Swing-out tire carrier buildup!!

[Willman]

Swing-out tire carrier buildup!!!

I have been working on this project for a while! For me it is hard when i work full-time and go to school full-time as well. It makes for a long day!! I have alway been wanting a rear bumper w/ a tire carrier. I got sick of my spare tire taking up the space in my bed! I shopped around and could not find anything that i liked or didn't wanted to break the bank on. A lot of fab shops want $1000 plus...and you cann't forget about the shipping cost as well...Sooo one day i got a used welder from the father-in-law and just about all a guy needs for working up a piece of art!!!!

(note disclaimer: Willman has 4 years of welding fab training. When working with metal you should have some training etc. because you could harm yourself!!!)

used Esab Migmaster welder - $200 (father-in-law deal..later found $$$ under drivers seat!!!...Free!!! I love that guy!!!!!)
Oxy/Ace torch setup - $300
Metal shop saw - Free
All the steel i needed for fab- $40
HD Hinge - $50
Toggle clamp - $80
I already had alot of stuff before - peanut grinder, misc tools etc...

So far i have spend about $500 i would say...also a few runs to the local welding shop for misc parts etc... The great thing is that i now have just about everything i need or connections to get it for future projects and mods (skid plates, roof rack w/ tent, etc..)

Here is my fab buildup:

I used a 6x3 with a wall of 3/16 for my main piece

A nice torch can be a great tool for any metal project

Now time to cap it off. This will be my air tank in the future!

Rocklogic makes a great hinge setup, http://www.rocklogic4x4.com/store/index.php?action=item&id=111
I got everything all grinded and ready to start planning my swing out arm. I cut out a piece of card board for my spare tire, thats alot lighter than the real thing!!!! I mapped out my hinge placement as well as my toggle clamp. I got the stainless steel toggle clamp from McMaster online.

I then layed out my hole for my pin for the hinge and used a 1-3/8" holesaw to make the hole

I used 2x2 w/ a wall of 3/16 as well. When i welded the hinge tube piece and with the help of OldSven we pressed in the bearing races for the hinge.(my welds sicked that day!!!!..some days your on some days your not!!..lol)

On top of the arm i am going to bend up a piece of 1-7/8" tube to hold the tire,hi-lift etc..That is coming soon! The next step was to put my reciever hitch in. I have a Warn multi-mount winch which is a great tool that is very handy!!! With the hitch, i wanted to flush mount it with the bottem of the bumper but i run into a problem with the pin placement and had to this instead..which is great too!!
Drilling hole for pin

Now to weld it up!!!

I wanted to make this hitch very strong...i put gussets round the hitch to beef it up!!!

There is alot to come!!! I will keep everyone posted as project goes on. Let me know if U have any Q's or suggestions.

-Willman-

 

[CLynn85]

Looks like you're off to a great start. Thanks for the link to the pre-fabbed hinge setup! I'm planning on building one this summer and that will save a bit of hassle.

 

[Willman]

Run out of picture room

Here is my bumper so far....I am getting ready to weld the pin in for the hinge.

I have a lots to do!!!
-Drill hole on gussets for trailer safety chains
-Bendup tube for upper arm.......and the list goes on!!!!
:smileeek:

 

[Desertdude]

Damn - that is talent! Nice work :Wow1:

 

[goodtimes]

I must throw a word of warning out there....be careful with that hinge. They have been known to fatigue, and break off while driving down the road. This is more common with the imported trailer spindles (which is what that hinge is based on...the trailer spindle...don't know if that one is imported or not). I have seen it several times in person. I used to have a similar bumper on the back of my jeep, but scrapped it because of this concern (of course, my main concern wasn't losing the spare tire going down the road, it was the 10 gallons of fuel that I had strapped on there that worried me the most).

Personally, I prefer swing outs with 2 hinges, instead of one, but the asthetics are not as nice this way.

As far as fabrication goes, it looks good! And the deal you got on your welder was much better than the one I got on my Millermatic 210.

 

[Willman]

I must throw a word of warning out there....be careful with that hinge. They have been known to fatigue, and break off while driving down the road. This is more common with the imported trailer spindles (which is what that hinge is based on...the trailer spindle...don't know if that one is imported or not). I have seen it several times in person. I used to have a similar bumper on the back of my jeep, but scrapped it because of this concern (of course, my main concern wasn't losing the spare tire going down the road, it was the 10 gallons of fuel that I had strapped on there that worried me the most).

Personally, I prefer swing outs with 2 hinges, instead of one, but the asthetics are not as nice this way.

As far as fabrication goes, it looks good! And the deal you got on your welder was much better than the one I got on my Millermatic 210.

Thanks for the great words guys!!! Do you have any pictures of that hinge..and who makes it??? The hinge i got is very beefy!! It would take A LOT to see this one fail!!! It is a pretty nice setup. You get a A+ for the Millermatic 210!!! Sweet welder!!!!:bowdown:

http://www.rocklogic4x4.com/store/index.php?action=item&id=111

 

[goodtimes]

I don't have any pictures of the hinges that failed...they were all the typical trailer spindle like you have. The bumpers, IIRC were from "smaller" fabrication shops....don't recall names, but they were not the huge mass producing places like Warn, ARB, etc. All of the failed pieces were several years old, and all had 35"+ tires on them. Just keep your eye on it for stress cracks around the top weld on the bumper...that is where they seem to fail.

