custom BIOR rear bumper - need design input

[Jordan345]

I called and spoke to Mike Smith the other day - pulled the trigger on his rear bumper. From all the postings on here there seems to be good reviews on the product and even better reviews on his customer service. After emailing and working with him, i have to agree that he is a great guy to work with.

I don't have photos yet as it isn't built yet - it should be in a week or so.

i ordered the regular clearance bumper but have seen some folks on here self fab a fold down tray off the inside of the bumper to use as another platform/tray option. we use our cruiser in the backcountry up here in ontario quite often and always cook/prep food off the back tailgate.

I've asked Mike if he could come up with a fold down tray that will hold a 21x24 inch cooktop, located on the inside of the tire swing out. He and I are both brainstorming how to secure it in transport to prevent rattling.. everybody hates rattling..

any input from people will be appreciated on this particular design challenge.

as a side note, mike has agreed to fab up some recovery points for my front ARB.

10 days and counting.

 

[Layonnn]

Ive thought about doing this as well on mine. A very simple rubber latch would suffice.

Like this or even something more basic

 

[Jordan345]

Looks rather simple.. simple is good. have you seen anyone with this mod on their rear bumper?

 

[Layonnn]

On the BIOR, no. I was looking at this last night.
It is going to be very close to the upper tailgate. You can mount it so that it doesn't sit as high as the tailgate and then has more room due to the concavity of the license plate mount area.

Another issue is the lower tailgate. If you create a fold down shelf that spans the width of the spare tire mount (the A-frame vertical section), when you open the lower tailgate it will hit the shelf when its folded out. So it seems like you might only be able to have it span half of the A-frame section. Which at that point is kind of small. If the tire swing out opened further, you could have a wider table. But currently the swing outs open to the point the are parallel with the body when opened.

 

[Jordan345]

i was just speaking with mike last night at bior - it is proving to be challenging for those reasons, but also to clear the tailgate when open, it needs to be mounted higher than the tube work would allow. in addition, it is likely it will interfere with the hi lift mount.. i believe he is still trying to work this out but we are running out of time until it has to ship. i did pass your photo on with the latch; mike was looking at this type of set up as well.. thanks for forwarding.