I've already done a SEARCH and looked at pretty much everything already discussed. I've considered the spindle approach that many are using on their tire carriers. I've even looked at the idea of the spindle with a locking hub. Got good ideas, but I need a few more ideas from the board.
Here's my problem, a local shop built my rear bumper/tire carrier about 5 years ago. I really like the bumper, but the tire carrier just wasn't designed very well. A lack of gussetting through the center allows it to flex A LOT and it's bad enough now that I can't even carry my spare on it because it bounces too much.
I am planning on rebulding it this weekend. There are some elements of the existing setup that I like a lot and want to keep. One of which is two upright posts that support the tire carrier. One side has the hinges, and the other has the latch. The main reason I want to keep these is because my rear corner protection is tied into these. The other thing I'll probably keep is the actual tire mount itself just so I don't have to build another one.
The corner protection has saved my body countless times and I want to keep it.
Which leaves me to just rebuild the framework that is the swingout portion of the tire/carrier. I'll most likely use 1x1" square tubing with 1/8" wall thickness. I want to increase the strength of the carrier so it doesn't bounce anymore with the spare on it, but also keep it as light as possible.
Here is a very crude 3D model of some ideas. The top one is the existing carrier, and the other two are just some ideas I had for rebuilding it. I don't have an engineering background and most of you have more fab experience than I do so I think you can help me out.
The only other thing I might add is a small cooler rack on the side opposite the tire.
Adam I have the same basic design as yours, except the center section of mine is built from the same 2X2 tubing as it looks like your uprights are, mine flexs zero, even with a 35 1550 TSL SX which I guarantee has got to be one of the heaviest SOB's out there.
Mine is a a rectangle with one center bar that the tire mounts on, no x bracing at all.
My Dig. camera is at home, if you want I can shoot some pix tommorrow of it.
Butch
Butch, I'd love to see some pics if you've got 'em!!!
Jeremiah, No not the same truck. I have a habit of trying to stay OFF of Potato Salad Hill. There are other obstacles that give me more satisfaction when conquered.
Butch, is that thing WAY heavy?! The posts on mine are 3/16" wall thickness and I'm sure they'd eliminate the flex but I don't want to make the thing too heavy. I'm guessing my 37x12.50 MTR on a steel rim is getting close to the weight of your swamper.
Adam all of this is 1/4"wall thickness 2x2. I'm thinkin' by the time you build some of your designs the weight is gonna be close to the same. Wish we had connected at Moab and we could have checked each others rigs out.
Butch
Remember Adam. I'm Texan, land of the big ass bumpers and heavy sheat........most of what we build is over built, because of the damb ass redneck factor that exists here..........:flipoff2: :flipoff2:
Butch
The posts under the (factory) part that holds the tire - I used a design like the Toyman, and made the from 1 x 2 - on end, .095 wall. They are back cut, and run the supports full height - this makes it hard for it to tweak because its not just the upper rectangle like your current piece. My tire is the same as yours with less BS, and no problems on the factory hinges.
Remember Adam. I'm Texan, land of the big ass bumpers and heavy sheat........most of what we build is over built, because of the damb ass redneck factor that exists here..........:flipoff2: :flipoff2:
Butch
I'm no machinist, nor did I stay in a Holiday Inn last nite..........but most machine shops have it, the way I understood, it is machineable Nylon/plastic
go here http://heritage.dupont.com/floater/fl_delrin/floater.shtml
I'll bet Medusa can answer this.
Butch
Alright, so I finished the tire carrier on Saturday. I'm just waiting for a chance to shoot a couple pics with the digicam. My 80 series is in seeing the doctor today and my wife has the 40 so I'll try to snap a couple photos tomorrow.
I think it turned out great! I ended up using 1.5x1.5" square tubing with 3/16" wall for pretty much the whole thing. It was beefy enough that I didn't need much cross-bracing at all. There's a small cooler rack made of 1x1" that maybe sits a little low but it's the only way I could fit it. A 37" spare takes up a LOT of room back there. The rack doesn't sit any lower than the bottom of the spare and it sticks out the back almost the exact same distance as the spare so it shouldn't be too big of a problem. The cooler rack will hold my cooler that is a 32 qt I think, or 3 jerry cans. I also attached my axe and shovel mount to the carrier as well.
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