swingout welding - HC bumper positoning?

I've got a swingout addition that needs to be welded,
onto an HC rear bumper

question is, how do you deal with positioning? Is anything needed?

I installed the HC rear. Leveled it as best I could.
Towed with it.
Cut the fenders best I could.

Took a big straightedge off the fender tops and measured to the ground with a ruler, trying to get it straight.

However, that doesn't really matter. It's gonna bolt on how it bolts on. There's not much to it.
Here's the thing. The bolts and mounts have an adjustment range. If you loosen them, you can change the angle of the bumper.

I'm pretty concerned about this adjustable position, because if I pay a welder to weld on a swingout, I want to make sure the bumper itself is bolted onto the truck in the best position possible.

Does anyone play around with this? Is there any sort of methodology on how to get it right?
Or are people just saying fuck it, leave the bumper how it is, weld the swingout on, and call it a day

 

Get it mounted how you want it and go from there. Not sure about the adjustments but when I built the swing out for the bumper on my 40 I got it all tacked together while it was mounted - so I used the magnetic angle finder A LOT to square it up and get it setup. Get it all tacked while the bumper is mounted and then optionally remove to finish the welds

 

that makes sense. Didn’t think of a magnetic angle finder.
If that’s a gauge then I can get one. Put it on the bedside. Determine angle.

then I can adjust the bumper to match that same angle. Regardless of if the fender cut is perfect or needs to be re done again later.

or even the phone app one

just to get the swingout on there and usable rather than sitting in storage

 

phone works well but one (or 2) of these is invaluable ...




I think you commented on my other thread where it appears someone cut my ABS line on my Tacoma - strange. Can't wait to put some eyes on it Saturday

 

Digital angle finders are awesome, I use mine every time I'm doing shop work.

As for the swingout, you can get away with slightly thinner tubing if going larger - 2" x 3" at 1/8" vs 2" x 2" at 3/16"

Lastly, keep in mind when setting things up that your swingout will "sag" a bit when it's open and has weight in it. You can offset the mount a tad to make up for this but a little sag is normal and expected.

 

Truck has a warfab phantom HC

and their swingout addition with Rigd latch, that I ordered separate later. Sitting in storage.
Unfortunately 1. They don’t seem to sell them anymore to get a second/finish dual and 2. It’s just a single half gate tire carrier.

(hindsight 20/20, should’ve got it at the same time)

and now need to install. Just trying to figure out if there’s anything I need to change regarding bumper position before I drive to a welder.

other than that, HC has been on the truck some years and hasn’t moved. Including towing.
Don’t want to drop the truck off have them weld on swingout only to find out I don’t have bumper perfectly positioned itself on the truck first.