Tire Carrier Hinges - again

[Bad Karma]

hmmm... makes sense. not that hard either. now i figure out which will be easier for me. Thanks!!

 

[LJ_24]

I see that a lot of people are welding in their spindles at all points of contact with the bumper

I also heard that it can cause breakage if that is done, is this true? I am about to start a build and don;t want it to break on me at any point

 

[ScoutII]

I see that a lot of people are welding in their spindles at all points of contact with the bumper

I also heard that it can cause breakage if that is done, is this true? I am about to start a build and don;t want it to break on me at any point

Yes it's true, trailer spindle are known to break off just going down the freeway.
You could sleeve the bumper with some DOM tubing and just weld the bottom of the trailer spindle. DOM by the foot is about $11
Why does it fail for a tire carrier and not a trailer?

See what these guys have to say.

http://blog.comp4x4.com/2011/06/why-tire-carrier-hinge-kits-using.html

Edit....
I just tried to buy a trailer spindle sold as a tire carrier from RockStomper and they must have gone under.
I looked at AtoZ and they say a 1" spindle is good for up to a 31" tire. and the sell an 1 ½” Spindle for tires up to 37"

 

[ab1985]

I see that a lot of people are welding in their spindles at all points of contact with the bumper

I also heard that it can cause breakage if that is done, is this true? I am about to start a build and don;t want it to break on me at any point

What spindle are you using?

 

[Bad Karma]

Heres my COMP4X4 HD hinge (with DOM sleeve). 37" tire.

 

[llirttoc]

A theory that I have on the trailer spindle failures that are happening is, the welding was not done properly (preheating and cooling slowly) and the over all design of the hinge and latch system combined. I think if the latch end of the carrier is supporting half the resting weight and not allowed to flex while the vehicle is in motion, I don't think the trailer spindles would snap. The only time there would be stress on the spindle is while it is open. Can any one argue this? Does this make sense? Would hate to have my 37" spare fall of in the mall parking lot LOL .
Thanks
llirttoc

 

[ScoutII]

A theory that I have on the trailer spindle failures that are happening is, the welding was not done properly (preheating and cooling slowly) and the over all design of the hinge and latch system combined. I think if the latch end of the carrier is supporting half the resting weight and not allowed to flex while the vehicle is in motion, I don't think the trailer spindles would snap. The only time there would be stress on the spindle is while it is open. Can any one argue this? Does this make sense? Would hate to have my 37" spare fall of in the mall parking lot LOL .
Thanks
llirttoc

Yes/No Your thinking in one direction. Correct a good latch will hold the tire and spindle from moving right to left.
The issue is the front to back movement. A good latch could clamp down the arm to help with front to back movement and that would help, but you need a rubber bumper on the tail gate that the carrier can be pushed into. The clamp needs to hold it tight to the rubber bumper to prevent the oscillation movement.

Here's a pic of one on a Jeep Wrangler



Here you can see where they have two. One top and bottom



If you have a ton of gear to also carry you can add some support bars. I like the 5/8 hiems and a trailer hitch pin.

But you get the idea looking at this pic.




Check out this one, by Bench Mark designs

http://www.jkowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37985

 

[ab1985]

Mine sure isn't the prettiest, but it's not going anywhere. There's a HD spindle kit with double shear bracket on the other side from comp 4x4.

 

[seanz0rz]

as corax mentioned on the first page:

full build up here:
http://www.ultimateyota.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26&topic=8072.0

 

[billyzj]

kevins off road i belive uses the same concept,its nice to be able to adjust for added weight

Well, just throw one more at you. How about this?

Hiem joints and grade 5 bolts. Very adjustable, very smooth and not very expencive. Not to mention unique. Just a thought. :wings:

Cheers,
Josh
&
Porthos
:smiley_drive:

 

[Box Rocket]

Thought I'd share this one. Just finished up this simple tire carrier on my Tacoma using the Competition 4x4 dual shear face mount hinge. Its probably one of the simplest hinges out there with a 1" bolt and brass bushings. I chose it over a spindle type hinge because of the dual shear feature and because it would work with my rear bumper. So far so good, but this is a pretty foolproof design with no bearings to worry about etc. If the bushings show wear over time they can easily be replaced. Food for thought.

 

[Brian1]

Just came across this thread and was surprised to see my solidworks design and bumper hnge was already posted by ScoutII in post # 51 and 53. I designed my hinge in 2005 and it was a combination of Durango4x4s design and 1 other company that I cant remember right now. It swings open very smoothly even when fully loaded. I have been very happy with it and have only had 2 main issues with it over the years. I was rear ended on a freeway by a car and my carrier took a good hit. The assembly still held together but it bent the swing arm up and pushed it into my hatch. It also bent the double shear attachment point in about 1/8" to 1/4". This taught me a few things which I improved on when I fixed my bumper. The first was the importance of the latch design. I see alot of bumpers with an improper latch design to secure the carrier. I think the best way is to pull diagonally down and back to apply forces in the directions it is most needed. My latch pulled the arm horizontally up against a backstop and the weight of the swing end rested on a delrin block. When it was hit, the cam latch bent and allowed the arm to lift over the backstop and hit the body. I now have a fully boxed in (full capture) with the original latch. My latch is also bigger than many I see on aftermarket bumpers, I believe mine is a 2k rated latch. Next was the double shear mount, the top tab bent in. Once I bent it back I boxed in the back side of it and added an additional gusset to tie it back into the main structure of the bumper. Before it was only gusseted in 1 direction mainly to support the weight of the carrier when closed. A trailer spindle never would have survived the impact it took. The other issue was I had to replace the bearings 1 time and it was probably due to the crash as well.

 

[seanz0rz]

Brian, I am interested in your latch design. Mine is dead simple and holds the swingouts in from horizontal movement (swinging) but not from vertical flex in the bumper. i need something that pulls diagonally into the bumper, not just in one direction.

 

[Brian1]

Mine only pulls in one way as well which I think is good enough but as I said above I think a diagonal pull would be better. I guess my main point was to fully capture the end. I also use a pin as a safety latch since my cam latch does not have the locking tab like many of the new ones do. This is my latch end-

 

[Al_Santos]

You are absolutely correct about the double shear preventive way of fabricating the tire carrier. I will surely incorporate that in my rear bumper build. Thanks.