I thought I would share with you guys what I did on my week of vacation. Just a little background... About 3 years ago I justified the purchase of a welder because of the money I would save on building my own bumper, well I finally got around to building the rear one. The following is a list of materials. I got the steel for free from a machine shop I deal with at work. I guess the material costs would be around $50-80 in steel.

Material list:
2"x6"x.25" piece of steel at least 60" long
.5"x4" flat stock around 24" long for the bumper to frame bracket
.75"x3" flat stock for the d-ring shackle bracket tabs
boat trailer axle hub (got 2 from a bent axle in the dumpster of Eastern Marine for $20, new they are $25 each)
I recycled the Tomken swing arm from my old bumper (you can make one for around $50 in steel)
grade 8 hardware from Pep Boys around $8
hitch from a trailer store $15

Tools list:
Drill press with various bits (borrowed a 7/8ths one from work for the d-ring hole)
4.5" grinder with about 10 cutting disks and 3 grinding disks
Welder
Hole saw for axle stub to fit into bumper
Metal chop saw

I put a bunch of pics in the DEJA gallery here.
http://www.delawareja.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=Rear-Swing-Out-Bumper

I basically made the bumper similarly to a Tomken bumper, but way stronger. I slotted the bumper with the 4.5" grinder through both sides so I could put the tabs and hitch through and weld them on both sides. I also tapered the ends of the bumper with the grinder and welded in end caps. I stripped the flange off hub and I cut the simple through bolt type hinge on the old Tomken swing arm and welded the bare bearing to it (see the pics). Then I welded the axle stub that was in the hub to the bumper. A few brackets for the bumper and to lock the swing arm in and I was done. I also modified the swing arm so I could mount the High Lift on it. My original Tomken had the HL bracket and gas can option, but I decided to remove that option because it pushed the spare tire too far out and put too much cantilever pressure on the carrier. When I removed it I needed to remount the HL so see the pics for the mod. The swing arm and the HL will be retained by a large hand nut similar to the newer style Tomken carriers. Also, with the swing arm closed you can not remove the HL because you can not pull it off the mounting stud. I welded and extra tab on so I can secure the swing arm with a pad lock when I am not on the trail. Now everything is secure, you can kind off see it in the pics.

http://www.delawareja.com/gallery/albums/Rear-Swing-Out-Bumper/aan.sized.jpg

http://www.delawareja.com/gallery/albums/Rear-Swing-Out-Bumper/aao.sized.jpg

Looks good! What was the total cost when everything was said and done?

Including cutting wheels, shackles and paint I think I have about $75 into it. If you had to buy the steel I bet you could still do it for less then $150. The big issue is time. I have about 25 hours into it. It would be consederably less if I could make a clean weld on the first pass and if I had a milling machine. Using the 4.5" grinder just took time.

got diamond plate? :flipoff2:

got diamond plate? you're :rainbow:

$150 isn't that bad considering that other aftermarket units cost over $300. Did you tie the bumper into the frame?

Yes, I forgot to mention that I ran .25" flat stock from the bottom of the bumper and tied it into the frame using a bolt on the underneath of the frame. It really keeps the tire from flexing.

Yeh, the diamond plate is :rainbow: , but Santa didn't bring my AE corners, so I have to save my $$$, so I can get them this spring. If nothing else it at least covers the damage form the bitch that rear ended me. I guess with this bumper I will not need to worry about ricers running into the back of the Jeep :D .

Hey, I also got duct tape. :flipoff2:

Sweet Bumper! It definitely looks good, and sounds like its of great quality.

Obvious newbie question... What are AE Corners? Thanks.

The are Avalanche Engineering corners.

http://www.avalancheengr.com/index.htm

See the thread on Corner Protection for more insite.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21789

Thanks and welcome Newbie :flipoff2: .

Looks pretty good :D

Looks good.. my only concern would be this: do you think the arm going straight up supporting all the weight of the tire is strong enough to keep it from bending?
Just curious. Looks good though.
Scott

Thanks for the compliments. :)

I thought about the leverage on the single arm for a while, but I welded it to the swing arm and it's reinforced with a .25" plate. This is actually the Tomken design that I made stronger. Also it is one reason I removed the gas can option. With that option there was an adaptor that pushed the tire another 4" farther out. I figure the regular Tomken arms don't fail and since I made it stronger and my bearing and latch set up is more ridged I should be fine. There is no sway or bounce in the carrier or bumper if I put on my 35" spare. I also hung off the back of the tire to test it and it didn't move. If it bends, I guess I will throw out the Tomken peice completely and make the swing arm out of 2x2x.25. :D

Ok, call me a idiot, but how do you put in the retainer pin for your hitch?

I mean it is on the back side of the bumper and that seems like a big Pain in the Ass, but maybe it is easier than it looks.

It is on the back side of the bumper and it probably is a PITA, but I did not install hitch for towing. Well I guess I could tow a small trailer, but it is really there for a center tow point. I had to redrill the clevis pin hole 1.5" farther back because the original hole is in the middle of the bumper. If I were to have the original hole stick out the front the hitch would extend 3" out and I though that was too far. I will probably have to make a custom hitch piece to put a ball on. The bigest problem is it is the same height as the x-member and would not slide in far enough for the holes to line up. I hope that made sence??? I will just drill an extra hole farther back in an adapter for it to work. BTW, the bumper sits 2.25" off the x-member so there is some room back there to get the hitch pin out. Good pick up, this was one of the sacrifices I had to make to save ground clearence.

I have seen this type of design from several companies, but yours is much cleaner. I think Cross enterprises make a similar carrier, but the mounts are all on the face of the bumper instead of the top of it, so you lose a slight amount of departure angle, and its more open the road junk that eats away at welds and pivot points. As for the ability of the one bar to hold the weight, I have yet to hear any problems from people with the cross or tomken units, I think your fine there.:)

Nice looking bumper DE jeeper. I'll be designing my spare tire carrier soon. I found some hinges thru rockstomper www.rockstomper.com for $40. They seem sturdy and are rated for 1000lb and are also a trailer spindle. This, and your info should get me started. Thanks

Nice Job, much nicer than my first bumber project, looks lighter too!

Thanks again guys. :)

As far as the weight it is not that much more then the tube bumper I had on there before, maybe 50 lbs. I figured that is not that bad.

Looks really good. So when are you making mine:question: :D :rasta:

To be honest I am so tired :zzz: from the effort it took to make this one I don't even want to make my front bunper and that will be 75% easier. I now know why one of these costs so much and why the deliverly is so long. I figure even with the correct tools and jigs they still have close to 10 hrs of labor for a good quality swing out carrier.