Rear view works great. Also good to keep side view mirrors nice and tight. I am particular about visibility.
My normal setup is with a ladder on the right side, but this particular trip was over some areas with sharp volcanic rock.
Rear tire mount pics please
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Rear view works great. Also good to keep side view mirrors nice and tight. I am particular about visibility.
My normal setup is with a ladder on the right side, but this particular trip was over some areas with sharp volcanic rock.
Driving 18th wheelers back when I was 18 for a couple of years.. I really dont see the need for a rear view mirror on the middle of the windshield... on a small rig like the FJ60.
A good set of side rear-view mirrors with a convex mirror attached to it, is really all you need to eliminate most of a blind spot... (given you will always have some sort of a blind spot.)
Im with Darwink and Esh. Higher is not bad and even with two wheels on the rear is totally doable..
I went high cause I wanted my signals to stay functional and did not want to move my Lic Plate from the stock location...
A good set of side rear-view mirrors with a convex mirror attached to it, is really all you need to eliminate most of a blind spot... (given you will always have some sort of a blind spot.)
Im with Darwink and Esh. Higher is not bad and even with two wheels on the rear is totally doable..
I went high cause I wanted my signals to stay functional and did not want to move my Lic Plate from the stock location...
How do you deal with getting the tire on/off? I like the idea of high for the reasons stated but I'm not as strong as I once was and getting a big tire down seems like a PITA... the same reason I would never put the tire on a roof rack. It looks all Daktari and all but is not particularly functional in my mind.
I have seen some swing DOWN racks that facilitate getting the tire down to the ground but they would seem to be a problem when wanting to get into the cargo area...
Ideas?
Re: Ideas
I combined the swing out and the swing down. Just like a couple others have mentioned, I didnt want to obscure the tail lights and the lic plate. I also wanted to maintain better than average clearance. This was a pain especially with a 40" tire... but it turned out awesome. I can still see out of the pass side rear window just fine and it turned out that I can also kind of see "through" the spare tire rim.
The swing down makes it 10x easier to get the tire up/down.
Swing out.
Swing down
D
I combined the swing out and the swing down. Just like a couple others have mentioned, I didnt want to obscure the tail lights and the lic plate. I also wanted to maintain better than average clearance. This was a pain especially with a 40" tire... but it turned out awesome. I can still see out of the pass side rear window just fine and it turned out that I can also kind of see "through" the spare tire rim.
The swing down makes it 10x easier to get the tire up/down.
Swing out.
Swing down
D
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Thanks.
Swinging the tire up/down is pretty easy. Its still got some weight but even the old guys who tried it were able to manage by themselves. You need 2 ppl to get that tire up and mounted w/o the swing down part.
D
Swinging the tire up/down is pretty easy. Its still got some weight but even the old guys who tried it were able to manage by themselves. You need 2 ppl to get that tire up and mounted w/o the swing down part.
D
How do you remove the tire once it is in the down position? (the lug nuts are on the down side)
Seems like a backside mount, or a dual side/non-sided mount of some sort, would be "better".
Seems like a backside mount, or a dual side/non-sided mount of some sort, would be "better".
This is the standard 60/62 rear bumper with swing out that we build. The balance of the swing out will hold either a ladder or jerry can rack the mounts to tabs to make eithr removable and interchangeable.
I don't have a good pic of my tire mount right now (truck in shop)...but mine is on the drivers side and the bottom of the 33 inch tire rides just above the bumper line. Good thing to remember is that the higher those mounts are.....the higher you are going to have to lift the tire up there to get it secured.
^^ we threw that idea around but in the end went with what you see. To get the tire off I undo the big wing nut and remove the plate then undo the 3 lug nuts. I reinstall the wing nut/plate then lower the thing to the ground and spin off the wing nut. Ive tried lowering it with the tire loose and that works too but you run the risk of the tire falling.
The swing down I had done up for my 80 series was mounted the opposite way. It was very easy to work with.
D
The mount was reversed so when it was folded down the tire was on top of the mount. It acted like a basket that held the tire while you undid the wing nut.
Had that one on the 80 for a couple years then switched it up to fit a 37.
D
Had that one on the 80 for a couple years then switched it up to fit a 37.
D
SWEET!
Now, to design a combo of these 2 ideas: one that holds the tire 'backwards" like that but also has a side swing out for tailgate access... add in a couple of pistons to aid in raising and lowering and it'll be perfect!
Now, to design a combo of these 2 ideas: one that holds the tire 'backwards" like that but also has a side swing out for tailgate access... add in a couple of pistons to aid in raising and lowering and it'll be perfect!
Now I'm thinking about one that holds the tire up high like Darwink's and facing the usual way, but when swung down could optionally stop horizontal to the ground. It could use a manual winch similar to the stock one the 60s have (or maybe a little electric one!) to raise the tire up from the ground. Then once back up against the back of the truck screw down a couple of lugs nuts...
Yet another winter project for the (long) list.
Yet another winter project for the (long) list.
There's a crucial detail in darwink's pictures being glossed over. Notice the relative positions of the latching pin(s) between the 60 and 80 series bumpers. The low pin of the 80's carrier is the less desirable location. The higher pin on the 60's bumper is better. Two things happen with the low pin, the shear load on the pin is significantly greater, and the clearance needed to make R&Ring the pin easy to do translates into a lot of tire motion. Moving the latching pin as far as is reasonably possible from the pivot is as good idea.
Mine works well. 37" and lots of wheeling time. 
Too bad they couldn't have worked out a 4-bar linkage instead of relying on those gas struts.