Swing down tyre carrier? (1 Viewer)

[sixty]

Sixty> Even if I mount the spindle on the rear face of the bumper, the most I'll be able to open the right rear door is 90 degrees which is not far enough IMO...

you could build a very simple & economical true double shear hinge with a 1" or metric equivilent hinge. the tire would be able to swing a little over 180* & your ambulance doors would be able to swing almost thier full range if im picturing it correctly.


With a swing up carrier it would be difficult to make it strong without using struts from below that would interfere with the swing of your doors.

swing down would probably be as difficult as swing out but then you have it in the way when you are loading the back of your rig...


Oh yeah... just thought I would let you know your truck looks great. when i paintred mine I was going to go with a similar color but my wife talked me into bright yellow. I'm probably going to go with similar fenders with tubing outside of them to cover the the extra 10" of width from the 1ton axles on my 60.

 

[darwink1]

I did a swing down on my 80 last summer. It doesnt get in the way all that much and is actually helpful when getting into the back of your van if its lifted (I use it as a step).

It uses 2 "builder kit" (DIY4X4) hinges, 3 shed 40 tubes for the body, and 2 receiver pins to keep it closed. Cheap as all hell to build and holds a 33 nicely.

Looking to make something similar for the 60 but maybe offset to the ds.

D

 

[Wile E Coyote]

^^^very nicely done.

 

[stoneydude88]

I've been looking into k5's lately (cheaper) and found that Blazen Off-road makes a swing down tire carrier for k5's but they also make toyota bumpers as well i'm sure if you talked to them they could fab something up for you.

 

[stoneydude88]

sorry for the huge pic that's what they had on their site

 

[TLC Norway]

how does that last one swing down?
i wanna go the way darwink did, and add a strut.would also be great with only one lock, in stead of one at each side. I love the idea of having a step down there. And somewhere to step when going on the roof.
Double ladder, in other words!
Im working on the rear bumper now, will need to get some more steel for this...

 

[darwink1]

Add a couple extra tubes to the 80 one and a ladder could easily be worked out.

As far as struts go, the whole contraption isnt hard to swing up/down at all. This is with a 285 so Im thinkin a 37 or what have you could probably use some struts.


I just find it interesting that you dont see this type of carrier more. I think it makes more sense than a swing out if you look at it. With a swing out all of the forces are channeled to your bumper wing with the weight of the tire/gas cans torquing on the spindle. The swing down has 2 pivots located under the load reducing the overall "lever" effect and resulting in less torque being transmitted to said pivots.

Another bonus is being able to open the hatch when space is tight. I can swing the carrier down just a couple inches and the hatch can be raised. I then secure the carrier back in the upright position and am able to access junk in the rear.

It took us a day to get it built from scratch and another 1/2 day for the gussets/paint. Two weeks later I took the 80 on a 6000km road trip and had no problems with the carrier at all.

Granted it takes 30 seconds longer to get to the hatch/tailgate but thats a small price to pay to get the spare out from under/inside your van.

D

 

[ntsqd]

The biggest problem that I have with the swing-down design is that typically the pivot points and the latch point(s) aren't very far apart. That makes it hard to make the swinger rigid when latched, allows the small clearances needed for function to translate into large deflections, and puts large loads on the latch(s). Not saying that it can't be done, just that those are the challenges that I see in the design.

I plan to tow a camp trailer that has a very serious and fixed tongue jack so a swing-down won't work for me. A swing-away *might* work though I suspect that I may have to come up with something entirely different.

 

[TLC Norway]

making the latches and lock further apart makes that strength issue solved.
The function of a solid strut would also help out on the rattle, if any.
without a tire, the swing down also functions like a catapult!!

Anyone seen other swing downs? I'd like to see more inspiration before i go on.

With a 35" back there, i guess it would be practical to have it on drivers side, to get a clear view out back.

 

[ntsqd]

Agreed, but what about the packaging? Is there room to put more vertical space between them? I see it running into departure angle reduction on one end and tail gate opening interference on the other. Unless the upper can go clear around the outside of the tailgate, but then bending/torsion of the tubes start to be a problem. Like I said, I'm sure that it's solvable I just don't know how I'd go about it.

