40 Tire Carrier Build

[Adventure Teq]

A thought.... my rear bumper/frame is bent a bit. Not bad, but enough that it isn't straight for something to mount to.
Has anyone ever thought about taking the rear bumper/frame off completely and making the new bumper to replace it bolting to the same spots?

Thanks man,

As far as replacing the entire member, from my perspective, that is quite an undertaking that the average joe might not want to take on. We're talking substantial structure replacement. The thing is held on there by 2 main gussets which consist of at least 12 rivets alone, then the bumper itself is attached to the frame by another 8 or so more rivets, have you ever removed any of these rivets? Not fun . Then we're talking about the rear body mounts and then you're onto replacing the spring hangars and so on.

Point being that someone willing to do this themselves is likely already going to be well equipped and prepared for some fabrication work or they would likely need to have a shop do it. Not to say that it's really that hard, but quite different from just ordering up a new piece and slapping it on.

 

[Klunky Chris]

oh yea, I definitely agree. I didn't really mean it for a production piece. More a thread hijack

and I havn't looked THAT closely at it. It didn't occur to me that the spring hangers were on the bumper/crossmember. I thought the *ears* in the rear were separate.

All those rivets take some work, but I did the 4 for the PS box and they weren't that bad.

Anyway, keep pluggin' away! You'll figure it out!

 

[Adventure Teq]

I just checked again. The hangers aren't actually riveted to the cross member but the crossmember is sandwiched between it and the frame with a weld along the back edge. Still if it were me I'd be replacing the gussets and the whole 9 if I were in there.

Hijack away bro.

 

[brew8]

Another Bumper

Here are a couple of pic's and how I attached them. Used plates off the rear bumper, with 2 inch by 1/4 through the rear channel then welded on both sides, used the slee off road spindle works great. Larry

 

[Adventure Teq]

Looks good Larry, how bout a pic of that front bumper eh?

Made some progress tonight. Decided to go ahead and just cut the face to relocate the lights into the tube. It'll save me some work and relocating them was easier than I thought.

Cut the bumper to length. Welded the attach brackets on. Cut out the faces. Played with the latch mech some more. I think I've got it figured out now. All I need is some more free time. ;p

It's all just mocked up there for visual proportioning.

 

[Adventure Teq]

I'm still planning to add one more single bolt (small) attachment bracket at each end.

 

[haystax]

That looks a lot like mine, and good choice on the taillight holes, you don't want to sacrifice that much material right next to your pivot point.

Good choice on not gutting the rear bumper/crossmember and replacing it with your bumper. I did exactly that with my build and it got tobe a hassle with the tub body mounts and all the rivets and the spring hangers. it ended up being very stout but a huge PITA that no one in their right mind would go for as far as buying a prefabbed bumper.

Now you will have sagging rear springs too

 

[honk]

Man, if it's going to be wholly supported by those pieces of channel welded on you'd better make REAL sure that all welds are done hot and fully penetrated.

The weight and leverage applied to these tire/cooler/whatever carriers has to be awesome though I've never seen where an engineer did the work to calculate it.

Notice that the 4x4Labs carrier such as the one Poser has,and Man-A-Fre sells rests the weight on support from below and those supports are made of 1/2" steel. I've got to presume that they had a reason for that, and I think it's safe to say that their experience level is higher than either mine or yours.

I'm not picking at you here; I'd just hate to hear of one of these coming loose with someone behind the involved truck.

 

[camcruiser13]

i wil get some pics posted for sure, i need to get the thing all buttoned up but it looks hella good. i like yours for shizzle

 

[Klunky Chris]

Good choice on not gutting the rear bumper/crossmember and replacing it with your bumper. I did exactly that with my build and it got tobe a hassle with the tub body mounts and all the rivets and the spring hangers. it ended up being very stout but a huge PITA that no one in their right mind would go for as far as buying a prefabbed bumper.

Now you will have sagging rear springs too

yea, definitely not a pre-fab bolt on item.

but..... are you saying that you wouldn't do it again?
I'd love to see some pics if you have any

One of the things on my wish list for a rear bumper is that it has side pieces that come up both sides to the rear wheelwell. (protect the whole 1/4 at the bottom) I'd trim the 1/4's to fit them. Id be nice if I could figure out how to get a rounded turn as well to match the 1/4's. All things considered, I figured it might be better to remove the rear crossmember and start from scratch. (it's a lot of talk though.... when I will get to it remains unseen )

 

[Adventure Teq]

Man, if it's going to be wholly supported by those pieces of channel welded on you'd better make REAL sure that all welds are done hot and fully penetrated.

