Swing-out Tire rack

[WebDog]

For the last year I have been wanting to build a swing-out tire rack and I started once before but could not get the hinge to work.

So today I was going through my steel pile and started cutting and welding, took a trip to the hardware store and got some bearings and hole saw.

After one day work I have it the frame and hinge done.

I used 3/4" drill rod for the hinge pin (not from hardware store).

I need to work on the latch and reinforce the bumper a little bit.

(feel free to bash me about my crappy welds)

 

[stewie]

you may want the tire higher up. it looks like you are trying to keep it low to help with seeing out the rear window and thats fine, but it may end up making you drag the bottom of the spare (and possibly get caught up) when going down a ledge.

i just came inside from working on my rear bumper tire carrier. the bumper is made of 2x6x1/4" box and the tire carrier is 2x3x3/16" box tube. it is a little heavy but even scrawny ol' me can install it by myself. i went with a hinge from AJ, latch from mcmaster-carr, and tire mounting plate from RoughStuff. overkill? yep, but i know that my bumper will outlive my xj. my spare used to live on an AMC era stock tire carrier, and i didnt like the how low even my old 31 sat. now that i am on 35's it was plain and simple that it was too much tire for that carrier (and it started to damage my heep). so i started to build something that fit the bill for all that i wanted- shackle tabs, tucks in nice, bottom rear quarter panel skids, tire up out of the way (even if it blocks some/all the rear window), and beef. i think that i am getting it to be pretty much everything i an wanting.

i guess what i am saying is to build it so that it fits your needs now and for when (not if) your rig grows...

 

[WebDog]

Its funny, the only flex I get is from the bumper tubes and I can see the mounts to the frame moving a little. I am planning on removing the bumper and cutting into the frame and welding a tube to the plate that bolts to the frame. that should fix the flex.

I am going to raise the tire up a little, I also need to space it out a little bit so ill weld one tube that raises and spaces in one step.

If I was planning it out i would rebuild the bumper as the design is a little bit limited.

I got an order ready with mcmaster-carr and will drive over monday moring to pick the latch up. My plan is when the carrier is closed the weight is carried by the latch side.

 

[WebDog]

ok so i found some tube and decided it would be stronger to use that for the hinge, so i put that in and it is much better looking and the welds are better. (i also welded the inside of the box to the bumper.

I am going to also install a bearing support on top to keep flex down.

I also took your advice and raised it 5" more to 20" and will be adding some more triangle bracing in the vertical arm.

(the horizontal sagging is because i have not welded the hinge pin in the cross bar yet.)

 

[WebDog]

well i got it all done besides capping the ends, and painting.
Also picked up a spare yesterday.

I need to get some lug nuts for it and then throw the tire up there. I also want to get a limiting strap to keep it from hitting other cars when its open and a safety strap for the latch side.

Spent a total of about $240 including the tire and new wheel.

 

[Stukboy]

Nice job. Now if I could add just one more suggestion??
I noticed all the weight is on the hinge when it is latched. You might think of welding a block under your latch so some of the weight is off the hinge when it is closed. the benefit I think would be in the dips and bumps you will hit as it will reduce stress on that one point and increase the life of your hinge.
Just my .02.
Stukboy

 

[kastein]

I like it! I may steal a lot of these ideas.

PS - you weld like I do... though I've been gaining skill slowly. It looks like you're not beveling the ends of your stock enough before welding (which makes you add a lot more thickness to get strength) and there is a lot of spatter there, I've been beveling my cuts a lot more to keep more of the weld flush and either turning the heat down a little or simply grinding the weld smooth after finishing, then refilling anything I missed. I'm a bit of a perfectionist though...

 

[kastein]

further note... I'm wrong, if you are splattering, turn the power up not down.

 

[WebDog]

Nice job. Now if I could add just one more suggestion??
I noticed all the weight is on the hinge when it is latched. You might think of welding a block under your latch so some of the weight is off the hinge when it is closed. the benefit I think would be in the dips and bumps you will hit as it will reduce stress on that one point and increase the life of your hinge.
Just my .02.
Stukboy

It does have that already, I even have a pin that keeps it from bouncing up and down on the latch side.

My welder is a $100 POS welder and really is not that great, i want to get a new one.

 

[kastein]

haha fair enough, I only have a $300 MIG/fluxcore unit from lincoln electric... between me doing my exhaust and two friend's, it's already paid for itself. Is yours a stick or wire welder?

 

[Stukboy]

Cool, I didn't see that in the pic. Good lookin stuff. I've been welding for a few years and still have splatter. I just got a 220v stick welder and I have a 135 mig as well.
Stukboy

 

[WebDog]

The welder is a Harbor Freight mig flux core, I got it originally to "Just" fix rusted floor in my other XJ. But recently have been pushing the limits of it with thicker stuff.

 

[jeepdude25]

Nice Job I really like it!!!

 

[WebDog]

after my trip to cleghorn about a month ago my bumper got beat up and i had to rebuild it, i also redesigned the hinge and moved the tire a little down and further in to the hatch to remove wobble.

 

[old_man]

Nice work. :worship:

Not trying to dis you but experience has shown that the pivot pin takes a hell of a beating. A lot of guys used trailer axle shafts and bearings. A lot of them snapped. I would think that they would be stronger than your .75 pin. At least, put some type of safety cable or something on the arm to catch the unit if for some reason it were to break. One of the guys narrowly missed nailing a fellow motorist as his spare and arm went tumbling down the road.

Its nice to see people stepping out and doing their own fab.

Experience is a good teacher but wisdom comes from learning from other peoples mistakes. irate1:

 

[WebDog]

yea in my current setup it uses a grade 8 3/4" bolt and the way it is done there is not as much load on one point, as you can see in the photo in the last post.

I was worried about the pin breaking on the original design and thats why i changed it.