dilemma - tire rack swing

Flyboat

Observer
Howdy, I am new so I need to bounce this off yall. i just received my hinge from IPOR. and it is a stout looking sucker. I have a 96 k1500 'burb with a 3" body lift. The rear bumper rebuild is to hide the ugly gap, for which there are no relocation brackets ( the bumper is bent anyways) and provide a place to move the spare out of the passenger compartment. I have a high lift, might want to carry it on the rack. Might also consider fuel cans, depends on if my idea for a factory aux tank works out like I think it will. I am not hardcore expo minded yet, but headed that way, this is just the beginning, right? Anyway.

Should I make the swing the full width or split it in the middle? BTW this version is the barn door version. Should the spare be on the driver's or passenger side? Should I build it so that the first door (pass side) to open can be opened without swinging the spare tire rack? I think this hinge can handle the full width, but the only question is for how long. Actually how long the bushings will last.

What have yall done or seen and liked or hated and why?

Thanks again for letting me pick your brain and making sure I make the best bumper for my needs.
 

motomech

Adventurer
I'm putting the tire on the driver side to avoid a blind spot when i look over my shoulder when i back up. If you tire is small enough to clear the passenger side door then id say make it a double swing out, mine is not. I will always have to open the tire side to access my passenger side barn door.
 

warrpath4x4

Adventurer
I got my hinge from A to Z fab and it has actual bearings and races inside it and its rebuildable. My spare is on the passenger, hilift mounted behind it, and 2 jerry cans on the driver side. A good idea is to have your hinge on the passenger side, that way if you pull over on the side of the road you don't have it swinging into the road.

The tire, rim, and jack is a lot of weight to have far away from the hinge.
 
M

MuddyOval

Guest
if the 'hinge' is really a trailer spindle, be careful about overloading it. Search a little on it on various forums and you'll see some issues with trailer spindles used on bumpers breaking when loaded heavily.
 

Flyboat

Observer
it is not a trailer spindle. It's an 1 1/2 solid steel rod. I purposely strayed away just because of the issues you mentioned. I am asking for help because hopefully, I just build it once. Thanks so far folks!
 
M

MuddyOval

Guest
Ah, excellent. I just heard of another swing-out carrier that failed today. Seems to be a real problem. I want to build one too, just waiting for the new plasma cutter to arrive.

Whenever you need to have a spare covering a bit of rear window, try to keep it on the driver side for visibility- but I've seen some people get carried away and put it too close to the brake/tail lamps.

I like the idea of splitting it considering you have barn doors, but IIRC the doors aren't really very wide so the spare might interfere with the 'other' side when opening the doors. Can you measure the door width and compare that with the spare's diameter?
 

Flyboat

Observer
I haven't measured yet, down to the inch, but I think I can pull it off. If I cover up the tail light some, I may add some nice LED lamps to my bumper. I know I want to have some back up light help anyway. I will probably build the whole thing out of cardboard first just to make sure I like what I come up with.
 

roamingaz

Explorer
I built a double swing out for my landcruiser, it worked pretty well.

landcruiser009.jpg


landcruiser007.jpg


landcruiser008.jpg
 

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