willysmjeeps.com

Subject: M38 and M38A1 Spare Tire Brackets
Status: Reproduction
Sold by: Army Jeep Parts, Midwest Military, Peter Debella, etc.

Review:

Shape/ Appearance
I have looked at these, but have not bought or installed one. On appearance they looked very similar to the originals.

Fit/Function:
Any info someone could post here would be appreciated.

Summary:
Looks nice, but unkown on fit/function.

Rating: ?

I did not take any pictures of the before and after on my repro tire bracket. I purchased it at the Weare Rally from Pete Debella a few years back. Note that there is rumor that the quality has recently been improved.

Issues:
- The holes were in the wrong place for bolting to the tailgate. I had to fill and redrill two holes. They were not close, they were about an inch wrong.

- The holes to mount the small bracket onto the big bracket are the wrong size if you plan to replace the repro bolts (of unmarked unknown quality) with the original bolts. Minor opening of the holes was requied.

- Paint - bad with no primer - plan to strip to bare metal and repaint.

- Reflector - The reflector ring that came with the repro had the holes in the wrong spot. I cant remember if they were at the 2 and 8 oclock position when they should have been at 10 and 4 or other (I will edit this section later). The solution is to weld/fill the holes and drill new in the correct place. I had an original reflector ring that uses flathead screws. The repro uses panhead screws and had a stepped hole instead of tapered hole.

Overall, not counting time to wait for paint to dry I put about an hour into fixing holes and repainting the repro. It is now installed, looks very good and seems to be very solid. My original bracket was repaired by bubba after he got a welder for christmas. There are a bunch of angle irons attached and severe cracks that had been welded are evident. It shows what abuse that bracket has to endure. Making a good comparison between the repro and original is difficult considering how bad my original is.
Tom

Here is a picture of the spare tire carrier that I purchased from Pete Debella about 5 years ago. I also pruchase a spare rim. The carrier looks pretty good but the rim is an obvious repro. My tailgate is also a reproduction that was purchased by the previous owner. As you can see, the reflector mounting holes are at the 2 and 8 oclock possition as mentioned above. I have not decided if I will keep this one or find an original. That part is way down the road for me.

Hi Fellows

This is my Omix Ada Spare tire bracket ..

Upper holes are in bad position...








Upper holes are in bad position...



What you think??

Cheers

I know this thread is old, but the spare tire brackets currently made by, and sold by, Midwest Military, unpainted, are perfect in every respect and fit onto an original May 1951 M38 Tail gate perfectly. I installed one last year.

Hey!

Good to know, thanks for posting!