Jzilla's custom rear bumper, tire carrier and front bumper build (1 Viewer)

[jzilla]

Thanks! No plans on a hitch, I never tow anything, if the need comes up in ten years I will deal with it then.
Just did the upright for the tire carrier as well as the arm the tire will sit on. I had to hold the tire up at least ten times to see if I liked the position, then I would balance it and look...
Anyways I hope to finish the tire carrier arms up tomorrow.
Will try to update with pics tomorrow.

 

[pistonpete]

Real nice !!

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Good looking work.. J

 

[jzilla]

Tire carrier is almost done, I got the wrong studs, the shoulder on them is too long so I have to find some other ones. Will take some pictures tomorrow.
Plan to box in the ends, should I just rattle can paint that area before I box it in?
Going to leave a couple drain holes on the bottom plate I think, just in case.

 

[jzilla]

Welds are all smoothed out, was not as bad as I thought. Still have some of the 40 grit flap wheel left over, also used a grinding wheel to get the welds down first.
Just finished boxing the ends of the bumper in, painted the insides first.
Bumper weighs 71lbs so far.
Still have to weld on the shackle tabs, spoke to a welding shop in town and he said that welding the tabs on is not a problem at all, it will be more than strong enough.
Although I still would like to have them bolted on and welded on...
We will see.

 

[cruiserpilot]

That is a most excellent job

 

[jzilla]

I seem to have messed up the height somehow
Does not look good like that, so looks like I will have to cut the nice gussets and lower it a few inches...
I was going to just cut off the legs and lower the whole thing, but then it might not match the contours of the rear hatch...
Thoughts?
33 inch tire by the way.

 

[jzilla]

Made my decision after looking at some other tire carrier pictures, I will cut the gussets tomorrow and drop it so it is about level with the rear bumper...which is about 3.5 to 4 inches.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

My only advise is to mount the spare tire in the middle, to spread the weight evenly. Otherwise you will exaggerate the 'cruiser lean'. Other than that, good work man!

 

[jzilla]

Thanks
I had thought of that... I had my dad sit on the tailgate on both sides and measured the spring movement on both sides, I decided there was not enough movement to worry about it.
The spring went down about 1/16 of an inch on the opposite side, and the tire and the carrier don't weigh 185lbs.

 

[Fantom]

Hope it's not too late but if you are cutting things here is what I would suggest based upon that last photo, which could be wrong depending on the angle you took the photo from.
I would move the tire more to the outside of the vehicle for 2 reasons:
1- in case you wanted to do a second swing out with Fuel Cans or other external storage later on.
2- (and this one is from experience) the further you get away from the spindle, the more vibration your tire will generate during driving and put more stress on everything in the swingout assembly (including the bearings).
"cruiser lean" is irrelevant, when you go on a trip back the truck differently to offset that.

In relation to hight, put it high enough so that it doesn't drap on obstacles like washouts and steep departure angles, but low enough so it is below the roof line, keeping it lower will also keep the vibration and swinging during travel to a minimum.
As a final note, make sure you can still open your top hatch with the tire there (the lower you go at that angle, the further the swingout will have to open so your top hatch doesn't catch on it).

That's all I can think of right now (haven't had coffee yet) that I learned from the ones I've done.

 

[jzilla]

Thanks for those thoughts...things I will consider

 

[cruiserpilot]

My thoughts are to keep it to the drivers side, and maybe even move it a bit to the left some more. I hadn't thougth of the vibration issue, but it will be easier and safer to see over your shoulder with it to the left.
I don't think it needs to go any lower, looks good there, and it won't hang up your departure angle.
Great fab and welding skills! Nice.

 

[jzilla]

Well the plan is to keep it where it is at on the drivers side. Not worried about vibration etc as the way I have it latched and the opposite end resting, there will be minimal movement and weight on the spindle.
If it is too far to the left as some people have it it affects the visibility of the drivers signal too much. Although I would have liked it to be over to the left a tad more I am happy with where it is.
I am dropping it down after considering many factors, also losing the mounting angle and keeping it vertical so that when I back into things there will be less leverage on things, also I will get a bit more space when backing into my stall at home.
The only problem now is the welder stopped working properly
Have to wait until Monday to bring it in.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

I have dual swing outs on the one I'm building now. I put my tire on the passenger side swing. I had a slightly higher lift on that side (1/4") and I'd rather be that much further away from traffic if I needed to pull/put tire off/on the carrier... I can see fine with it there.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-wagons/580995-another-85-fj60-blue-2-a.html


Your bumper is looking very nice. Hope the welder issue is a simple fix.

J

 

[jzilla]

I have dual swing outs on the one I'm building now. I put my tire on the passenger side swing. I had a slightly higher lift on that side (1/4") and I'd rather be that much further away from traffic if I needed to pull/put tire off/on the carrier... I can see fine with it there.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-wagons/580995-another-85-fj60-blue-2-a.html


Your bumper is looking very nice. Hope the welder issue is a simple fix.

J

Thanks, just checked out your thread, nice work too!
I had the tire on the passenger side on my old BJ60, thought I would change things up here, I backed into a car once because I did not see it
totally crushed it just crawling back, no damage to my truck...
I realize it was not the tire locations fault, just saying

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

Hope it's not too late but if you are cutting things here is what I would suggest based upon that last photo, which could be wrong depending on the angle you took the photo from.
I would move the tire more to the outside of the vehicle for 2 reasons:
1- in case you wanted to do a second swing out with Fuel Cans or other external storage later on.
2- (and this one is from experience) the further you get away from the spindle, the more vibration your tire will generate during driving and put more stress on everything in the swingout assembly (including the bearings).
"cruiser lean" is irrelevant, when you go on a trip back the truck differently to offset that.

In relation to hight, put it high enough so that it doesn't drap on obstacles like washouts and steep departure angles, but low enough so it is below the roof line, keeping it lower will also keep the vibration and swinging during travel to a minimum.
As a final note, make sure you can still open your top hatch with the tire there (the lower you go at that angle, the further the swingout will have to open so your top hatch doesn't catch on it).

That's all I can think of right now (haven't had coffee yet) that I learned from the ones I've done.

What Mat said.

 

[jzilla]

Looks like the welder's life is over...had it assessed today.
Guess I am looking at a new one, most likely a Miller.

 

[msr203]

Looks like the welder's life is over...had it assessed today.
Guess I am looking at a new one, most likely a Miller.

I got a used miller 250z and I love it, I doesn't have all the digital displays but it will weld anything I put in front of it steel wise.

Sent from my apple IIe using msdos

 

[jzilla]

Well I got a Miller.
Here is what I got done today...tire is lower, I prefer it there much more!
I still like the position the tire is at from left to right, I brought it about 1 inch to the left.
Couple of pictures.
Plan to put the license plate on the left side of the tire. Thoughts on other locations?
Tractor light will go on right side of tire.
Handle to be installed on right side of tire on vertical portion of tire carrier swing arm.