Rear Bumper with Tire Carrier for Power Wagon (Carli / AEV / Expedition One)

Difficulty 4/56–14 hrs$1800–42002014-2018, 2019-2024, 2025+

Once you're on 37s, the factory rear bumper has nowhere for the spare to live — you can't fit a 37 under the bed cradle, and you're not driving without a spare. A rear bumper with a swing-out tire carrier solves that. AEV is the proven choice. Carli is the premium tier. Expedition One is the value pick.

The Power Wagon's factory rear bumper is fine for daily use but has two limits for an off-road build:

  1. The factory spare cradle under the bed won't fit a 37" tire. Period. The bed-mount kit some shops offer is a workaround but eats most of the bed.
  2. The factory bumper is plastic-capped steel — fine for parking lots, useless if you need to back up to a steep approach without dragging the bumper.

A purpose-built rear bumper with a swing-out tire carrier solves both. The three serious options:

AEV Rear Bumper with Tire Carrier ($2,800) — the reference. Heavy-gauge steel, integrated D-rings, swing-out tire carrier that supports 37s with two jerry can / utility brackets on the carrier face. Mounts to factory bumper bolts plus 4 additional frame bolts. Hi-lift compatible. The proven Power Wagon choice.

Carli Suspension Rear Bumper ($3,400) — premium. Same overall design philosophy as AEV but with proprietary geometry that matches their lift kits. Higher cost reflects build quality and powder coat. The pick if you're already running a Carli lift.

Expedition One Trail Series ($2,200) — value pick. Slightly less rigid swing-out hinge than AEV, but functionally equivalent. Good powder coat. 80% of the AEV's quality at 80% of the price.

Iron Cross HD (no carrier) ($1,100) — if you're willing to keep your spare in the bed, a rear bumper without a tire carrier is half the price. Loses the tire-carrier benefit but gains weight reduction and more straightforward install. Bad choice if you wheel hard (spare in the bed bounces).

Install: this is a 2-person job. The rear bumper assembly with carrier weighs 180-220 lb. Plan on 6-14 hours. Stage the bumper on a furniture dolly to wheel under the truck, then jack up incrementally. The 4 frame bolts often need drilling — most kits include the drill bit and template.

Honest framing: a rear bumper with carrier is $2-3k of armor that you mostly only need if you're running 37s. If you're on 35s with a bed-mount spare cradle that works, skip this until you actually go 37s.

Budget a full day and a second set of hands. The assembly with the carrier arm fitted weighs 180-220 lb, and you are working it into position under the rear of a 6,900 lb truck.

  1. Disconnect the factory wiring — license plate light, reverse sensors, and any trailer harness routed through the factory bumper. Label the connectors. The AEV and Carli kits include a relocation bracket for the sensors; the Iron Cross does not.
  2. Remove the factory bumper. It's four to six bolts depending on year, plus the plastic step cap. On 2014-2018 trucks the bolts are often rust-welded — soak them the night before and use a six-point socket so you don't round the heads.
  3. Stage the new bumper on a furniture dolly or floor jack with a wide board across it. Roll it under, then raise it incrementally rather than trying to hold it at height.
  4. Start every frame bolt by hand before torquing any of them. Most kits add four through-frame bolts beyond the factory locations; the supplied template and drill bit are for those. Drill slow, deburr, and add a dab of paint to the bare metal so the hole doesn't rust.
  5. Torque the frame bolts to the kit spec (typically 110-150 lb-ft) in a cross pattern. Re-check after your first shakedown drive — a 200 lb bumper settles on its mounts.
  6. Reconnect and test the lights and sensors before you button up the carrier. Hang and adjust the swing-out arm last, then set the latch tension so it doesn't rattle at speed.

For the front-axle counterpart and matching D-ring strategy, see pw-front-bumper. The tire size that forces this whole decision is covered in pw-tires-mt.

The swing-out hinge is the part that fails owners who skip maintenance. It carries a 37" tire and wheel — 130+ lb cantilevered off one pivot — over washboard. Grease the spindle at every oil change and check the latch for play; a loose latch lets the arm slam the body mount and crack a tail light or dent the bedside.

Watch your rear payload math. Adding 200 lb of bumper plus a 130 lb tire-and-carrier puts 330+ lb behind the rear axle, which lightens the front and eats into the Power Wagon's already-modest payload rating. If you also run a rooftop tent or full water tank, you can quietly exceed the rear axle's GAWR. Weigh the loaded truck before a long trip.

Finally, confirm reverse-sensor relocation actually works before you trust it — a tire carrier sits exactly where the factory sensors expect open air, and a carrier that blocks them gives you constant false alarms or, worse, a dead zone you stop trusting.

Why it works

Trade-offs

Tools required

Parts

PartVendorEst. price
AEV Rear Bumper with Tire Carrier (Power Wagon-specific)AEV~$2800
Carli Suspension Rear Bumper + Tire CarrierCarli Suspension~$3400
Expedition One Trail Series Rear BumperExpedition One~$2200
Iron Cross HD Rear Bumper (no carrier — budget option)Iron Cross~$1100

Sources

Related

Written and maintained by an AZ wheeler and driveway wrencher. Always cross-reference your factory service manual — modifications affect vehicle safety and warranty. Work at your own risk.

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