Spare tire swingaway for Greg Davis bumper?

Jeff Blake

Well-known member
May 6, 2016
429
16
Pacific Beach, San Diego
I was on a trip and heard a loud pop - the bottom hinge on the cargo door bent 30 degrees somehow. Bummer. I'm thinking now is a good time to look into moving the spare to a swing-away, welded to the bumper. Did a search, only a few things from pre-2012 and vendors are no longer in business.

Plan so far is to look for a Jeep or universal swingaway, and take it to a welder.

Has anyone done this before? Any tips, gotchas, or product recommendations?

Not too stoked on adding more weight to the rear end, however. My 3" RTE springs sagged 2" within the first month. Other option is to put it on the roof rack, but I think the rear end would look silly and fetching a tire from the rack does not sound like fun.
 

CORover

Well-known member
Jun 11, 2007
745
65
Colorado, USA
Don't remember what the GD bumper looked like, but I have a swing away that I really like. I would be happy to send pics.
 

robertf

Well-known member
Jan 22, 2006
4,781
358
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I added one to an RTE bumper, but its the same concept.

Every jeep carrier ive seen uses a couple of bearing like a trailer spindle. The bigger diameter of a bearing vs bushing pushes the tire even further from the vehicle. Stick to something like this.

http://ironpigoffroad.com/Fabrication/IPOR-SPINDLE

I used 2 heim joints and a turn buckle so the carrier opens with the door. I cant stand the screen door approach of having to open 2 doors instead of 1.

Use good heims. I didnt and have to oil them once a year or they sound like death when I open the door
 

Jeff Blake

Well-known member
May 6, 2016
429
16
Pacific Beach, San Diego
CORover - please do

robert - I'm trying to wrap my head around what you did. Is this completely fabricated yourself, or did you start with a retail carrier? If so, which one?

Questions
- is the roller necessary? The GD bumper isn't very wide, so I don't think this would be very useful/needed
- it looks like you used the factory mounting plate, but then I see another one fabbed in the last picture? How does that work?
- How do you get the swing action of the carrier to match that of the door hinges? Is that the heims? What is the heims mounted to on on the door?
- Are you using the six factory bolt holes on the door for anything? I think you mounted the heims to a bracket and used two of the holes?

I like the design. The other idea I had was to have the swingaway hinge on the left, and opens opposite, so you could set up portable shelving or storage when at base camp (I already have a fold down table on the barn door). Con, have to open two things.
 

robertf

Well-known member
Jan 22, 2006
4,781
358
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CORover - please do

robert - I'm trying to wrap my head around what you did. Is this completely fabricated yourself

I used that IPOR spindle I linked to, but you can get all that stuff from mcmaster

Questions
- is the roller necessary? The GD bumper isn't very wide, so I don't think this would be very useful/needed

Yes, 200lbs on a 2.5 foot beam will flop around and fail in no time. there is also a rubber bumper on the back that compresses when closed, so it is very rigid.

- it looks like you used the factory mounting plate, but then I see another one fabbed in the last picture? How does that work?

I built it to take the stock mount in the stock location, then made a replacement mount that moves it up and is scalloped for the wheel/tire combo I'm running. Previously I had spaced out and up the tire bracket to fit the 35/12.50/15, but if I moved that setup over to the new carrier it would have stuck out an additional inch or so, I wanted the tire as close to the door as possible

- How do you get the swing action of the carrier to match that of the door hinges? Is that the heims? What is the heims mounted to on on the door?

the heims account for any planar misalignment between the bumper and rear door hinges, but after that its just 4 bar linkage like a lawn chair or fancy picnic table.

- Are you using the six factory bolt holes on the door for anything? I think you mounted the heims to a bracket and used two of the holes?
just 2 of them to bolt the tab for the heim joint to the door.
 

Jeff Blake

Well-known member
May 6, 2016
429
16
Pacific Beach, San Diego
After doing some more thinking, here is the current plan, pending any enlightening comments:

- I want it swing open to the driver side, with a fold down table on the backside. So that makes roberts design not work for me. Also with the new design I can forgo the heims and roller wheel. Fewer moving parts the better.
- Buy the hardware from an online shop like http://www.4xinnovations.com/Swing-Out-Tire-Carrier-Hinge-Assembly_p_109.html and http://www.4xinnovations.com/Swing-Out-Tire-Carrier-Hinge-Assembly_p_109.html
- Take the hardware to a local welder to make the rest. I could buy the carrier premade: http://www.4xinnovations.com/Swing-Out-Tire-Carrier_p_112.html
But I feel like this is pretty simple job for a welder and would be easier for him to start from scratch, with the right hardware, rather than modify something premade to work (and pay $$ to ship basic steel tube across the US)

Alas, I'm pretty useless myself for this project without a welder, so I don't see a way to DIY it. The best I can do is compile the parts and take it to a shop.
 

Blue

Well-known member
Mar 26, 2004
10,043
856
AZ
Im still waiting for pics of a swing away on an actual Greg Davis bumper.

The GD bumper doesn't have any extra real estate aft of the plastic corner pieces. You'd have to weld on a bracket to hold the spindle.
 

K-rover

Well-known member
Jan 15, 2010
2,163
62
Raleigh, NC
The GD bumper doesn't have any extra real estate aft of the plastic corner pieces. You'd have to weld on a bracket to hold the spindle.

Yeah I have something invisioned in my head, but was curious if anyone had actually done it already. My door hinge is already broken with 34s. Mounting a 35" tire on the door isnt going to happen so I need to figure something out sooner than later
 

robertf

Well-known member
Jan 22, 2006
4,781
358
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Thanks for the compliments. Found the rest of the pics. Maybe these are of use to someone else. I forgot I had cut down the IPOR spindle to fit better
 

Jeff Blake

Well-known member
May 6, 2016
429
16
Pacific Beach, San Diego
You're right, not a lot of space on the GD bumper. I dumped the plastic corners long ago, however. I think sticking a spindle on top might fit.

The trick of using a bracket, is that the bumper has 2 angles on the side, and it doesn't get straight until about 11" in towards the receiver. See pic
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
For the life of me I don't understand why you would want the tire to swing driver and the door to swing passenger. You building a fort in the middle?