DIY Swing out hinges

[Shayne]

Been giving some thought to making my own bumpers and while pondering the swing out hinge i thought to myself why not use swivel castors when they are readily available easy to fit and rated from anything from say 50kg to as many tons as you like .

A quick look found this straight away http://www.bulldogcastors.co.uk/150mm-swivel-top-plate-nylon-castor-800kg

Just an idea to share - discuss ?

 

[Higgy]

Thats given me an idea Shayne.. When the local BnQ Closed down i got my hands on some damaged Trolleys. The big ones the Builders use Withe 5" castors They must be rated to 250kg Easy i would of thought... Ive been thinking about what to do with new Bumper corners on the 80.... Good thinking Shayne..

 

[Chris]

I machined one from a trailer stub axle. Strong you'd think. It snapped when off road with a 37 attached to it. The weight shown remember will the direct downward compression force. Not the bending moment.

 

[Shayne]

True but a caster wheel is usually offset so the rating should account for leverage perhaps ?

I wonder if you inadvertently hardened the stub axle so it became brittle while cooling welds in water ?

 

[karl webster]

I like the idea shayne. Its worth a shot to see if it works.
As you say the rating on them goes up to hundreds of tonnes. with the beefy ones they weigh a fair bit though.

 

[Chris]

Cooled the welds in water? Not me.

I like the idea of using something for a different purpose, but at times, the consequences of failure have to be calculated. A spare wheel bouncing down the motorway into oncoming traffic isn't something I'd want to have to answer for. So anything I'd use would need to be really capable. Not saying these aren't but the idea behind a pin is that it goes through the bumper and out of the other side. That's what supports the pin itself. It removes flex. If you surface mount something like this then all of that bending is at the surface.

I'm not being a 'well-poisoner' here, just urging caution and plenty of tea sipping before doing it.

 

[Shayne]

Weld 6ft of box section in place of the wheel and jump up and down on it , if it don't break it ain't going to carrying a spare wheel me thinks .

If someone tries it and it does break it would be interesting to see how exactly it gave up because with such a low profile it i imagine it would bend rather than snap .

 

[Lorin]

Why not just order a proper swing away spindle from the US? They’re proven and not prohibitively expensive. I just bought this one https://4x4labs.myshopify.com/collections/bumpers/products/spindle-assembly At least then you can be sure it’s up to the job.

 

[Shayne]

Can't beat that Lorin good find and thanks for posting

 

[StarCruiser]

Weld 6ft of box section in place of the wheel and jump up and down on it , if it don't break it ain't going to carrying a spare wheel me thinks .

If someone tries it and it does break it would be interesting to see how exactly it gave up because with such a low profile it i imagine it would bend rather than snap .

How many times do you bounce up and down Shayne? At what frequency? Chris’s caution is well worth heeding here. If you said to me you’ve got a mate who’s a structural engineer and you’re going to ask him then I’d still be cautious. Why? Because vibration is a metal killer. The main trick is to have as little weight as you can on the swing away but enough to support the load plus a margin for error then make the whole thing share it’s weight across the whole bumper not just on the hinge. I see what you’re saying with the caster but you would need the mother of all casters and if I were you I’d double them up, one top one bottom. Then the centre isn’t designed for sideways loading.

Once you’ve actually built something, modified it, tried something else, thrown it in the bin, started again struggled and finally got something you’re almost happy with, you’ll look and think I wish I’d just bought it ready made. Trust me, it’ll cost far more to make well than to buy when you consider how much of your life you’ve spent on it.

 

[Shayne]

I don't want to mess about Rich , i don't want to make my own bumpers , but lack of options and availability has me searching for relatively quick and easy DIY solutions and Lorin's post provided one .

 

[Gary820]

That spindle assembly is pretty much the same as my Kaymar swing out.

 

[Lorin]

That spindle assembly is pretty much the same as my Kaymar swing out.

The only difference is in size and therefore strength. The Kaymar spindle has either a 1.259" or 1.358" diameter shaft, depending on year. The 4X4Labs spindle has a 1.75” diameter shaft and a huge 3” outer shell. There are lots of examples of them happily carrying 40” spares without issue.

 

[Gary820]

Mine has a 35" and even stood upto a car bumping into me in traffic, needs some minor adjustments as pushed the bottom in a bit, spindle is fine though!

 

[Chris]

Pretty much copied that for mine. Well over engineered for a safe margin.

 

[karl webster]

Steves truck has a different set up for the carriers that i quite like.