Carrying an extra five gallons of gas with my Jeep TJ

[rnArmy]

I've been wanting a swing-away spare tire carrier for my Jeep so I can later convert the tailgate to a drop-down tailgate. I also wanted the ability to carry extra fuel for expedition travels outside the Jeep. So I had a place called Dirtworx build me a rear bumper to my specs. It also included a 2" receiver hitch (so I can pull my little trailer), and D-ring mounts. I've been very pleased with it. It is extremely solid, and was extremely reasonably priced (and I looked at all my options).
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It comes bare metal, so you do have to prime and paint it. The only issue I had, was the swing-away spare tire carrier swung out further than the tailgate did, so I had to extend the trailer's tongue a few inches for it to clear the trailer (definitely not a fault of the new bumper set-up). Seems like there's always a domino effect - unexpected consequences when trying to upgrade your vehicle.
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Bottom two pictures show the trailer tongue before-and-after the tongue extension.
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[Midnightsun]

Looks good

 

[jgaz]

Very nice. Did you contact them directly or were you able to spec out your bumper from their web site?

 

[rnArmy]

Very nice. Did you contact them directly or were you able to spec out your bumper from their web site?

Thanks. We emailed back and forth a couple times. He was very easy to deal with, and we were just tweaking a design he already had in place. I actually did a more thorough write-up on the JeepForum http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f9/new-dirtworx-rear-bumper-4168282/ if you're really interested. It took a couple weeks to arrive which I was told of in advance.
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Believe me, I know all-too-well the limited amount of storage with a Jeep TJ (that's also why I have a trailer too). I even removed the rear seat, brackets, and seatbelts just to get a little more storage room back there (it helped). And I looked at what I'd like to think were all the options out there for swing-away spare tire carriers with Jerry can holders (or other fuel cells containers). Either they sell swing-away spare tire carriers with no provisions for Jerry cans (from cheap to expensive), or they're very expensive if they do have a provision for carrying more fuel. Or they mount two cans on the swing-away part, and then the spare tire in front of that (which I didn't want - but Dirtworx does offer). I just wanted the spare tire offset to the side with a single Jerry can on the driver's side (just like the old WWII jeeps had mounted on the tailgate). You can buy a cheap (price and quality) rear bumper with a swing out spare tire holder with no fuel can provisions for the same price as I paid for this Dirtworx bumper. If you're looking to carry more gas in your TJ, this is one option to consider.
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I probably should have given a link to Dirtworx: http://www.thedirtworx.com/
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And I've gotta say it: I have no financial interest or connection in any way shape-or-form to Dirtworx before-or-after this other than he built me a bumper to my specs and I paid full price for it just like anyone else ($400 plus $75 shipping bare metal). I've had it for a little while now and am very happy with it.