[Jaxxa]

I didn't even realize this but I've been working towards this for at least 5 months and prototyping it for even longer. If you have an AWD Juke and run larger than a 27"~ ish tire, then you can't keep a full size spare in the usual spot. Then what do you do? Most normal people would just say "why don't you just get a hitch installed and then just do a hitch mounted tire carrier?" to which I say THAT'S ABSURD, why should a sacrifice any of my already ridiculously OP departure angle? Why should I compromise the overall length of my compact hatchback by making it way longer than it needs to be by installing a poorly optimized generic tire carrier?

So I decided to do the really hard thing and design my own tire carrier from scratch! ME, the guy who's never fabricated anything in his life and has maybe bent a tiny piece of sheet metal a handful of times before working on this project.

My life changed forever when I realized you could just buy metal online and have it shipped to an apartment-- so to my own detriment, and most likely to all my neighbor's dismay, I cut out all the pieces with an angle grinder and bent everything to shape with a sledgehammer all on my second story back porch, and made friends with someone who had a welder who I bothered on multiple occasions to help me work on this thing.

Many rounds of test-fitting later, and I was finally confident to get the mounts finalized so that I could finally plug the holes in the body and keep rainwater from pooling in the back of my car, which has been kind of annoying to look back and see every day after it rains. Did I mention I had to take the back seats out just to remove the interior quarter panels to access the bolt holes? I'VE BEEN DRIVING WITH NO INTERIOR FOR THE PAST 5 MONTHS.

I got halfway through the final paint before I decided to do a quick test drive, and I'm glad I did because at first the weight of the tire created some unexpected movement, but with a few shims against the bar pivot point and torqueing the bolts down fully I can report that the bar is every bit as strong and as sturdy as I could have hoped. I can full-on kick the bottom of the tire and it barely deflects a quarter of an inch. This bar is definitely stronger than the body it's mounted to, which may or may not prove to be a problem in the distant future, but hopefully it shouldn't be too difficult to spot fatigue in those areas. For now, it's sufficiently sturdy in the closed position and only has a tiny bit of give with the leverage of being fully open (with the tire + my full body weight)

Totally usable in its current state once it gets primed and painted. The only improvement on this design so far is to make custom polyurethane bushings for all the corners, to help with shock absorption and isolation to reduce fatigue in the metal and help it last as long as possible off-road. Also wiring in the new light for the license plate mount so that it'll look nice and clean and be 100% street legal.

I believe that's what they call "Hella flush". Literally impossible to get the tire closer to the body than this

 

[MyNameIsLoop]

oh wow. That is awesome custom work. It looks awesome. Good job dude. Question tho. How does the tranny handle those tires?

 

[Stunning70]

Nicely done!

 

[redBack_juke]

Bravo! Looks sweet!

Roof top tent next?

 

[Michael919]

Well done!

 

[Jaxxa]

oh wow. That is awesome custom work. It looks awesome. Good job dude. Question tho. How does the tranny handle those tires?

Most of the time it's flawless, you might almost not even realize anything is different other than the acceleration is slightly slower. However, every situation when the driving conditions are not ideal the effects on the car are more noticeable. It has noticeably less power when the ambient temp is above 80 across the board, which might just be how the engine is tuned stock. There is a lot of engine load at around the 1000 to 1200 rpm range (for obvious reasons) -- acceleration is much smoother above 1500 rpm, which is still decent in stop and go traffic. It is much more temperamental when the CVT is cold than when it is hot, but this is just how the CVT is. The CVT is programmed well enough to protect itself, so as long as you don't beat the crap out of it during those times, the CVT will do it's thing and probably select the best gear ratio for the amount of line pressure it has or something. Although occasionally it'll put itself in a gear ratio that's just annoying and then I just throw it in manual mode for a bit.

Really most of what I'm describing is just how a CVT functions normally, just with more paying attention. Which even just general modding requires paying more attention to make up for the fact that whatever you modified is potentially less reliable than a stock car.

Anyways I could have just said "it works fine" but those are just some specifics I've picked up on.

 

[Jaxxa]

Bravo! Looks sweet!

Roof top tent next?

I've thought about getting a roll-out awning, but most of the ones I saw were like a foot longer than my whole roof line, so I can only imagine a rooftop tent would be MASSIVE. I've been able to camp pretty comfortably with the back seats down and the passenger seat moved all the way up, so I really want to push it in more of an overland direction and do some more camping trips like that.

 

[MyNameIsLoop]

Most of the time it's flawless, you might almost not even realize anything is different other than the acceleration is slightly slower. However, every situation when the driving conditions are not ideal the effects on the car are more noticeable. It has noticeably less power when the ambient temp is above 80 across the board, which might just be how the engine is tuned stock. There is a lot of engine load at around the 1000 to 1200 rpm range (for obvious reasons) -- acceleration is much smoother above 1500 rpm, which is still decent in stop and go traffic. It is much more temperamental when the CVT is cold than when it is hot, but this is just how the CVT is. The CVT is programmed well enough to protect itself, so as long as you don't beat the crap out of it during those times, the CVT will do it's thing and probably select the best gear ratio for the amount of line pressure it has or something. Although occasionally it'll put itself in a gear ratio that's just annoying and then I just throw it in manual mode for a bit.

Really most of what I'm describing is just how a CVT functions normally, just with more paying attention. Which even just general modding requires paying more attention to make up for the fact that whatever you modified is potentially less reliable than a stock car.

Anyways I could have just said "it works fine" but those are just some specifics I've picked up on.

That makes sense. I bet a couple of bolt-ons and a tune it’ll be mint. It’s good it’s not giving you any trouble! (outside just being a CVT 😉) Very interested in where your gunna take that thing!

 

[Jaxxa]

That makes sense. I bet a couple of bolt-ons and a tune it’ll be mint. It’s good it’s not giving you any trouble! (outside just being a CVT 😉) Very interested in where your gunna take that thing!

Yeah I've always kept the possibility of a tune in my back pocket, but I've been really impressed with what a stock engine can handle and there haven't been a lot of situations where I felt like I needed it yet

 

[MyNameIsLoop]

That’s good to hear. I am still impressed by the drivetrain of the juke. Yours is a great example!

 

[Macgyver]

Absolutely perfect !!!!!!!

Well done.

 

[14RSINLI]

One thing to note about the cvt and the large tires is he lives in Florida in my neck of the USA woods where hills don’t exist. Those hills in other places might prove to be a problem with this setup outside of the sunshine state.

 

[Jaxxa]

One thing to note about the cvt and the large tires is he lives in Florida in my neck of the USA woods where hills don’t exist. Those hills in other places might prove to be a problem with this setup outside of the sunshine state.

Yeah it's been a while since I've been out of the state in it. I drove it up through Tennessee and West Virginia and it did pretty well, but that was a couple years ago on my 29's which were only like 65lbs per corner compared to like 80 now. I'm gonna switch up my transmission cooler soon and hopefully then I can take it on some longer trips again

 

[13r1an]

I am so very very proud of you Jaxxa. You truly are the Reverend. :👏: