TrailChaser Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 (edited) I don't have a camera that's any good so I shot a little video of the bumper I'm working on for my pathy. I mainly need opinions on were to have the tire. In the middle, on the passenger side, or on the driver side. All three different locations have their advantages and disadvantages. Tell me what you think. Keep in mind that this bumper is in it's very early stages of fabrication. So I really don't need to hear how bad it looks. It'll look TOTALLY different/better with all the grinder then buffer work I'll do to finish it before painting. This bumper is made from 3"x6" tubing. The sidewalls are about 3/16". I used a torch to cut out the taper on the bottom. I really didn't like the "square" look. The recovery points are 2"x1/2". I cut holes in both sides of the tubing and welded the piss outa the back and put big pretty welds on the fronts. I didn't like the way they looked just sticking out like they were, so I welded some 1/2"thick gussets to the tops and buffed it to look like one piece of steel. I'll be using 3/4" shackles on this bumper.(WLL 7tons ) The tire carrier is made from 2"x2" heavy wall square tubing on the main arm, and 2"x2" thin wall square tubing for the bracket that will hold the tire. The hinge was the biggest pain. I though I'd be able to get away with just using two pieces of pipes sleeved together. Turns out that will work if you don't mind having either a real tight hinge or a hinge with lots of slop/play as far as up and down movement goes. My remedy to the hinge problem... I just got a Large(not sure the actual size) grade 8 bolt and two grade 8 nuts.(the nuts are about 1.5" wide at the points) I punched a hole in a piece of 1/4" steel plate then cut a circle the same size as the ID of the hinge pipe that's welded to the bumper. Then I welded the two nuts to the 1/4" plate, one on each side. Then I stuck the two nuts and 1/4" plate inside the hinge pipe. After leveling it perfectly I welded the plate to the inside of the pipe then welded the top nut as well. I then cut the head off the bolt and made a cap that fits the hinge pipe and welded the bolt to that cap. Now when I'm ready to put it together for good all I have to do is screw the cap down threw the two nuts, lift the carrier up about a 1/16" to meet the cap. Then weld the cap to the tire carrier so the bolt going thru the two nuts support the weight and totally eliminate any slop/play. The only downside is that the cap is supporting all the weight. To counter that downside I made the cap extra beefy. I used 1/4" plate with sch80 pipe for the sides, adn then after welding the headless bolt thru the hole I made in the cap then welding it all around with a nice deep bevel at the bottom I filled in most of the extra space under the cap with about 1/8" of weld just for the hell of it. IF it breaks loose the sleeved pipe will take the load and the carrier will not fall off like I've heard with others whose store bought hinges have failed. Finally Edited February 19, 2007 by TrailChaser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Looks like some good work and thinking going on there! I'd center-mount it for weight distribution, but I'd try to keep the COG low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aries247 Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 i think the middle also. but i have always liked the look of the tire in the middle on rear tire carriers. the whole thing looks pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammyb33 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 looks beefy as hell.....but what can we expect, ive seen your other creations, sliders and what not, and im very impressed!!! i also like the middle mount, and keep the weight balanced. also agreeing with keeping the COG low...so keep the tire low on the carrier...but not to low as to kill your departure angle....lots of things to think about and work around....im glad i have the stock carrier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrailChaser Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 Thanks guys, I appreciate the advice and compliments. I'll post more on it as the work progresses. Later, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pavelow Leaks Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 I've always been partial to the tire in the middle, it just looks cleaner to me, and as said before..I'd mount it as low as possible to keep the CG as low as possible without giving up any clearance on steep inclines. I'm in the process of building some sliders and a front bumper. I'm stealing the 4crawler slider design and just making them cuz I'm poor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrailChaser Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 I'm almost 100% sure it's going in the middle. I can still find room for the HiLift and gas can somewhere. I'm probably going to make the carrier adjustable both up/down and in/out for when I decide to change the tire size in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pavelow Leaks Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 (edited) mount the high lift behind the tire at a 45 degree angle, on the swing out, but facing the door, prolly sounds stupid...I'm tryin to think how to word it. A friend built a custom carrier for his XJ, the jack is mounted behind the tire at an angle like uhm...like a no smoking sign, a circle with a line through it at an angle..sans cigarette, so that when you swing it out you can get the jack...so behind the tire, but on the opposite side, not so you have to take the tire off to get the jack. and the gas can holder is mounted over the hinge, holds two cans lenghtwise. I may have rambled a bit....kinda hard to explain without pics. Anyway, it looks good and is very functional and nothings in the way. Edited