Agreed, and I most certainly did.

Notice that the 4x4Labs carrier such as the one Poser has,and Man-A-Fre sells rests the weight on support from below and those supports are made of 1/2" steel. I've got to presume that they had a reason for that, and I think it's safe to say that their experience level is higher than either mine or yours.

Indeed but look at some others as well, I've researched this for a good month or so and closely examined (by pictures, reviews, and specs) many of these for both 40s and every other type of cruiser and heep I could find. In my search I've found that most of them are adequately supported with less than what I've used here, and perhaps a few with more. Keep in mind it's still in progress, and there will be more supports. Of course this is all just a test and once built I will run it through the ringer to see how it holds up. Time will tell.

Yes the forces are great on these things and I'm not saying that strength should be taken lightly but I think that alot of folks are scared and underestimate the strength of steel and welds (proper welds). Now I've seen some pretty sketchy looking stuff built up in the past and in my mind this isn't. Of course this is just my view on it.

I'm no engineer but damn it I oughtta be. Schooling would surely pay off. Maybe I'll enroll. Don't make me bust out and do the math... weight times arm equals moment.. LOL I'm using the many other successful models I've seen to base my estimates off of.

I'm not picking at you here; I'd just hate to hear of one of these coming loose with someone behind the involved truck.

No worries man, I too have the same concerns. And before I put a product out with my name and other's safety on the line I'll be certain that it will hold up. When it's all finished I think you'll agree that it's built right. Thanks man.

 

[Adventure Teq]

Alright folks, made some progress tonite.

Got the spindle shaft hole cut, set and burned in. Getting it to be perfectly level and straight wasn't too bad, just had to use the levels. As you can see, the plate that sits below the spindle was cut to allow rewelding and was then ground flush again. All in an effort to keep the swingarm as low as possible while providing a smooth (not a weld bead) surface for the bushing to set on. This plate will also serve as the spring pin track and the closed position safety notch.

Got the swingarm notched and burned as well.

Then the fucus turned to the bracket assembly area. I opted to use a 3/4" flat stock for the back stop. The 1" stock fits the rubber bushing nicely and provides a place to build the latch hook thingy, I will drill and tap it for the bushing screws. It all looked super sweet til I had to add all those nice welds everwhere. Still looks aight though. As for the rubber bushing... well at this point it's almost useless but I still wanted it there to provide some sort of cushioning when it's slammed shut or something. I spaced it so that when it clamps down it will compress allowing the swingarm to rest against the backstop. I just decided that it was not going to work to use by itself to clamp against, it's too soft. Metal to metal is going to be the way to go to ensure a tight solid clamp and the bushing just kind of sits there to help out as it can.

I still havn't forgotten about the possibility of needing to anchor it to the rear crossmember some more, just havn't gotten to it yet.

It's coming together nicely though, with just about 4-5 more hours or so I hope til construction is complete.

Laters.

 

[Adventure Teq]

Pics

 

[Adventure Teq]

Pics again.

 

[Adventure Teq]

Just an update

Plugged away at it some more today.

Got the ends taper cut and capped. Drilled the holes for the lights and wires. Drilled and tapped the latch and bushing holes. Broke my cheap ass drill in the process . Chopped the excess spindle shaft. Mounted the springpin and got the holes drilled for it.

See what I mean with the bushing compressing? I think it'll do alright.

Just that took me all day it seemed. Just gotta get the tire support built and then mount it. Oh, and the clevis mounts cut and welded in.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and comments...

 

[Adventure Teq]

Pics...

 

[honk]

You shouldn't have to deal with so much spatter as shown in a few of the photos above. Are you using C25 at 20 psi? Try jacking the pressure up a little.

Looks pretty slick outside!

 

[Adventure Teq]

Thanks man,

C25 with .030 wire, I had it turned down when my bottle was about to run out. I need to set it back up now with the full bottle.

What pressure do you run at exactly? What wire size?

 

[honk]

I usually use .030" but switch to .023" sometimes if I see a bunch of sheet metal coming. Almost always keep the gas at 25 psi, though I originally marked my gauge at 20. I think the little bit more keeps the surround intact when I tend to get too far away, or if my nozzle won't fit right into an angle.

An extra bottle is a good thing.

 

[72Powder]

Thats an awesome looking bumper! Once I get my cruiser finished I might try and making something similar to that. I normally run 25 psi as well when I'm at work, but I'm mostly running .045 solid wire. Always clean your nozzle ever so often and if you've got some of that anti-spatter spray stuff, use it. Everything looks good though