My Willys 3A and 3B Community

3A, 3B, DJ Technical Knowledge Base => "Original"-- Technical Questions, Answers, Observations => Topic started by: fasilpereira on March 14, 2024, 07:14:10 AM

Title: Spare Tire Carrier orientation
Post by: fasilpereira on March 14, 2024, 07:14:10 AM

What is the correct orientation for the Spare Tire Carrier on a CJ3A? *rear end the Jeeps I see around have the 2 bolts on the lower are and 1 bolt on the upper area. But the only picture I could find of the carrier on the parts list, pag 103, fig 55, shows it the other way around.

Thank you,

Fabricio

Title: Re: Spare Tire Carrier orientation
Post by: Rus Curtis on March 14, 2024, 12:23:33 PM

Fabricio,
The CJ3B Page has a lot of information.  Look here for images and location of holes:

https://cj3b.info/Tech/Spare.html

Both the image and drawing show 1 up/2 down.

I checked my Parts Manual for the 3B and it shows, pg 87 Fig 59, the same as you describe.  2up/1down. 

More info:

https://cj3b.info/Tech/VibrationDampener.html

This page has images that show another option 2 forward/1 rear.

The mount itself is square, so any position would work.

Title: Re: Spare Tire Carrier orientation
Post by: fasilpereira on March 14, 2024, 02:19:16 PM

Thanks Russ. I'll install it as per the Install manual.

Fabricio

Title: Re: Spare Tire Carrier orientation
Post by: derekredmond on March 15, 2024, 12:00:15 PM

Very interesting!  Funny, the little things you don't think about. 

First, thanks Rus for posting the link to the Spare Tire Mount page, which I discovered had a missing photo.  Got that fixed, and then started thinking about the photo and drawing which showed two studs on the lower left side, at odds with a couple of illustrations in the Parts Manual.  And then my Vibration Dampener page which had images showing the two studs in every one of the four possible positions! 

I went to one of my go-to photos, showing an almost brand new '61 3B:

(https://CJ3B.info/Photos/Owners/1961/Clark61/Clark61New800.JPG)

It happens to agree with the Parts Manual: two studs on the top right side.  I wouldn't insist this is total proof of anything, because I'm quite willing to believe that workers on the assembly line might not always orient it the same way.  But it does seem to suggest that this was the way Willys intended it.  And you might be able to make an argument that this would provide the best support when the tire caught on a tree or something, but I wouldn't want to get into that argument.

Derek

Title: Re: Spare Tire Carrier orientation
Post by: derekredmond on March 15, 2024, 12:35:19 PM

I have now added Parts List illustrations to both those pages to clarify that two studs on upper right is the original orientation of the spare mount.

Derek

Title: Re: Spare Tire Carrier orientation
Post by: Rus Curtis on March 15, 2024, 10:06:36 PM

Derek,
The tree theory was also in my mind.  I also wondered about the bouncing (rocks/potholes) and the vibration dampener being closest to the two - would that matter.

I thought of some other vehicles that haven't gone through too much on alterations but can't see the images in enough detail to be absolutely sure:

https://cj3b.info/Siblings/Caprio3A.html

https://cj3b.info/Photos/Owners/1963/Surjan63/SurjanRhinebeck2005RRear.JPG

And then this one:
https://cj3b.info/Photos/Reunion2018/Friday/DaveStreithorst3B.jpg

Title: Re: Spare Tire Carrier orientation
Post by: derekredmond on March 17, 2024, 10:50:29 AM

Yes, top right seems to be the consensus!

Derek