Anyone have ideas on a cheap outdoor hinge to use for the table? I used a piano hinge for the cargo door table, but it gets gummed up with dirt pretty easily.
Spare tire swingaway for Greg Davis bumper?
- Thread starter Jeff Blake
- Start date
Yup. Only advantage I can see to having a driver's side swing is that you can mount the tire out of your field of vision and still keep a majority of the weight closer to the spindle side.
I would think any old outdoor hinge would work.
Yeah like I said, the reason I did driver side swing was so I could fit a table for my stove. The table on my door is not well suited for the stove. No one seems to think this is a good idea (and/or the cons outweigh the pros), but whatever, I like it.
So far, project cost:
spindle $90
clamp $50
t handle pin: $20
steel disk: $14
old wheel hub: "free"
welding, parts, labor and install: $500
Looks like the table will cost another $100 or so. Sheet metal ain't cheap...
Only thing I'm a little concerned about is the toggle clamp coming undone. It has a locking handle: https://www.mcmaster.com/#5135a42/=1ccy0vj
But it doesn't require much force at all to tap that handle off, and with the lock off, the clamp will come undone.
However... I tried shaking, rattling, pushing, pulling, etc the carrier, and it doesn't come off. Drove 2 miles home on rough roads, did not vibrate off. Still makes me a little uneasy though... I may wrap some bailing wire around the locking handle or something for more safety.
But it doesn't require much force at all to tap that handle off, and with the lock off, the clamp will come undone.
However... I tried shaking, rattling, pushing, pulling, etc the carrier, and it doesn't come off. Drove 2 miles home on rough roads, did not vibrate off. Still makes me a little uneasy though... I may wrap some bailing wire around the locking handle or something for more safety.
I have to say that looks pretty damn good!
I personally wouldn't want to deal with 2 mechanisms to open the rear door (I am in & out of the rear a lot while working) but it looks nicely done.
What are your plans for the table? You want to mount a stove table inside the rear door, or outside? Not sure what direction you're going here.
I personally wouldn't want to deal with 2 mechanisms to open the rear door (I am in & out of the rear a lot while working) but it looks nicely done.
What are your plans for the table? You want to mount a stove table inside the rear door, or outside? Not sure what direction you're going here.
Thanks. It doesn't have the "factory professional feel", but I actually prefer a little DIY look to it, it goes well with my other less than perfect DIY mods, completing the overall look. I'm not the guy who powder coats his armor and buys everything bolt on from Terraflex or Poison spyder haha.
Table:
will go on the backside of the carrier, so with the carrier open 90 degrees, so, working from behind the vehicle, I'll have a table on my left (carrier) for the stove, and a table on my right (barn door).
.125" aluminum sheet. I may need to add a frame to the underside, using the smallest aluminum angle I can get. Frame may also come in handy for the piano hinge attachment point, and the ropes on the side
Piano hinge (unless I think of something better)
Simple steel or rope straps to hold the table open
Simple clamp, or a threaded knob to secure the table closed
I added a picture just now. Cotter pin is a great idea, I should be able to drill one in pretty easily
edit - added a pic showing the general idea for the table
Oh, and lastly I wanted to have the shop weld on some steel plates to replace those missing plastic corner pieces, but we ran out of time, so we'll do that another time.
Drill a hole in that round plate. The spring loaded T handle will drop into the hole when the carrieris closed and prevent it from openening should the latch fail.
The welder actually did drill a hole for the closed position,
But it was a pain in the ass to open so I had him fill it in.
Going with this.
https://www.mcmaster.com/#94975a201/=1cdek52
Sorry fish, we just don't like any of each others ideas I guess
Paint jobbb
Also, I placed the order to McMaster around 11am this morning, and it arrived at 4pm... that's some black magic right there.
Also, I placed the order to McMaster around 11am this morning, and it arrived at 4pm... that's some black magic right there.
If it was hard to operate why didn't you just ream out the hole a 1/16" of an inch?? I like simple clean solutions, not overcomplicating things. You already have a mechanism to hold the carrier open, it only makes sense to have it pull double duty as a safety to keep it closed.
