I forgot about this one which was in on a list of potential items.
Almost an inch bulb.
RLC rear tire carrier / swing out / jerry can / custom fab bumper
- Thread starter Willy beamin
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Almost an inch bulb.
Sweet, even better. Thanks again
Great information. Thank you for this. Gives me hope. I’ll have to check the Curt Shank.
Not the best comparison photos but here's what it looks like with the trailer hitched up with one person in the truck, vs the rake I get when it's not. In this photo the truck is level or maybe 1/4" low in the rear. Add 3 kids and a dog and it will sit about 0.5 to 0.75" lower in the rear. However there's plenty of suspension travel available with this setup - it's definitely not sitting on the bump stops or anything.
If you plan to tow regularly, outside of a proper WD hitch setup and correct TW/weight distribution inside the trailer, the biggest thing you can do to help handling is to get a custom alignment. Have the shop set caster at the high end of the range at 3 to 3.5 degrees, and have them set camber to be neutral-to-slightly negative (around -0.1 to -0.2 degrees). Your caster will reduce a tiny bit when the front end lifts up due to the weight on the rear causing the front wheels to shift towards the driver's seat (plus more caster adds more highway stability in the steering wheel), and camber will increase as the weight lifts off the front and the bottom of the tires pull inward. Camber changes more than caster and your slightly negative camber will end up being somewhere around 0.1 to 0.5 degree positive when hitched.
I actually have some measurements I took along with the CAT scale weights for "unhitched, empty" (except 300# of front passengers plus a full tank of gas) and "hitched, WD on, LOADED" (TRUCK: 300# in the front row, 200# in the middle row, 200# in the rear row, full tank of gas, full rotopax on roof, 5 gallons of water. TRAILER: 900# TW approx including about 15 gallons of fresh water and 2 propane cylinders).
So the obvious question I have is when laden, your drive axle is heavy, What have you done to offset that? Do you have heavier springs or what else to compensate for that?
I have Ironman 220-880# medium duty springs in the rear. Ironman rates them at 286#/in however they are the same coil thickness, turns, etc as the OME 2723 which is 340#/in. I considered a GVM upgrade kit but I don't really want the stiffness of ~450#/in springs normally. I might put Timbren SES bumps on in the future, but I need to read more about the impact to axle travel when not towing...
My wheels are rated at 2750#. I run 45 psi in my rear tires which roughly maps the RCTIP to 2800# per tire of load. Fronts run 38psi which is the RCTIP equivalent for my tire size.
I have the 45mm ToughDog shocks, which I run at +5 stiffness now. That seems to handle side-to-side shaking better than the lower settings I used to use.
I regeared last year and run 4.88s now. That helps with towing though it generates more heat. I do front and rear diff, transfer case, and A/T fluid changes every 30k miles.
I typically run my RedArc set around 5-6 but will turn it up when going down mountain passes to ensure the trailer brakes a tad harder than the truck and thus stays nicely under control.
Aside from all of that... yes I'm way over GAWR in the rear. It probably means things like bearings will wear faster particularly in the rear. If I bent a rear diff housing or broke a shock/LCA mount or something I would look to swap mine with a 6600# rear diff housing at that point. That said fully armored (bulletproof) cruisers in the middle east can weigh 10k # or more, and while they do other upgrades (brakes, wheels) I don't think they're swapping out the diffs so overall I feel OK with my setup. I'm at 131k now (bought the truck with 50k miles) and while I've slowly added weight over time I've always been over when towing.
Does anyone have a part number for the bearings that come with the kit by chance? I left mine outside prior to finding time to do the install and the corrosion is too much to read the part numbers. James did not know since he just buys a tire carrier kit thought another retailer.
teejnut
SILVER Star
Mine say L44643 on them. Looks like it matches a Timken part no.
What wheel and tire setup are you running? Spacers or no spacers?
Icon six speed, +25 offset. Tires are 285/75r17 Nitto RG. No spacers.
teejnut
SILVER Star
Pure genius! I've checked measurements numerous times behind my bumper and nowhere has even close to enough space to fit the factory plug. I just ended up tucking mine way up higher but i have to lay on the ground to plug/unplug. I actually like your solution even better than the hard wired option. Cool that if the Amazon plugs give any trouble can just switch back. Love it!
Hey @linuxgod so I ordered your USCAR socket and it came in the mail today. I was about to order the USCAR cable and 7 way plug you showed but then I saw this on Amazon:
7-Way RV-Standard 1 Ft (16") Trailer wire Extension- Male to Female
I figured worth a shot to compare the measurements in person to save me the trouble of splicing the other cable. You mind comparing this to your actual measurement of yours including how much the USCAR cable sticks out the back? Here is a photo of the 2 side by side, but being I don't have the USCAR plug I can't tell how much length that adds on the back. The Curt one you bought feels a bit more robust, but the generic all in one feels fine still:
teejnut
SILVER Star
I have the Curt setup handy. I'm not sure if I'll use it and might just stick with the Hopkins one I have. My LX didn't come with the OEM trailer plug, so the Hopkins plugs into the OEM plugs on the driver side.
