Lorin
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2010
- Messages
- 1,457
Following on from this https://www.landcruiserclub.net/com...s-for-a-bespoke-rear-swing-away.151550/page-4 I thought I’d start a separate thread showing the design I ended up with and the build.
After much researching of different options/designs, I decided I didn’t want the additional weight and cost of a full rear bumper. I simply don’t need one (and I can’t afford the ones I like!). What I settled on was a design that has been made to work with the factory bumper, which has proved itself to be extremely robust and perfectly capable of meeting my needs. See here for the original design/build thread https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/factory-bumper-swing-out-build.846748/ Pictures below taken from this thread show the build and finished product.
Start with a chassis leg
Some bits of metal
All welded up with a spindle
With bumper back on
Finished product
This set-up is available to buy in the US both as a weld-it-yourself kit or fully built, but shipping, import and duty are simply too much to make importing one viable. I also wanted mine to be bolt on, not weld on, and to extend a little further so the spare can be centrally mounted. So, with full credit going to Summit Cruisers in the US for the original design idea, I took some measurements, had them drawn up in CAD, found a decent welder and ended up with this...
The bracket bolts onto the chassis in 6 places, 2 of which are under the chassis leg and replace the brace that is part of the tow bar mounting. This adds additional strength through tying in the mounting to the whole tow bar assembly. The main bracket attaches to the chassis using a backing plate to spread the load. Four bolts are M10 and two are M12. The main bracket also uses two 50x50x5 steel bars welded together instead of one 50x100, again to add strength.
Mounted on the truck
As the spindle is critical, I opted for one from here https://4x4labs.myshopify.com/products/spindle-assembly This has been proven to be more than capable of supporting a 40” spare, so should be perfectly sufficient for my heavy 37 and a bike rack.
It’s quite impressive
Whilst it is my intention to put the factory bumper back on eventually, I don’t have time to sort this before leaving for our trip - I’ll sort it when I get back. So the next stage which is starting now is to build the arm, tyre mount and a removable bike carrier. Updates to follow....
After much researching of different options/designs, I decided I didn’t want the additional weight and cost of a full rear bumper. I simply don’t need one (and I can’t afford the ones I like!). What I settled on was a design that has been made to work with the factory bumper, which has proved itself to be extremely robust and perfectly capable of meeting my needs. See here for the original design/build thread https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/factory-bumper-swing-out-build.846748/ Pictures below taken from this thread show the build and finished product.
Start with a chassis leg
Some bits of metal
All welded up with a spindle
With bumper back on
Finished product
This set-up is available to buy in the US both as a weld-it-yourself kit or fully built, but shipping, import and duty are simply too much to make importing one viable. I also wanted mine to be bolt on, not weld on, and to extend a little further so the spare can be centrally mounted. So, with full credit going to Summit Cruisers in the US for the original design idea, I took some measurements, had them drawn up in CAD, found a decent welder and ended up with this...
The bracket bolts onto the chassis in 6 places, 2 of which are under the chassis leg and replace the brace that is part of the tow bar mounting. This adds additional strength through tying in the mounting to the whole tow bar assembly. The main bracket attaches to the chassis using a backing plate to spread the load. Four bolts are M10 and two are M12. The main bracket also uses two 50x50x5 steel bars welded together instead of one 50x100, again to add strength.
Mounted on the truck
As the spindle is critical, I opted for one from here https://4x4labs.myshopify.com/products/spindle-assembly This has been proven to be more than capable of supporting a 40” spare, so should be perfectly sufficient for my heavy 37 and a bike rack.
It’s quite impressive
Whilst it is my intention to put the factory bumper back on eventually, I don’t have time to sort this before leaving for our trip - I’ll sort it when I get back. So the next stage which is starting now is to build the arm, tyre mount and a removable bike carrier. Updates to follow....
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