Bumper/Swing-out Carrier Fabrication...

Looks good. I have been working on mine as well - I was thinking about a different latch design, but I don't have enough room for it. So, I guess I'm going back to my original.

What is the wall thickness of your tubing?

 

I'm using .120 but this thing is going to be very heavy. I'm not a speedy off roader so I might try to find something thinner for the vertical bit. I think .120 is good for the arm as it's going to see the most stress. Maybe i'll just add some lightening holes. ha ha!

 

PS - checked your build thread... more pics! I want your tire carrier made from hub. I have been thinking how I want to make this and have not come up with an idea that makes me happy - you might have the winner. I've been thinking about machining something from plate.

 

Reviving an old thread...

I built the tire carrier side of my swingout, and posted it in my build thread. I will re-post it here for those who may be interested. I hope to build the fuel can carrier side this week or next (truth be told, all I have to do is weld part of the carrier I stole from my Ranger before I sold it to the new swing arm.)

Rear Bumper Tire Carrier and Fuel Can Swingouts

I haven't updated this thread for a while, but I have been working on the truck. A while back, I completed the tire carrier swingout, and plan to complete the fuel can swingout this week.

While this carrier looks like many others, I incorporated a couple of details I have not seen on other trucks. The idea that took the longest to come up with was the latching mechanism. Since I have dual swingouts, I needed to latch the arm somewhere along the length of the arm, rather than at the end. I went through a couple of designs before settling on this one.

To get started, I cut a rounded end on the 2x2 using a hole saw, to mate with the pivoting tube on the bumper. I also verified the length would work with my teardrop.

Here, I am determining the height I want the swingout to be.



A cardboard cutout of the tire was used to determine placement. I didn't want to block the taillight, and wanted to keep it somewhat high.



A side view, determining the approximate angle to carry the tire.



To mount the tire to the carrier, I picked up a front wheel hub (this one is a Dorman - much less expensive than a Toyota branded one.) The plan was to put the bearing-mount part of the hub into the 2x square tubing. Unfortunately, the diameter of the hub was greater than the opening in the tubing. We have a "Hobby Shop" at work, and there is a mill. This was a great project to learn how to operate a mill.



Several hours later, I ended up with a squared off section, that fit perfectly into the tubing.



Since these photos were taken, I drilled two holes in the tubing so I could rosette weld as well.



I realize using the mill was not the most time efficient way to cut to hub to make it fit, but it was a learning experience. And, the resultant cuts are perfectly square. I don't I could have been perfectly square using a flap disk.

Here are the arm pieces, laid out. The angled cuts are 40*, giving a 10* rise to angle the tire back.



Makeshift welding table, sitting on a sawhorse. Crude, but it worked. Lots of clamps to prevent/limit warping.



Test fit on the truck.



Here is a closeup of the machined and fitted hub.



Continued...

 

Rear Bumper Tire Carrier and Fuel Can Swingouts, Part II

Tire carrier assembled, test fitting on the truck.



I bent and welded a piece of metal to the bottom of the swingout to act as a stop. This turned out to be a great place to mount the latch mechanism.



Both swingouts in the open-locked position.



Test fitting, with the spare mounted. Getting excited now!



The 10* forward angle.



The latch mechanism keeps the arms from swinging out; the plate keeps the arms from swinging into the truck. However, the only thing that keeps the arms from moving up and down while driving is the pivot itself. The pivots are know to fail from fatigue - from constant flexing.

To inhibit the up and down motion, I created a pin that locked the arm to the bumper.

The pin is made from 3/8" steel, and goes into a drill bushing, which has been welded into the bumper. I used a plastic flange bushing to eliminate the steel on steel. All these parts were source from McMaster-Carr.



Here is the drill bushing in the bumper, and the flange bushing in the drill bushing.


Here is the pin in the swing arm, just before welding.



A close-up of how it works.



I cut a drag plate out of aluminum, to carry the arm locking spring-pin.



A final shot of the completed, painted carrier assembly.



An additional thing I had to do was weld an additional brace in the bumper. The weight of the tire combined with the leverage of the arm caused the wrap-around part of the bumper to flex - a lot. So much, that I did not carry the tire until I re-enforced the bumper.

Since doing that, I have had no problems with either the carrier or the bumper.

Overall, I am very pleased with how it turned out.

 

Scott - this is awesome - thank you for posting! Looking forward to getting back to completing mine! Feeling inspired!

 

I'm really happy with.

I really should have posted this many months ago (when I completed it) - sorry about that.

Now - get yours done. Let's see some pictures!