The MM210 is a pretty nice welder....just wish I would have spent the extra $$$ and bought the 251 instead. About a week after I bought the 210 (figuring I would never weld anything over 3/8"...and if I did see some 1/2" stuff, I could just run 3 passes on it...), I had a piece of 1" plate come in that had cracked (part of a custom made stud press). It took 10 fuggin passes with the mm210 cranked all the way up to fill up the chamfer I ground out...that was a pain.....

 

[The BN Guy]

Looks good. I have a similar design drawn. Just need to build the danged thing.

Word of warning, don't know about your state but in Texas it is now illegal to have the air tank built into the bumper. Might want to check to be sure. The reasoning is to prevent further problems should you be involved in an accident.

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

Looks Great!

Can you make me one of these>?!!!!!!:jumping: ....

.
.
.
(disclaimer!.......This is NOT my truck (although it's my exact model)....but this bumper sure would look good on my truck!)

 

[Willman]

Looks Great!

Can you make me one of these>?!!!!!!:jumping: ....

.
.
.
(disclaimer!.......This is NOT my truck (although it's my exact model)....but this bumper sure would look good on my truck!)

SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!!! Your not the first one to ask that question.....sounds like there is a little $$ to be made in this department!!! I would love to fab that up 4 U!! I would trade for one of those rooftop tents (or what ever you got) and or $$$. How does that sound??

 

[Willman]

More Buildup!!

Now it was time to work on the swing out gate to hold the tire. I had to see one of my buddies that had a tube bender. I used 1 3/4 pipe with a 1/8 wall (.120).

We bended the tube about 120 degrees....This pic we still have a few more degrees to go!! This tube bender was fresh from the box!!! Boy was it nice!!! All the bends were right on the $$$$$.

With one broken hole saw bit later..we had 2 awesome looking fish mouths....(Note to self...need to buy a tube notcher..while i got the wallet out a tube bender as well....) Having the drill press was the ticket!!!

With everything all layed out on the floor....just about ready to weld!!!

 

[Willman]

To the right or center?????

I thought i would get you vote and reason why on if the tire should be to the right or center????

(note..due to the reciever hitch..i had to flip the bumper to plan this out.)

I will go first....I think i should put it to the right...Then i can still some what use my rear view mirror. Plus i have more room on the left side for gas cans and other stuff.

What do you guys think????

 

[erin]

Very nice design. I would keep the tire closer towards the hinge in order to keep stress off it as much as possible. that way the spare willl always be on, and you can just put on the cans for trips.

 

[goodtimes]

I would put it as close to the hinge as possible, and as far to the drivers side as possible. This will keep the leverage on the hinge down, and let you use your rear view window.....of course, that also means that it swings from the drivers side. Not sure why everyone builds them to swing from the passenger side (like you did....and I did the first time I built one....)

 

[calamaridog]

Tire carrier FAQ

This information may not apply directly to your build but I like to post it for general information...

Error on the side of caution and have a failsafe design. Loosing the tire carrier on the fwy could easily result in GBI or death for someone behind you.


Rear tire carrier design FAQ
Originally posted by Tankota (TTORA)

"That's the same exact type used on my old one. They are using mini axle spindles, kind of like you would use on a small trailer. They are plenty strong as is, but the weak point is where it's mounted to the bumper. The stub is usually hardened, and when they weld it to the bumper it weakens them at the base. Then the light rocking back and forth of the tire on the gate over time causes fine fatigue cracks at the base, and eventually it goes all the way through the spindle. It all depends on how well they are controlling the bouncing of the gate, and how good their welding is. If you are driving down the road and you can see the tire moving front to back at all, then it's flexing at the base, and over time will cause the metal there to weaken and fail. Kind of like bending a paper clip back and forth. The more the movement, the faster it will break.

Some of the Jeep bumpers have a latch higher up, and this works well to control the movement. If you look at some designs, all the weight is hanging off the gate at an offset (tire), and the mounting points are all below the gate at the base, with nothing to stop movement at the top.

This is the reason when I built my new rear bumper I used 2 hinges, and 2 latches. It's not as low profile and clean as those types, but it stops the movement, even while off-road. Plus it's almost impossible to have both both hinges and both latches fail at the same time. Mine's way overbuilt, I sat there making sure almost everything had at least 2 attachment points. That way if I start to have any problems I can catch it before hand.
Now there are plenty of bumper built that way that never have this problem. I'm sure that's a very nice high quality bumper, and I have no knowledge of any from that company having problems. But I have heard of at least 6-7 built with that type of hinge that have failed, in addition to mine, and that's just from 1-2 message boards so who knows how many have had problems that never made it onto those 1-2 message boards. This problem is very hard to detect ahead of time, you have to remove the entire gate and bearings and examine the base of the spindle where it's welded to the bumper and look for hairline cracks. This type of failure could take months, years, or never. Mine was about 2-3 years old when it failed."