Single or dual swing out

Hey TW trying to decide whether I should get a single or dual CBI high clearance rear. What are your thoughts on each?
- Kevin

 

Dual, the single swing outs tend to tweak the beds causing fitment issues with other items.

 

Don’t have CBI but I’ve been running an All-Pro dual swingout for the last few years and totally agree with the above. A single sided swingout has a lever arm that is much too long putting a lot of stress on the pivot and mating surface. Dual swingout is more convenient when backed up somewhere and you don’t have the real estate to open a single sided swingout.

 

Thanks for the info!! Definitely been leaning towards dual but now will definitely only go that route! Much appreciated guys !

 

How does a swing out tweak the bed if it’s mounted on a bumper?

 

Its the frame that gets tweaked. The moment arms on a single swing out are huge especially with full gas tanks and a spare tyre. This cause a misalingment i. The beds.

 

Does anybody know if you can drive with the tailgate down with a dual swing out rear bumper after removing tires, gas, high lift, etc. I really want to get a high clearance dual swing out rear bumper or just a regular dual swing out but I often times have a sport bike or dirt bike in the back of my truck.

 

I think they a locking mechanism depending on the company. Check C4.

 

I'd guess to say to just remove the swing outs instead.

 

This would probably depend on make - I cannot get to the nuts holding my swingouts on without dropping the whole bumper.

 

Usually you can just pull the caps then castle nut and lift the swing out off. A lot of them are built on axle shafts that I have seen.

Driving with the swing outs open, I would not suggest.

 

Even if it is dual swing? I would never drive with a single swing open that would be no good but I figured dual swing outs would be short enough that their empty weight wouldn't be too bad. However, I don't know how good the lock mechanism is when they're open cuz I've never owned one so I wouldn't want them to flap back and forth smashing my tailgate while driving. If as you said they're easy to take off than awesome I don't mind that extra step. I just didn't want to have to buy a trailer if I have a truck.

 

Right now I'm really leaning toward the Expedition One dual swing out. Their latch mechanism for their dual swing looks very convenient. Although I'm really not a fan of how they kept the factory hitch. Poor design for off roading imo which I intend on doing a lot of. If C4 fab made a dual swing out for their Overland series high clearance rear bumper with side protection nothing else on the market could touch it for functionality and looks imo.

 

I’m failing to see how this tweaks the frame or even the bed. Makes zero sense.

I’ve never seen a tweaked frame due to a single swing out.

 

This entire thread is a mess of speculation, stop posting if you don't actually have a swingout or know how they work.

I've never heard of frame flexing from a swingout before and I've never had any flexing in the rear myself. My swingout has a jerry can, spare, and hi-lift on it, and has been on there for 20k miles, including offroading and driving with the swingarm open to accommodate large loads. I'm a sample size of one, but to generalize, all plate bumpers mount on the frame directly and the load is spread across the whole bed, not just the side it mounts on. Furthermore, there is a large crossmember above the spare tire that makes the frame very rigid in the back. If your frame is flexing from a swingout, it's improperly mounted or something is SERIOUSLY wrong. Claiming flex is a disadvantage of a single swingout sounds like marketing ploy to up-sell the more expensive dual option to me.

I disagree with everyone saying dual and recommend single. Single swingouts are:

• Easier and faster to open than duals, there's only one thing to actuate.
• Able to accommodate a bigass fold-down table to have a ton of space to cook or work on.
  
• Have less moving parts. The latches that hold the two sides together on duals are well designed now, but they used to be fiddly and unreliable for dual setups, simply because you have two hinged parts joining in the middle. Some manufacturer designs are still fiddly and don't look durable at all.

At least with the way I camp, a single also frames camp really well, creating a boundary you can more easily keep the kids and dog on. I set up chairs and an awning on the driver's side of the truck, creating a more or less square camp. The swingout plus the truck ends up being ~25 feet long, and 5 of those feet are in camp. With a dual, you have to walk around half of your rear swingout to access the bed, so the back of the truck isn't a boundary, it's more of the center of camp, or if not, a hassle to get to. That boils down to preference, but in my case a single works better for most campsite arrangements.

I don't think loading or unloading is advantageous for either option. While you need more clearance in the rear to open a single, you can access the bed easily from one side with a single. With a dual, you need less clearance to open it, but you have to have clearance past that to get around the swingouts to load it. That means you really need the same amount of room behind the truck to load up anyways... Unless you're loading a single from the side it's swung out on, in which case you need a lot more clearance for the single. From a large cargo perspective, singles make more sense. Long loads can come from the side, whereas you need more rear clearance to load long loads with a dual. Singles also make it a lot easier for a forklift driver to load a pallet, since only the pallet has to be between the bedrails, where a dual requires the load and lift to squeeze through another couple of feet of swingout. A lot of forklifts won't fit between dual swingouts, but with a single you can shift the load to the side and load it right in.

I've done this with my single a few times, leaving the tire on but taking the jerry can off. I secure the arm to the load so it doesn't swing around and haven't had any issue. I wouldn't offroad with it that way, but a well-built bumper should be okay on smooth roads, especially with how stout the swingout hinges are. This is definitely a YMMV situation, so you should check with the bumper manufacturer to get their advice.

That said, I think it's absolutely hilarious people are acting like it's no big deal to remove the swingarm. Swingouts have massive, beefy hinges that you torque to 150+ ft lbs of torque and grease with zerks. They are very difficult to line up to mount on the brackets with two people, and impossible to line up to bolt in yourself. You will put it on and NEVER want to take it off again to save hassle and a huge mess from the grease.

 

No speculation here. its quite common with single swing outs due to the weight on then. The moment arm is longer which causes more flex in the frame, especially with ones that extend to the side, cross member or not. Now by tweak, I don’t mean permanently, but have seen them, where the tailgate alignment is messed up until the swing is closed and it is hard to open the tailgate with the swing out full open. Also, the single swingout on plate bumpers tends to droop on a lot of them making it difficult to close.

 

The plus to a dual swingout is the amount of space needed to open. You can be closer to other trucks, cars, trees, rocks, etc cause the arms aren’t as long. You can also have TWO folding tables but the downside is your table isn’t as long. The dual can be just as easy to open if the latch system is designed right. Just takes 2 hands instead of 1

 

mine is on hydraulic struts, I open it up push em and they pop open. NO locking device needed, I may bump up the strength of the strut this summer as one is leaking from our brutal winter this year.

 

Thank you for the detailed overview of the single swing arm option in your opinion. I definitely have been looking around for evidence or other feeds blogs on the severity of “tweak” with not a lot of luck. My current camp set up is also drivers side in the shape of a rectangle so the added square is a plus. I will definitely take this into consideration when researching more. Do you by chance have photos of yours open and closed? Thanks , Kevin

 

To all: thank you also for the input and opinions on the various aspects of the swigout options in your opinion. In the end it is definitely a preference thing and I truly think both are clean looking and making camp set up out of either is possible and also tailored to each individual. Can any of you post photos of your set ups and what company you went with ? Thanks again!