki KLR650

I think you will want at least crossbars to mount it, probably the basket to make it easier. Putting it directly on the roof is bound to cause a cave-in, especially with that much weight and the type of bouncing up and down that is to be expected when offroading. (think of your face if you saw a little kid jumping up and down on your roof)

I would sooner put it on the hood than the roof, I think the hood may be a little more sturdy. But that will obstruct your vision quite a bit. Somebody on the board fabbed up a jerry can holder that was hitch-mounted and held the cans to both sides of the spare, it was pretty ingenious.

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Jeff 2005 Jeep Liberty Renegade
4x4, 6spd, Leather, Sunroof, trak-loc, skids/rails, hitch+shackle, hooks, Alpine/iPod, Thule, GPS, CB, Frankenlifted w/ 31" MTRs
Photos Cardomain

phxtoad did that. He has pictures in the fabrication section if you want to give it a try.

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Nanette

03 Freedom with some neat stuff done to it that I learned about here.

I once tried to sit on the roof of my KJ at the drive in with my GF. With 180 pounds of me and 110 pounds of her-the roof dented I was able to pop out the dent to where it can't be seen, but i wouldn't put any kind of weight (50 pounds or more) on the roof. Yer askin fer trouble!

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'02 KJ Sport V6 4x4
3/8" Clevis lift
Rusty's 2.5 lift
255/70/R16 Fleet Farm All Terrain (yes they work)
Class 3 hitch
Hellas
Police Scanner/CB radio
LOST #: JH061986

If u don't want a whole rack type thing, get a couple pieces of sturdy angle iron. Bolt them to the roof rails side to side with coated u-bolts (bolt heads facing up, "U" under the roof rails), have them facing each other and lay a heavy piece of flat steel (diamond plate might look nice) between them maybe 18-24" long and wide enough to sit on top of ure roof rails for support (or mount the angle iron under ure roof rails for a lower profile and flip the u bolts over). Weld it up so u essentially end up with a sturdy flat plate just above the roof. Mount ure spare to the center of this (bolt or weld on 2 or 3 lugs) and u have an easily removable spare tire rack for the roof. I suggest getting it Rhino lined or some other type of coating for rust resistance. The roof rails should easily support the weight of the tire and rack system but the bare roof would cave or at least get torn up.

Sorry for the rough drawing but "Paint" is a pain.

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My pics!!
'03 Rennie w/all Tupperware
Custom Roof Basket
Mopar Tubular Brush Guard
Garmin GPS V & Laptop w/Nav software
RAM products laptop mount
Maglite w/mount
Rear cargo bay tool cabinet
AllJs Rear Shelf
Rear receiver
250k miles!
LOST #CR051230

Good idea, Cacher123. I appreciate the feedback from all, and may fab. up something in the future.

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2003 Limited, Silver - L.O.S.T. # 068957 Rockies
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2127390/14
2006 Kawasaki KLR650

I've put my 33 x 12.50 bogger directly on the roof (with another on the tailgate), with no problems (103 lb.). I swap 'em out at the trailhead with my 33 x 10 TrXus MTs on the back, then wheel with one of them on the roof (only 90 lb.). I usually have another 50 - 60 lb. of camping gear in my roof carrier as well (then left at the campground), so about 150 - 160 lb. of stuff on the roof in total (on the highway). I just put 1 Mopar crossbar on at about the middle of the rails, and then put a strap across the back of the tire (hooked to 2 loops of rope in the rails), and a bungee in the middle to hold the strap 1/2 way up the back of the tire. Works great.

See: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/577778, especially the 2nd last photo.
Note my buddy Craig's AMC in the background - he was in the August '06 FourWheeler (p.111)

BTW, throwing a 103 lb. tire on the roof, by yourself, at 5:45 a.m. to go wheeling, will really wake you up!

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02 pre-lowered, 2x ARBs, 3" lift and 33's