Rear bumper pictures. (1 Viewer)

[benc]

I used those latches on half doors I used to make in the 90's. I was using the Eberhard brand. I undecided on the longevity
with 100~150 pounds on a 18" lever over miles of washboards. it seems the fancier I got with latches the more prone to failure.
I still like Kaymar's best. They took a destaco and put it on steroids and used one per arm for extra safety . I'm testing a Southco, tweaked
and on steroids now

If one wants to pull off the use of a slam style latch there are several things to consider!
I spent countless hours when designing mine and to be honest I had my doubts along the way.
On the more traditional latching systems the latch offers some structure to the swing out by clamping down or together,
With the slam latch the biggest hurdle was now the latches only purpose was to simply keep it closed.
On my design there is zero load on the latch!
A dual shear hinge is used to attach the swing arm along with extra enteral gusseting in the bumper, a large uhmw pad is attached on the bottom to support the swing arm on the bumper when closed.
Another issue I ran into was getting the preload on the latch needed to eliminate rattles, arb uses an adjustable bump stop close to the hinge, the problem I found with this design is once the bump stop was ajusted to eliminate rattles it was hard to shut and open the latch!
I had acsess to an arb bumper so I was able to play with it a bit.
My sulition was to add the bump stop close to the hinge and supply shims to fine tune the desired preload. This allows the preload needed to eliminate rattles while not making it difficult to open or close.
My entire family needed to be able to access the rear of the vehicle during our travels so this was a huge driving factor to the design!
My 100 lb 5' wife, 10 and 6 year old sons have no problem opening and closing the swing outs and this was not the case with the clamping latches I have used in the past.
I have had the chance to test my design and abuse it along side many other makes and have hade zero issues, I was pleased to see this design have less movement than others makes!
There were many hurdles and many times I wanted to give up along the way and go with a more traditional latch but worked through the problems and ended up with a design that I'm confident in.

 

[Cruiser Jimmy]

mine.

 

[lcwizard]

View attachment 1413295 View attachment 1413296 View attachment 1413297 View attachment 1413299 View attachment 1413300

If one wants to pull off the use of a slam style latch there are several things to consider!
I spent countless hours when designing mine and to be honest I had my doubts along the way.
On the more traditional latching systems the latch offers some structure to the swing out by clamping down or together,
With the slam latch the biggest hurdle was now the latches only purpose was to simply keep it closed.
On my design there is zero load on the latch!
A dual shear hinge is used to attach the swing arm along with extra enteral gusseting in the bumper, a large uhmw pad is attached on the bottom to support the swing arm on the bumper when closed.
Another issue I ran into was getting the preload on the latch needed to eliminate rattles, arb uses an adjustable bump stop close to the hinge, the problem I found with this design is once the bump stop was ajusted to eliminate rattles it was hard to shut and open the latch!
I had acsess to an arb bumper so I was able to play with it a bit.
My sulition was to add the bump stop close to the hinge and supply shims to fine tune the desired preload. This allows the preload needed to eliminate rattles while not making it difficult to open or close.
My entire family needed to be able to access the rear of the vehicle during our travels so this was a huge driving factor to the design!
My 100 lb 5' wife, 10 and 6 year old sons have no problem opening and closing the swing outs and this was not the case with the clamping latches I have used in the past.
I have had the chance to test my design and abuse it along side many other makes and have hade zero issues, I was pleased to see this design have less movement than others makes!
There were many hurdles and many times I wanted to give up along the way and go with a more traditional latch but worked through the problems and ended up with a design that I'm confident in.

The rotary latch design isn't what i was worried about as much as finding an offering that was built well enough to go ten years problem free.
They've been used for decades for doors and tailgates in the auto industry. So many of the after market units i bought built the latching pawls from 1/8" which meant the wear point was focused to a very small area. I noticed that ARB looks to have designed their own using 1/4"
thick pawls. I assume they were concerned about the same wear issues.
Your bumper designs are really beautiful and quite frankly underpriced. I will be interested in the long term durability of the latches. Most seem to be manufactured in a similar fashion matbe even the same factories. Back in the 90's when I was experimenting with them Eberhard was a major player. Now their seems to be a lot of companies building them. I'd like to see someone do a two stage formed of a 10 gauge or better shell
with 3/8" pawls and solid pivots.
You've put a lot of thought in your product and I hope for the best. There' is much more time in your stuff than most people see. The difficulty
will be when you need help. To fabricators like you and Rich from Costa the talent is natural. Finding someone to do what you do will be a challenge if you expand. You'll be pressured to build more and faster but your better kepping the quality where it is.
Best of luck on it all, I like your crazy fold down table

 

[lcwizard]

mine.
View attachment 1413311

How are the Southco's holding up.