The Curt extends about 2.5" from the surface mount until the where the wires come out.
It’s roughly 0F out right now but I can check later this week when it warms up. IIRC there was about 3.5” for me to work with. The receiver hitch frame is angled though so depending on precisely where you install yours you might have a tad more or less. The normal trailer harness might work but I was afraid it’s have to be a very tight bend radius for the wire
What is the process to attach the USCAR wires to the 7-Way blade plug on the back side? I've ordered both parts but haven't received them yet.
Alt option I found was this:
Amazon product ASIN B083LRJSHR
I ordered both figured I could then compare in person see if the Curt route saves me that 1/2-1" that may make the difference. Spacing looks tight no matter where I measure on mine at least. I'm trying to see if i go up high enough if the cord can clear the part of the hitch receiver that sticks out. I can't do the exact spot as yours as your swing arm latch is on the arms where as mine latches to the face of the bumper. Also a bit jealous your T-pins are on the outside on your bumper, was that James that made that way or something you did on your own?
I also recently bought and installed this genius solution from WitsEnd. Ran a SB50 to rear bumper and relocated my air line to this much nicer fitting. Currently I have this drilled into my hitch reciever pointed down. Its tucked and outta the way, but Ideally I'd like this flush coming out the back of the bumper to avoid risk of pinching the Anderson cable on the trail when towing.
Air Coupler and SB50 Bracket KIT
Air Coupler and SB50 Bracket KIT (ACB-4KIT) for On Board Air and mounting the Anderson SB50
What is the process to attach the USCAR wires to the 7-Way blade plug on the back side? I've ordered both parts but haven't received them yet.
Alt option I found was this:
Amazon product ASIN B083LRJSHR
I ordered both figured I could then compare in person see if the Curt route saves me that 1/2-1" that may make the difference. Spacing looks tight no matter where I measure on mine at least. I'm trying to see if i go up high enough if the cord can clear the part of the hitch receiver that sticks out. I can't do the exact spot as yours as your swing arm latch is on the arms where as mine latches to the face of the bumper. Also a bit jealous your T-pins are on the outside on your bumper, was that James that made that way or something you did on your own?
I also recently bought and installed this genius solution from WitsEnd. Ran a SB50 to rear bumper and relocated my air line to this much nicer fitting. Currently I have this drilled into my hitch reciever pointed down. Its tucked and outta the way, but Ideally I'd like this flush coming out the back of the bumper to avoid risk of pinching the Anderson cable on the trail when towing.
Air Coupler and SB50 Bracket KIT
Air Coupler and SB50 Bracket KIT (ACB-4KIT) for On Board Air and mounting the Anderson SB50absolute-wits-end.com
I think James just moved those, he did customize my bumper (single latch, identical length swing arms) but he didn't change the T-pins for me to my knowledge.
Just so we're on the same page, I ordered the Curt 55416 7-pin receiver which I installed in the bumper. That has a USCAR plug on the back side. The Curt 56229 USCAR harness plugs into that, and then you have to wire up the Curt 58140 7-pin plug to that. If I understand the question correctly you're asking about the last step... The USCAR wiring harness comes with a diagram which maps pins to wire colors. You'll have to google for the 7-pin wiring diagram for the normal connector. Be aware that the USCAR wire colors do NOT necessarily match the normal 7-pin wire colors.
This is the diagram I think I used. You will need to wire the USCAR wiring to the 7-pin blade plug using the TRAILER wiring shown on the right side. 7 Way Diagram - AJ's Truck & Trailer Center - https://www.ajtnt.com/Info/7-Way-Diagram
The instructions for the USCAR wiring are at https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81w1rXAXIlL.pdf
So I think according to that doc the brown, yellow, white, blue, and green wires should match up, but then purple goes to the center of the blade and black goes to red/pin 4.
Thank you, that was exactly the info I was looking for. I'm still waiting for 2 of the 3 parts to come from Amazon, so was just trying to collect as much info before then so I'm ready to rock when they do come. The instructions on how to wire was the 1 part I was unclear on. Much appreciated on the wire color issue explanation that helps a lot. I'll reach back out when I have everything if anything is unclear but I should be good to go.
Side note, I like your single latch and even length swing arm config. Yeah those T-handles are in a bad location on my bumper. Just hard to reach and if the top of the T is rotated at anything but 1 specific angle the lower tailgate hits when it comes down. I should probably get somebody to weld them on the outside like your design at some point
James told me he has an updated version he was working on which uses gas struts to hold it open I think rather than handles. Might be worth reaching out to him… if you’re going to retrofit something that would be a better solution anyway I think
teejnut
SILVER Star
Yeah he said he had a local customer testing the struts out but I never got an update. I'm not running the swingouts so never reached out again. Be interested if you get an update or pics with the gas strut implementation.