Already been down the catapult lane with the hood struts.


sure wish that picture could get fixed..............

 

[darwink1]

If you search the 80 series forum theres one other dude sporting the swing down. While mine is minimalistic, his is huge and connects to some 1/4 protection. I think he has an atv winch set up to bring it up and down.

Ill search for a pic if i have time.

D

PS keep this thread alive guys, Im gonna be building one for my 60 sometime soon.

 

[TLC Norway]

the latch/pivot point and lock can be extended horizontally, backwards.
It will interfere with my tailgate if extended vertically.
Horizontally will also make strut fixing easier, at least in my mind. I plan to run my strut underneath the swing, going horizontal, beeing compressed as the swing is lowered.

Darwink, would love to hear your ideas for the new swing down. Witch size tire? mine's 35.

Keeping the thread alive... I'm fabbing my rear bumper as we speak, done tomorrow. (see my thread.)
I guess i'll take a couple weeks to mind-fab some idea and get steel bent, before i move on to the build of the swing down. Stoked!

 

[ntsqd]

I'm interested to see what you come up with.

 

[TLC Norway]

I'm interested to see what you come up with.

me too...

 

[darwink1]

The 60 has 37's right now but can run 39.5's so Im gonna make it accomodate both.

D

 

[TLC Norway]

The 60 has 37's right now but can run 39.5's so Im gonna make it accomodate both.

D

Ah, now i reconize you, Darwink! The skid plate tray was inventive,
so i guess i'll copy some solutions off your fabbing!

btw, you got one of the smoothest cruisers on here, you know!!?!

I've been thinking about a upper and lower "ladder style" fixation that will
keep the tire in its upright stance while carried and lowered. you get me?
dual latching points, two on top of bumper, two underneath bumper.
the rods/ladders are working in parallel when lowered.
hard to explain, without a drawing. i'll try drawing this...
That way the tire would be standing upright on the ground when lowered,
and with a ladder on the side, it functions both to get in the back,
and to get on the roof when carrier in upright position.
And less trouble when towing.

My back is no good no more, so i'm probably overthinking this, but i'd love to lift the tire just with one hand...

 

[TLC Norway]

okay, made a sketch... of the two pivot point system.
Just not that accurate, but you get the idea...
by adjusting the length of the two "parallel" bars, (blue upright, dotted lowered)
this could work out, if it could be done rattle free...
The upper bar could be as close to the tailgate as possible. (realized that after drawing) and that would make the geometry work better.

Clever or stupid?

 

[77cruiser77]

TLC Norway - the problem I see with your design is you might be forgetting that there are two reasons to lower the tire.

1. to take the tire off and swap it
2. to gain access to the back

I think you might be overlooking #2. I know a swing up design is more complex but it seems to make more sense because when flipped up it is totally out of the way instead of when its down. Your design looks nice for if you wanted to drop the tailgate but if you only wanted to open the hatch it could be a PITA.

The perfect carrier in my eyes would allow me to open the rear hatch without moving the tire (swinging it in whatever direction). I also must say that I am talking from a chair without taking any measurements myself.

 

[slcfj62]

After reading this thread, it occurred to me that maybe you could go in between a swing out and a swing down by mounting the spindle at a 45 degree angle so that it swings out to the side and down out of the way. That way it wouldn't be a dead lift to put it back up, yet it would not interfere with your doors. You would probably need to have the right angle on the mount bracket. Just thinking out loud......

 

[darwink1]

I think you may be on to something w the parallel bars but you are messing with the rear overhang the way you drew it out. Just a thought.

I was thinking of using some trunnions and bearings I still may have stashed somewhere for the 60 pivots. On the other hand I do like the rubber bushings/sleeves I used on the 80, they seem to "dampen" vibrations pretty good (no noticeable rattling or shaking of the carrier even on bumpy assed roads).

Ive also been thinking of how to make it adjustable for diff sized tires. Maybe a mounting point like I have on the 80 w an adjustable "cradle" under the tire.

Ill draw something out soon and post it up.


I also think some ppl are making way too big a deal about swinging the carrier into place. I can lift mine w one arm and secure the pins w the other. Not hard at all (w a 285 of course...)

D

PS can someone please delete the huge assed pic, reading this thread is a pain in the arse.