 

[benc]

The rotary latch design isn't what i was worried about as much as finding an offering that was built well enough to go ten years problem free.
They've been used for decades for doors and tailgates in the auto industry. So many of the after market units i bought built the latching pawls from 1/8" which meant the wear point was focused to a very small area. I noticed that ARB looks to have designed their own using 1/4"
thick pawls. I assume they were concerned about the same wear issues.
Your bumper designs are really beautiful and quite frankly underpriced. I will be interested in the long term durability of the latches. Most seem to be manufactured in a similar fashion matbe even the same factories. Back in the 90's when I was experimenting with them Eberhard was a major player. Now their seems to be a lot of companies building them. I'd like to see someone do a two stage formed of a 10 gauge or better shell
with 3/8" pawls and solid pivots.
You've put a lot of thought in your product and I hope for the best. There' is much more time in your stuff than most people see. The difficulty
will be when you need help. To fabricators like you and Rich from Costa the talent is natural. Finding someone to do what you do will be a challenge if you expand. You'll be pressured to build more and faster but your better kepping the quality where it is.
Best of luck on it all, I like your crazy fold down table

Thanks man! Your ladder design is pretty slick as well!

I went back and forth on latches, I had found some that seamed to be of better quality but availability was an issue.
These latches have been around for 20 years and are pretty beefy.
The frame is 14ga and the claw is 3/16" with a 2 stage design.
I don't believe they will break but I'm sure they will eventually ware out. That is why I went with a latch that's been around a long time and is easily accessible to anyone if they ever need replacement. Only time will tell how long they last but I typically get about 2-3 years out of the gas struts so even if they need replacement after 3 years it's really simple to change them out,
About $45 for the set and you can get them from many sorces.
And yes, it is proving very difficult to impossible to find help!
People just don't seem to take any pride in their work these days.

 

[Jeffroehrick]

View attachment 1393863 4 plus bumper , I love everything about this bumper, I wish Dave made a Hundy bumper. Sorry for the bad pic it's about all I have

I'm looking for a rear bumper that carries my spare and cans.
Who's the bumper made by?

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

A few have asked for more of my rear pics.

 

[Bulldoggy66]

I really like this look of this rear bar @reevesci .. Would it be possible to get it to your Blacktown distributor?

A few have asked for more of my rear pics.

View attachment 1415008

 

[DickM]

Here are a few pics of the one of the last "production" 60 series bumpers from Trail Tailor aka @reevesci . I can't say enough good things about the design, materials, and attention to detail. Jason is truly a rare combination of artist and technician.

 

[landscrambler]

Does anyone know if it matters which side of the truck the tire sits on? Drivers vs passenger? Thanks

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Does anyone know if it matters which side of the truck the tire sits on? Drivers vs passenger? Thanks

To each their own here.

This is what I ask my customers.. When driving and need to pass (YES this actually happens in a 60...) do you want a clear view or do you want to see a tire over your shoulder to look around. Some say the tire on the DS will then swing into traffic if you ever have a flat and need to swing it into traffic to change it.... My retort is how often are you going to change a tire compared to looking over your right shoulder when driving....

As you can imagine I prefer the tire behind the driver.

J

 

[rhah]

Does anyone know if it matters which side of the truck the tire sits on? Drivers vs passenger? Thanks

I agree, I picked drivers side to avoid increasing the “blind spot” on the passengers side

 

[rhah]

Old pics but figured would update since I got the triple gas cans mounted

 

[slacker24-7]

Sorry double post

 

[slacker24-7]

I'm looking for a rear bumper that carries my spare and cans.
Who's the bumper made by?

. It’s made by Dave Gore or lcwizard of 4 plus who’s posted above . I’ve had this bumper several years and ran a lot of rough roads with a 33” spare and full cans and it’s never rattled or had any looseness.

 

[POTATO LAUNCHER]

You should get a Heinz ketchup, Frenches mustard and Helmans mayonnaise stickers made for your fuel cans Jake. First thing that came to mind when I saw the color combo.

 

[87CRUSR]

Consider spare tire swing out position to maximize taillight visibility for those tailgaters riding

your arse.

 

[rhah]

You should get a Heinz ketchup, Frenches mustard and Helmans mayonnaise stickers made for your fuel cans Jake. First thing that came to mind when I saw the color combo.

View attachment 1618511

Someone has to be ready to the bbq!