40 Tire Carrier Build

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How big tires? Like....how much tire sticking out the left side?

It's clear that you want use of the right door without having to open the carrier but with a good sized tire you'd bring home all the brush you pass by.

Oh yeah. No brush in Texas? Tumbleweed? Pedestrians? Sheep.........Texans like sheep, right?
 
Oh Honk.... :rolleyes:


Yep all Texans love sheep. :flipoff2: (but I'm really not a Texan ;) )


Yes I thought about that. I am going to locate it centered exactly where the old one was. This pic is with a 32 incher and it's basically flush with the side, maybe 1 inch overhang. There will be approximately 4-5 inches between the door swing arc and the 32 inch tire. So with the math (32 inch tire plus 5 inches on each side would give you a 42 inch tire) you could slap on a big tire.

As I see it the biggest I'll likely go is a 37 incher, so the math is that there will be approximatel 2.5 to 3 inches of outside overhang than what I have with the 32" on there right now. Clearly a sacrifice I'm willing to make in order to have the door usable. And once the bigger meats are on there I intend to have a wider stance as well so it won't really be noticed all that much either. And if pedestrians happen to be in a position where they might get taken down by my spare they'll have more to worry about than that. LOL

Remember that reference to Poser's nice bumper you made earlier, take a look at that if you want to talk about some big overhanging meat :D . NTTAWWT. ;) Obviously his is moved more inward but it's a big tire still. Point is, yes if you slap a big 39.5 incher or something like that then I'll have to give up the swinging door and relocate it more in the center of the bumper, but for my intended purpose it should do fine. :)
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Hawk, this looks killer. I'm taking some notes as I'm going to need one that can withstand the weight of the 36-37" tire I'm working towards.
 
I'm betting the high-lift will have to go on the front.

Just in case you have budgetary room for some bling, I stole this from a Dan Dibble recommendation on wngrog's Bash Buggy thread:

Hydraulic *Hi-Lift*
 
Hawk, really nice work (you to Rezarf), thanks for posting up the details for everyone.
 
Alright folks,

I'm back on the ball again. Today I spent most of my time on the swingarm assy. This thing which started as a simple 10 lb piece of steel quickly turned into quite the collage of steel here and there. Prolly weighs in at a good 25 lbs now. It looks a little assymetrical but I had to keep room for the jack and still allow for the door swingout. So it looks like a K but it's cool, and it all works out as planned.

It looks like it saggs at the back but it's because my truck's been sitting so long that the rear L tire is really low and there is also no engine up front so the whole thing sags like that. It's really inline with the rest of the truck.

It turns out that the outboard u-strap mounts were far enough away from the spindle that the load on that area produces a little too much flex and will need to be reinforced (as many of you had suggested ;) ). But with a couple tabs here and there it will all tighten up nicely. Detailed pics of this to come.

As usual with me, this turned out to be a lot more involved of a project than I originally had in mind, I'm thinking that I've prolly got about 40+ hours into this thing at this point, and I foresee at least another 10. I don't know if I'll be doing another one of these very soon. Maybe someday I'll be less stubborn and just throw down the cash for some really nice parts. Nahhh.

:beer:
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I also chopped a foot off my 60" Hi lift bringing it down to the standard size.

This shot gives an idea of the cooler mounted. I think I might hold out for one of those supa nice electric coolers I see everwhere and build for that. This little one is a bit too small and my big Ice cube is just too big.

Oh and it also shows that the tire hangs off the side no farther than it did with the stock tire carrier. With the 32" it's hardly noticeable, the 35" will be out there a tad more but it should be aight.

A few more things here and there and it'll be off to sandblasting then I'll prolly just rattlecan it.

It's finally coming to an end though. Whew......


Thanks all for the input.

:beer:
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Hey! I like the freestyle look of the tire support. Reminds me of a sculpture that's at Moscone Center in San Francisco. (I'm NOT pulling your chain here, OK?)

When you first take it out, even on the roads, wrap the jack up real securely. Not saying it will, but it MIGHT get to whipping fore and aft and bang up your paintjob. Play it safe until you know it's safe. The whole thing is tighter to the truck than any I've seen.
 
Hey man-

Welcome back, glad to see you are up and running again. Looking good man. Do you have plans to put anything between the swing arm and lower bumper like a nylon spacer?

I am going to slap some into mine, I have a bit of flex to get under control. and a few sections of nylon may stiffen it up.

Rezarf <><
 
Great job it all looks really sweet! Do you have any friends down at the AVIM who could NDI your welds for you? That would give you an idea of how well it is all holding up after a few miles over some bumps. Awesome job!
 
You really an Italian? That carrier looks pretty sweet. I like the emblem you added. :edit: second look at yer plate and the street signs. That's cool man. First Italian, or at least person living there, I've met on the board. :bounce:

Yeah I could get it NDI'd but I think it'll be fine. Good Idear man. :D

Thanks Rezarf, glad to be back. I was thinking of using nylon spacers but since I didn't have any on hand I just slapped a tab of 3/8 steel under it at the latch end. If it rattles or something I'll replace it with some nylon but I think it'll be aight.

I got the stud plate for the tire installed and the jack studs welded on and it all sits on there nice and tightly with no flex. For the support for the jack I used 3/4 on the horizontal piece and full 1" on the diagonal piece which pretty much locked it in place allowing no flex front or back. Tight like a tiga. :grinpimp:

Just gotta get those reinforcement tabs installed and I'll be done. I'll be building tail light guards later but I just gotta get it back on the road for now.

Thanks for the comments fellas. :beer:
 
HawkDriver said:
You really an Italian? That carrier looks pretty sweet. I like the emblem you added. :edit: second look at yer plate and the street signs. That's cool man. First Italian, or at least person living there, I've met on the board. :bounce:

Nope, not Italian. I'm in the Navy stationed here. Can't wait to leave actually.:cheers:
 
Mikedickbek-

What is your side rack portion used for? Surfboard or something? I am speaking of the part on the passenger side of the tire with the liscense plate attached to it.

NIce looking cruiser.

Rezarf <><
 

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