Hole wasn't the issue
In theory I agree with you, but in practice it was too much of a pain in the ass. Maybe I should have given it more time to get used to, but:
1. Undo toggle clamp
2. Go to other side, pull pin, and then heave the tire off the mount. This step was annoying because the weight is fully on the mount, and from the hinge side you don't have much leverage to yank the carrier open.
3. With the carrier off mount, you can now dance back to the other side again while swinging it open
4. go back to the other side again to open the cargo door
No bueno
In theory I agree with you, but in practice it was too much of a pain in the ass. Maybe I should have given it more time to get used to, but:
1. Undo toggle clamp
2. Go to other side, pull pin, and then heave the tire off the mount. This step was annoying because the weight is fully on the mount, and from the hinge side you don't have much leverage to yank the carrier open.
3. With the carrier off mount, you can now dance back to the other side again while swinging it open
4. go back to the other side again to open the cargo door
No bueno
I think I'm actually going to sit down and figure out the forces involved.
Washboard vibration effects over time will be difficult, but that can be handled with stability based on the other numbers and some off-the-rack fatigue figures.
I do want a swing out carrier. A 265/75R16 General tire on a steel wheel weighs around 100lbs. Take that, put it on the end of a two foot riser and (off the top of my head) two foot lever, and apply all the forces in double sheer over a distance of what?
About 8 inches total to the bottom of the mount including the vertical extension? Now, in the end, all those forces are actually applied to another lever; that being the distance from the mount on the bumper to the frame rail, and on some designs, includes the body.
I can get the right numbers, but those are close enough to get the point across that forces are being applied from many directions.
Now drop the whole vehicle three feet onto hard ground or pavement, or run it upon a washboard at speed. How many drops, or how many miles will each differing design survive? What's actually required to prevent most of the abuse to the hinge point and bumper?
Perhaps more importantly, how long before it begins to rattle? That's irritating as hell.
One thing I believe that should be firmly considered by more manufacturers is attaching the wings of the bumper to the forward factory receiver mounts, as they're some of the most beefy on the entire vehicle, and very few people have done it.
Seems kind of silly, to me; especially when adding a swing away spare carrier. All someone has to do is run the math, but nobody seems to want to bother. It's always just using thicker steel or adding more steel. That's not a proper solution.
These things can be lighter, and lighter is better. This is one spot I'd use a higher alloy and bends to save as many ounces as possible. The arm itself doesn't have to be welded to anything, so you can make it out of whatever you want.
Cheers,
Kennith
Washboard vibration effects over time will be difficult, but that can be handled with stability based on the other numbers and some off-the-rack fatigue figures.
I do want a swing out carrier. A 265/75R16 General tire on a steel wheel weighs around 100lbs. Take that, put it on the end of a two foot riser and (off the top of my head) two foot lever, and apply all the forces in double sheer over a distance of what?
About 8 inches total to the bottom of the mount including the vertical extension? Now, in the end, all those forces are actually applied to another lever; that being the distance from the mount on the bumper to the frame rail, and on some designs, includes the body.
I can get the right numbers, but those are close enough to get the point across that forces are being applied from many directions.
Now drop the whole vehicle three feet onto hard ground or pavement, or run it upon a washboard at speed. How many drops, or how many miles will each differing design survive? What's actually required to prevent most of the abuse to the hinge point and bumper?
Perhaps more importantly, how long before it begins to rattle? That's irritating as hell.
One thing I believe that should be firmly considered by more manufacturers is attaching the wings of the bumper to the forward factory receiver mounts, as they're some of the most beefy on the entire vehicle, and very few people have done it.
Seems kind of silly, to me; especially when adding a swing away spare carrier. All someone has to do is run the math, but nobody seems to want to bother. It's always just using thicker steel or adding more steel. That's not a proper solution.
These things can be lighter, and lighter is better. This is one spot I'd use a higher alloy and bends to save as many ounces as possible. The arm itself doesn't have to be welded to anything, so you can make it out of whatever you want.
Cheers,
Kennith