SkiWill
Well-known member
So my LR4 is my daily driver. I use it to take kids to school, pick up groceries, make Costco runs, etc. I also use it hunting, camping, driving to remote places for fun and for work. So it has to do a lot of things like carry extra fuel and a real E-rated LT full size spare.
At the time I bought the the Tactical Rovers bumper, the Kaymar unit was unavailable in the US, so it was my only choice for carrying extra fuel and a 265/65R18 spare.
While the bumper and swing outs did meet my needs for carrying reserve fuel, it was an absolute pain in the sensitive body part of your choice for everyday use. So, I made some modifications.
First, the supplied gas struts for the swing arm are WAY overkill. They are rated at 90 lbs each, which means that the single gas can carrier in particular would kneecap you like you were a degenerate gambler behind on your payments. As soon as the latch was opened, it would open violently. Even the tire swing arm opened violently with the heavy tire and wheel on it.
I ordered a 20-29 lb strut, Strong Arm P/N 6924 and a 60-69 lb strut, Strong Arm P/N 6927 from RockAuto.com. I still think the 60-69 lb strut is a little more than necessary for the tire carrier side, and I'll probably order the 6926 part which is 40-49 lbs at some point. Here's the full spec of all the available struts: https://www.rockauto.com/genImages/186/SAUniversalSpecGuide.pdf
This helped a lot. I didn't need to lean into the truck so hard to keep the arms closed when trying to latch something after opening the rear hatch. With the two 90 lb struts, it felt like I was about to get launched into the parking lot, but I'm not a 250 lb person.
However, due to the layout of the struts, the struts are still pushing the swing outs open when you try to latch them. This, combined with the flex of the tire carrier swing out, meant that it was virtually impossible to keep the two swing outs closed and then close the latch to secure the swing out. If you've ever had a couple of kids and dog to watch with groceries in your arms, you know this is not going to work. The best solution would be to have the swing out mount for the strut located on the front side of the vehicle compared with attachment to the bumper. This would be the opposite of how it is currently mounted where the strut attachment to the bumper is mounted forward compared to the strut mounted on the swing arm. This would allow the strut to assist in keeping the swing outs open, but would mean that the struts are pushing the swing outs closed when you're putting them back to a secure latch position. This would be the most ideal option, but would possibly require more modification than I wanted to mess with at this point in time.
So, I did the next best things, and had some tabs welded on to the swing arms and installed some Trail Gear slam latches that I bought from Summit Racing: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/TGI-303478-1-KIT
Now, I simply shut the swing arms, and they stay shut! They don't swing open, so I can actually use one hand to open and shut the secure latch from the swing arms. I'm still using the supplied latch with the swing arms because the bumper and arm does flex enough allow the slam latch to open, but overall this modification has made a big difference in the usability of the swing outs on a day to day basis:
At the time I bought the the Tactical Rovers bumper, the Kaymar unit was unavailable in the US, so it was my only choice for carrying extra fuel and a 265/65R18 spare.
While the bumper and swing outs did meet my needs for carrying reserve fuel, it was an absolute pain in the sensitive body part of your choice for everyday use. So, I made some modifications.
First, the supplied gas struts for the swing arm are WAY overkill. They are rated at 90 lbs each, which means that the single gas can carrier in particular would kneecap you like you were a degenerate gambler behind on your payments. As soon as the latch was opened, it would open violently. Even the tire swing arm opened violently with the heavy tire and wheel on it.
I ordered a 20-29 lb strut, Strong Arm P/N 6924 and a 60-69 lb strut, Strong Arm P/N 6927 from RockAuto.com. I still think the 60-69 lb strut is a little more than necessary for the tire carrier side, and I'll probably order the 6926 part which is 40-49 lbs at some point. Here's the full spec of all the available struts: https://www.rockauto.com/genImages/186/SAUniversalSpecGuide.pdf
This helped a lot. I didn't need to lean into the truck so hard to keep the arms closed when trying to latch something after opening the rear hatch. With the two 90 lb struts, it felt like I was about to get launched into the parking lot, but I'm not a 250 lb person.
However, due to the layout of the struts, the struts are still pushing the swing outs open when you try to latch them. This, combined with the flex of the tire carrier swing out, meant that it was virtually impossible to keep the two swing outs closed and then close the latch to secure the swing out. If you've ever had a couple of kids and dog to watch with groceries in your arms, you know this is not going to work. The best solution would be to have the swing out mount for the strut located on the front side of the vehicle compared with attachment to the bumper. This would be the opposite of how it is currently mounted where the strut attachment to the bumper is mounted forward compared to the strut mounted on the swing arm. This would allow the strut to assist in keeping the swing outs open, but would mean that the struts are pushing the swing outs closed when you're putting them back to a secure latch position. This would be the most ideal option, but would possibly require more modification than I wanted to mess with at this point in time.
So, I did the next best things, and had some tabs welded on to the swing arms and installed some Trail Gear slam latches that I bought from Summit Racing: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/TGI-303478-1-KIT
Now, I simply shut the swing arms, and they stay shut! They don't swing open, so I can actually use one hand to open and shut the secure latch from the swing arms. I'm still using the supplied latch with the swing arms because the bumper and arm does flex enough allow the slam latch to open, but overall this modification has made a big difference in the usability of the swing outs on a day to day basis:
