Which is of course not the real reason why folks are actually buying these accessories (Function): we are buying them because they look cool. Dirt Lifestyle did a build on an DISCO 2 several years ago where he custom built a spare tire carrier. The whole truck looked great and drove really, really well for him. And he had (I think) 35" Mickey Thompson A/T tires mounted so he had to put the oversize spare tire on the back. But none of us are going to be running 35" tires anytime soon (if you are...you need to post that!) This would be the only case of truly requiring a tire carrier - to hold oversized tires. Thus, we are all using these spare tire carriers because they simply look tough (and for recovery purposes are indeed more practical). But that does make getting in the back a pain...which doesn't bother me at all but really annoys my wife who detests the whole thing.
But it's my truck.
One final note about all this. I bought my Kymar in 2015 and have been running with it since. It has performed really well but ultimately is just powder-coated steel. That coating was compromised long ago and now the corrosion is under the coating (flaking off in some places) and needs major cleaning up. As part of my ongoing major services / rebuild, I have had everything (bumper, frame sliders, and the one Tactical 4X4 steel gas tank plate) dismounted and they are all going into the body shop for being stripped, cleaned up, and then spray-painted (all the aluminum plates are being cleaned, polished, and then protective painted this time around to help prevent corrosion).
I mention this because the (rear) steel bumper is great protection for the truck but comes at the price of needing yet more episodic maintenance. The plastic stock bumpers will just keep on keeping on.
In conclusion: I really like my set up and don't regret a thing but admit that ultimately the whole truck is assembled for a certain look and feel instead of pure utility. So if you want a steel bumper with wheel carrier because it looks cool...then just get one!
