A company I worked with years ago did a lot of work with nates we always had great service from them. My buddy has had one of their tire carriers in his YJ since 2003 or 2004 with a 37 no issues or rattles yet
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I have a Nates Model One front bumper which I think is great for the price. The welding was clean and there is very little to screw up design wise. Though, I do wish the fair lead plate was gusseted.
Here is my Nate's Rear Carrier from about two years ago. Be forewarned. Many aspects of Nate's design are simply ridiculous and poorly thought out. Also, I think the new guy welded my bumper and carrier together. The build quality isn't quite as good as my front bumper.
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First thing I did was put proper wheel studs on the tire carrier rather than use the loose nuts and bolts Nate supplied. On the mounting plate, you will need to drill out the rough holes that appear to have been cut out using a torch.
Second thing I improved upon was adding a set of thin jam nuts to the HiLift tabs to hold the bolts permanently in place. In my head, I feel that the heavier bottom side of the jack ought to ride on the hinge side of the carrier. That means the foot of the jack will prevent the hardtop glass from opening no matter the position of the carrier.
The gas can hold down is assembled by sandwiching the plate between a pair of flanged lock nuts. The top nut needs to be threaded onto the rod backwards. Easier said than done. Leave a bit of room for the plate to swivel.
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The first big problem you will discover is that the gas can hold down will never really hold down a gas can unless it is really tight. One would think you could use the locking bar as a wrench to do this, but the HiLift tabs and spare tire are perfectly in the way. You won't be able to turn the hold down by hand because everything binds up. Instead, cut a small length of rod to use as a wrench and try to never lose it.
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No matter how well I thought I had secured the cans, they would work loose. I have nice a pair of scuff marks on the tail gate from the gas cans bouncing around
The DeStaCo draw latch is pointed the wrong direction. Rather than being pulled into the stop, the carrier is only held closed by the tension of the latch pulling away from the hinge/spindle. This will allow the carrier to bounce and rattle until the u-bolt breaks, as mine did. Square bottomed u-bolts are hard to find. I found a pair of j-bolts at a hardware store that did the job and never bothered to go beyond that.
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One partial fix is to shim the latch side of the carrier to reduce the bouncing.
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This bumper is heavy and you will loose some rear spring height unless you add apair of bigger coils. 180lbs empty, if a recall. And then add your spare tire, full cans and jack to easily exceed 300lbs. Take the time to add frame tie in brackets so you don't tear the bumper off the Jeep that first time you decide to pull out your stuck friend.
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Long story short, I really do think the Nate's carrier is a nice overall idea, but with many badly designed features that Nate could easily understand if he used his own product.
Here is my Nate's Rear Carrier from about two years ago. Be forewarned. Many aspects of Nate's design are simply ridiculous and poorly thought out. Also, I think the new guy welded my bumper and carrier together. The build quality isn't quite as good as my front bumper.
First thing I did was put proper wheel studs on the tire carrier rather than use the loose nuts and bolts Nate supplied. On the mounting plate, you will need to drill out the rough holes that appear to have been cut out using a torch.
Second thing I improved upon was adding a set of thin jam nuts to the HiLift tabs to hold the bolts permanently in place. In my head, I feel that the heavier bottom side of the jack ought to ride on the hinge side of the carrier. That means the foot of the jack will prevent the hardtop glass from opening no matter the position of the carrier.
The gas can hold down is assembled by sandwiching the plate between a pair of flanged lock nuts. The top nut needs to be threaded onto the rod backwards. Easier said than done. Leave a bit of room for the plate to swivel.
The first big problem you will discover is that the gas can hold down will never really hold down a gas can unless it is really tight. One would think you could use the locking bar as a wrench to do this, but the HiLift tabs and spare tire are perfectly in the way. You won't be able to turn the hold down by hand because everything binds up. Instead, cut a small length of rod to use as a wrench and try to never lose it.
No matter how well I thought I had secured the cans, they would work loose. I have nice a pair of scuff marks on the tail gate from the gas cans bouncing around
The DeStaCo draw latch is pointed the wrong direction. Rather than being pulled into the stop, the carrier is only held closed by the tension of the latch pulling away from the hinge/spindle. This will allow the carrier to bounce and rattle until the u-bolt breaks, as mine did. Square bottomed u-bolts are hard to find. I found a pair of j-bolts at a hardware store that did the job and never bothered to go beyond that.
One partial fix is to shim the latch side of the carrier to reduce the bouncing.
This bumper is heavy and you will loose some rear spring height unless you add apair of bigger coils. 180lbs empty, if a recall. And then add your spare tire, full cans and jack to easily exceed 300lbs. Take the time to add frame tie in brackets so you don't tear the bumper off the Jeep that first time you decide to pull out your stuck friend.
Long story short, I really do think the Nate's carrier is a nice overall idea, but with many badly designed features that Nate could easily understand if he used his own product.
3
This is how you fix the latch to eliminate rattles and allow the carrier to close securely.
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This is how you fix the gas can holders by getting rid of Nate's stupid hold down system. No tools are required and now you can carry any type of container/bag that will fit in the tray besides the old 3 handle jerry cans.
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Other than still being heavy, I like my modified carrier.
This is how you fix the gas can holders by getting rid of Nate's stupid hold down system. No tools are required and now you can carry any type of container/bag that will fit in the tray besides the old 3 handle jerry cans.
Other than still being heavy, I like my modified carrier.
Look at the direction of our latches and see how they pull the carrier arm in different directions. My latch holds the carrier arm securely against the stop. Along with the shim, my carrier cannot rattle. Nate's latch does not pull the carrier arm into anything. The arm only floats in space next to the stop, which is why the carrier is able to bounce and rattle around. Unless he got a good deal on a shipping container full of latches, there is no good reason why Nate can't do his latches the way I did mine. It would actually be less work and fewer pieces to build it correctly because the stop and catch are the same piece.
The gas can trays are a pair of NOS Blitz brand holders I found on eBay. There is an even better tray option out there that is rectangular rather than having rounded corners. They are more universally compatible with more containers.
http://www.extremeterrain.com/barricade-tall-jerry-tray-j102522.html?utm_content=XT+Accessories%2FMisc+-+Tools%7CMORryde&utm_campaign=JK%20-%20No%20Years&utm_source=google-pla&utm_medium=shopping&utm_term=%7Bkeyword%7D&XTID=J102522
If I were to do it over again, I would used these instead.
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