January 20, 2007 by Pavelow Leaks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 That's a nice bumper you've got going on there. I would put the tire in the center as well. The only think i can think of that bothers me about that setup is trying to get a trailer on the hitch with a big tire stuck on there, but i suppose you could always use a drop hitch... make sure you can still get the hi lift out even if you can't open the carrier. It would suck if something was blocking the tire carrier from opening, preventing you from getting at your jack when you need it the most. cant wait to see it when you've finished Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89_trailboss Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 should be interesting to see how the 3/16'th holds up. my 1/8" got bent to hell. from now on I wont use anything but 1/4". didnt watcht the video cause my comp sux. but for tire placement, I would mount the thing as hi as I could. Im using the stock carrier but moved my mount up 3" and am wishing I would have got another inch. when I come off rock ledges I always hit my tire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrailChaser Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 should be interesting to see how the 3/16'th holds up. my 1/8" got bent to hell. from now on I wont use anything but 1/4". didnt watcht the video cause my comp sux. but for tire placement, I would mount the thing as hi as I could. Im using the stock carrier but moved my mount up 3" and am wishing I would have got another inch. when I come off rock ledges I always hit my tire. I was kinda wondering the same thing, but it it starts to get bashed in I'll just plate the bottom with some 1/4". I was actually thinking of mounting the tire kinda high because I've seen guys come off rock ledges and twist the hell out of the tire carrier. Lots of undue stress on the hinge and lock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89_trailboss Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 ya, it does put alot of stress on the hinges. I wouldnt be AS worried if my carrier was mounted to my bumper, but being on a rust body im always carful of what I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrailChaser Posted February 19, 2007 Author Share Posted February 19, 2007 I just finished the bumper today. All I have left to do is attach the lights for the license plate. I still need to pressure test it to see if it leaks. I plan to keep about 125psi in it all the time. Here's a few of the pics I took while building the bumper...I did all the prep work at work and didn't get to take any pics then. All the pics are from when I brought it home. Most of the welds were done with a Ready Welder and two deep cycle batteries using flux core wire w/out shielding gas. Here's the main pile of parts. Here's a pic of the inside of the hinge. That is two 7/8" grade 8 nuts welded inside the pipe. They were both welded to each side of a 1/4" piece of steel. I cut a hole in a piece of 1/4" steel for the cap and cut the head off a 7/8" bolt then welded the piss out of it inside and out. I wanted to make the tire carrier adjustable for when I get bigger tires. I used the stock tire carrier plate that the tire mounts to. I cut out the bolts that came with it and added studs in their place. It's nice to be able to use the same wrench for the spare. I didn't like the thin 12gauge steel they used from the factory so I beefed it up a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrailChaser Posted February 19, 2007 Author Share Posted February 19, 2007 Here is the main support to protect the latch from getting damaged if the tire catches a ledge. Here is the latch. It works very good to hold a decent amount of pressure on the tire carrier to keep it from rattling. That's also the reason I mounted it at an angle, so it holds the arm down and back. Here's the hitch. I made it as low profile as I could without making it weak. I put a nice thick weld around it for extra strength. Here is the bumperless truck and then finally the bumper is done. Well almost... Check out the new improved departure angle. I wanted to make it as close as possible. There are a few more pics at my photobucket site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pavelow Leaks Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 That looks awesome! Make me one, cuz I'm lazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammyb33 Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 that really looks awesome. nice job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
govols74n Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Sweeeeet....I love the slim design too. Now you have to update us on the "air tank" part....ingenious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solid snake Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 That looks awsome, congrats on the tire carrier and bumper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerranoNZ Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Top job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NismoSkyZ Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Very nice...looks good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzy Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Looks nice man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88_Pathy Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Very smooth, it is nice. I like the latch design and how close it is to the body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 In the words of Paris Hilton "that's hot" -Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Very, very nice, man! Wonderful job! Everything on there is well-thought-out and built like a Mack truck. I like it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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