Spare tire bike rack

[ephantmon]

Hey all. I recently purchased a Thule 963 (Spare me) bike rack. I know the owner's manual says never mount more than 50lbs, INCLUDING the spare, on the rear mounts. I mounted the rack and have transported two bikes simultaneously that each probably weigh around 20lbs. Am I likely to start bending the studs on the spare mount? Is the 50lb recommendation just really low to cover their ***** legally? I know Jeep actually sells a spare-mounted bike rack themselves, so it seems like they believe in the strength of the mount...

Any experiences/wisdom to share?

 

[Andynator]

You're not going to harm anything with that amount of weight - as long as you keep the door closed. And you don't want to swing the door open and hang on the end of the open door. Then, you would definitely bend the hinges and inner door panel. It happens!!

Andy