I did this a much more difficult way before I found out about these nifty plastic doohickeys.
Here's the write up I posted over at KJ Country. This was my first mod, like a week after I got my KJ, before I found the wonder that is L.O.S.T.
Since I like the way my full-size spare looks uncovered as opposed to using a spare tire cover, I keep it glossed and out in the open. What I do not like is how the spare looks with only 3 lug nuts, leaving 2 unsighlty holes. I purchased the Mopar wheel lock set for my Renegade, so I had 4 leftover lug nuts for this project anyhow. Perfect!
Here's a brief tutorial on how I attached them:
I took a trip down to Ace Hardware, because in my area they have the biggest selection of obscure fasteners. I spent about half an hour looking around for what would work best and ended up with the following: two metric size M12 "automotive studs" and two retaining clips that fit the studs. I also have pictured two of the lugnuts I was left with when I installed my wheel locks. I took one of these with me to the store to make sure I was buying the right studs.
I tried installing the parts as I got them from the store, and realized the studs were too long. There is no room behind the spare for them to stick out because the bracket gets in the way. To fix this, I chopped off a bit with a hacksaw. The amount you saw off may be more, less or none depending on how long your studs are.
Next I put the retaining clips on the cut side of the studs.
I placed the bolts in the empty holes of the wheel while dismounted from the bracket on the Jeep.
I then hand tightened the lug nuts over the studs.
To finish up the project, I mounted the tire back on the bracket of my Jeep. When I tightened down the other three lugnuts, I could hear the new studs seating into the retaining clips.
My Renegade's spare looks much better now!
