heh Alex, sorry I typed this on my phone. No insult
intended. I'm not convinced that flipping the carrier upside down is stronger. Yes, you'll present less shearing force to the metal around the lugs compared to AB's solution with those spacers, but you still have to deal with the upside down profile of 1 bolt up top, 2 below, which is reverse of the intended approach. Looking at the tire carrier I pulled off my parts car, it had also cracked in the same place. it's awesome that yours hasn't cracked yet after a couple
of years using this approach. I contend that it will, especially if you're off-roading the car.

i might hurry up and get my welder this week or order the devon4x4 carrier from lucky8 if they think it's considerably stronger.

 

No worries, man. Idd your spare was cracked too. Mine definitely gets wheeled, and as I've said I even sit/stand on it relatively often. That's another 180lbs on the tire.

Either welding it or the Devon carrier are good options. What kind of welder are you looking at getting?

 

i'm not sure on which welder yet. I have quite a few projects that need welding and cutting but I've been putting it off while I got work done on the house.

 

Miller Maxstar 150 STL or STH. Best bang for your buck. Note though, they won't do aluminum.

 

You don't have to flip the carrier. I have a 33" AT on mine, just hung it on the top two bolts with the lower center between the spokes. Done. No I am not worried about it falling off.

 

Frank is aware of the masses disagreement with his solution considering how easy the flip is to complete, but that's already been discussed to death.

Miller welders are great. I've used a few different ones pretty extensively through school. I got myself a Lotos Mig 140 Christmas before last which has also performed spectacularly especially for the price, though the price has gone up since then and I don't think id buy it again at the new price point. Actually, I got the very last one at the lower (around $100 less I believe) price point. I do know that the design has changed, however.

If you've got any welder questions feel free to ask. I'm far from the only one around here with welding experience.

 

Regardless of dissenting opinions, I've done the same, with both 275/70/18 and 285/65/18 AT tires. Have done this on 3-4 different D2's over the last 6-7 years, with not a single issue. Only sacrifice is visibility out the rear window, which is frankly garbage to begin with. I recently installed a Greg Davis rear bumper, and with my 1" body lift, I've been able to move the wheel back to its original mounting position with a few mm to spare from contacting the bumper.

 

Update on this for posterity. I bought the HD spare tire carrier from Lucky8. After 4 months of fairly heavy use, it's held up very well. It's a much beefier component than the stock carrier. I'm a happy camper.