Home brewed rear bumpers w/ swing outs

[MTWheeler]

I second that^ love the tan!


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[adventr]

Thanks guys.

That's actually spray-on bedliner that was mixed with OEM Jeep Sahara Tan basecoat to give it that color.

 

[daddyusmaximus]

Cool idea.

 

[stioc]

Here's mine. I'm looking for a strut kit for the swing out so it's easier to open/close especially on a slope, anyone have any suggestions?

 

[rayra]

Strut's going to have to be very short and very strong, has to sit near the pivot so the strut itself doesn't get in your way. Maybe some form of coil spring in / on the pivot would be better, a la self-closing door hinges.

might just have to go with an arc of plate at the pivot and a locator pin so you can pin the arm open at different angles.


eta see you are in SoCal, if you're running on a lot of washboarded dirt / desert roads you'll probably want some real good gussets on your spare tire mount stanchions. Your welds might be good, but they might just work / tear out the thin walls of the tubing itself.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Used a 560 lb and a 90 lb strut from McMasterCarr. They work well and we placed them so that they are over-center when closed so if you forget to latch they keep some pressure on the arms to stay closed.

Video my buddy that built it made.

Got 'er all finished up and in the truck to go to powdercoat in the morning... Been working on it since 4 this afternoon.

Here's a video I uploaded to show the swing-outs in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kwdEor2TTeA

 

[Box Rocket]

Here's mine. I'm looking for a strut kit for the swing out so it's easier to open/close especially on a slope, anyone have any suggestions?

Turned out great. As for the strut, I used one from the liftgate on my Land Cruiser. You could probably find a junkyard one from anything with a liftgate as most are capable of handling more weight than you have on the swingout. Or you could probably find a replacement one at any parts store. Most liftgate struts are fairly short and meant to fit in a tight space so they work well on swingouts.

 

[stioc]

Strut's going to have to be very short and very strong, has to sit near the pivot so the strut itself doesn't get in your way. Maybe some form of coil spring in / on the pivot would be better, a la self-closing door hinges.

might just have to go with an arc of plate at the pivot and a locator pin so you can pin the arm open at different angles.


eta see you are in SoCal, if you're running on a lot of washboarded dirt / desert roads you'll probably want some real good gussets on your spare tire mount stanchions. Your welds might be good, but they might just work / tear out the thin walls of the tubing itself.

Thanks. Good tip on the gussets, I did gusset it around the tire mount, hopefully it's enough. I do want to add some additional gussets/support at the bottom of the tire mount upright.

Used a 560 lb and a 90 lb strut from McMasterCarr. They work well and we placed them so that they are over-center when closed so if you forget to latch they keep some pressure on the arms to stay closed.

Video my buddy that built it made.

Cool, any links to the McMasterCarr part# or item?

Turned out great. As for the strut, I used one from the liftgate on my Land Cruiser. You could probably find a junkyard one from anything with a liftgate as most are capable of handling more weight than you have on the swingout. Or you could probably find a replacement one at any parts store. Most liftgate struts are fairly short and meant to fit in a tight space so they work well on swingouts.

Thanks for answering my noob questions Adam, I'm happy with the results. I was thinking about the lift gate struts too, I may even have the strut sitting around but didn't quite know where to source the hardware i.e. the ball studs etc.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

http://www.mcmaster.com/#gas-springs/=y5bvf1

We used the gas springs with ball joint ends. Lots of lengths available.

 

[rayra]

If McMaster doesn't have it, try northerntool or Tractor Supply.

and yes, gusset down at the bottom of the spare tire stanchions at the swingarm. That'll be the spot with the most stress / front-rear motion stress. Don't worry about the side to side forces as much. The A-frame design you used supports in that direction fine. The 'moment arm' in the front-rear axis is the bigger problem for so much weight on a tall vertical support. The flexing will put a lot of stress at the root of it. A triangle plate down low on the side facing the tailgate, and well overlapping the swingarm and stanchion, should do well. And on the outside face as well. Trap the stanchion in there.

 

[2scars]

Here is mine. A little inspiration from Boxrocket and my brother built the original base bumper for his '00 TRD that got crushed.





I think I would like to eventually add another side to it with a vertical Hi-lift mount and an ammo can for recovery items.

Brandon

 

[MTWheeler]

Simple and clean looking... I really like it Brandon!


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[2scars]

^^^Thanks^^^^

 

[ExplorerTom]

 

[daddyusmaximus]

Can anyone point me to a source for the latches and other parts (other than the steel) for building a nice swing out?