So, I've been trying to figure out how to mount a jerrican to my swing away and not have it interfere with the hatch nor make it necessary to have the mount on at all times. At the same time, I need to modify the tire mount so the tire actually fits. Well, here's my first sketch of what I'm thinking of doing.

Basically, the mount will be moved out and down. There will be a round tube piece installed that the wheel will slide over and there will be two studs to go through the bolt holes on the wheel. Then, I will have a padded bracket piece that will fit over the bolts and clamp down on the wheel.

Now, the center tube piece will serve a second function. It will be a receiver of sorts that my jerrican holder will slide into so that the jerrican rides piggyback on the tire. The insert will be held in the tube by a pin, just like a hitch insert and will be removeable so I would only use it when on long trails.

I realize the jerrican will stick out the back quite a bit, but that's the best way I can think of to do it so there is never any interference with opening the hatch. The other alternative is to bring the tire out and put the can behind, but I think this way will be more functional for my needs.

I believe I may have a builder for the necessary pieces and then I can have a local shop weld them to the swing arm.

Note that this is only a sketch and nothing is to scale. Also, my jerrican mount will not actually look like that and is used for illustration purposes only! :)

Thoughts?

I had the picture in the picture thingy and it didn't upload! :( Let's try again.

I'm sitting here remembering the time you backed up into that tree at Tahuya. :D

You think that's funny, huh? :finger:

I just won't be satisfied until I can't see anything out the back window and I have an extra 5 feet of crap attached.

So instead of reminding me how I bashed my hatch in, how about maybe you comment on the tire mount. Obviously, the mount itself can be done with or without the jerrican insert, so would you like one or not?

If you want one, you need to measure the width of your tire for me (actual width at the widest point) so I know how much we need to add. I need to bring mine out another inch and I'm going to lower the mount 2-3/4 inches.

I decided the attachment plate will have the tire center support and three bolts...two high and one low to hold the wheel in place.

Anyway, if you are serious about getting your tire mount fixede, you need to tell me what you want so I can see about having them made.

you should have a look at how eric and I solved it for mine.

we took a tow hitch tube and made it so the tire can move forward or backward. then a mounting bracket off the tire upright that holds a confer lockable gas can carrier. why reinvent the wheel for the gas can carrier if you don't have to and the confer one is nice.

If you want detailed photos of what we did, i can post them. i took pics of the finished product last week. i just got it today all nice and purty powdercoated and all. it's nice!!! plus it wouldn;t be hard to modify what you have now to do it.

hack off the current very top part that goes to the wheel, replace it with a hitch tube. get once of the hitch tube mounting plates from bulletproof bumpers, or make it yourself. this gets you the sliding forward and backward. build sideway a little off your current upright and put the jerry can mount bracket. then bolt the jerry can mount to the bracket.

like so:

here's a side detail

rear detail:

now you can see what eric really did as far as brackets go.

what this whole contraption affords me is being able to have 2 positions for the tire.

1) tire far in with hi-lift locked up. (driving around town normally)
2) tire a bit further out with locked hi-lift and locked jerry can. (for the trails)

i tested it out on road today driving back from erics, and it worked great!!! i test it on the trails tomorrow!!

I have more details of mount point and such not if you are interested.


as far as your design ideas above, i really don't like the idea of a gas can sticking out that far. seriously what happens if you back into a tree? those cans can rupture and it would not be a good idea to spill 5 gallons of gas into the outdoors. Plus it just looks kinda unstable. you are going to be balancing a 5 gallon metal can full of gas on a piece that not only holds the tire, but it only 2" in diameter. i would want it secured to something like the swing away itself. the less sloshing around the better. but this is just my opinion. but having gone through designing this thing 3 times already, i can tell you, eric and i have tried most everything.

one cool feature that eric added to mine is a lubrication nipple into the tube where the bolt goes through the arm. it allows you to pump grease into it to kep it from seazing up. (PLEASE do not go there with the sexual jokes, there is just no better way to state this!!! so don't even think about posting something!!)

there are a lot of nice little features that eric added like the lubrication stuff that really make it nice to have. from ruber bumpers to make sure the arm sits correctly every time in the strike plate to tighten bolts to make sure the tire doesn't rattle in the hitch tube. Eric is truly a man that can "make chicken salad from chicken shit" as the saying goes.

yeah, I was thinking of yours when I came up with my idea. It's pretty much the same idea except my jerrican mount would slide in instead of the tire being on a slider. I thought that on the trail I would be more likely to use the jerrican than the spare, so having it more accessible would be good. Also, I was thinking the receiver could be used for other attachments besides just the jerrican attachment. Finally, I wanted to put a round receiver type tub on the tire mount anyway to supprt the tire, rather than just havfing it held with bolts, so I figured I could have it do dual duty.

As far as the actual jerrican holder goes, I will buy a premade one like yours. My job would be to just make something to attach the mount to so it could slide into the receiver. Make sense? I'm glad you told me Confer makes that jerrican holder. Will that work with Wedco cans? I was going to buy the Wedco holder but it's about $70, which I think is rediculous. How much is the Confer holder and where did you get it?

You have a good point about the backing into a tree part and as you saw I've been known to do it.

I will continue to think about this and study your pictures some more. I definately think your setup is nice and will not throw away that idea.

Thanks! :)

the cool thing about using the hitch tube, is i do have a wealth of premade attachments i could put on there if need be. plus there are already locking mechanisms to keep it from getting stolen

the confer holder was $35 from 4x4connection.com. but you should be able to get them from anyone that carries confer stuff. no clue it is holds that brand. if it is structured like the Blitz can, then it should.

i plan on needing the spare more than the jerry can. i usually tank up before going out and only need the gas can in dire emergency. the spare I have already used once, the gas can i have not. plus my gas can is easy as cake to get of. i unscrew the top tab, release the spring mounted tension and i can drop it down. slips in just as easy.

i don't quite understand how the jerry can will slide in your design. plus again, you probably do not want the can to be mobile in any direction, just doesn't sound right design wise.

I've backed into a tree as well, pre bumper though, but i have the sheet metal damage and the bill to xterraparts.com to prove it though. :)

It would slide in just like a receiver insert and be locked with a hitch pin, so it wouldn't move around. I'm still thinking though!

Do you have the Blitz can? Any leaking problems with it? Supposedly the Wedco will not leak no matter what and it appears to have the same shape and everything. Wedco stuff is too expensive though, so if the Blitz doesn't leak then that's what I'm getting!

Thanks for the input...I'm headed out to look around again at the bumper!

OK, now I'm confused! I figured out a way to get two jerricans and a hi-lift on there using my method, but I'm thinking you are right about having the cans at the very back. There's only room for a jerrican on one side if I put them behind and that bothers me that the other side would be kind of an open space even with a hi-lift mounted there. maybe I could put part of a jerrican there for the riceboy mod and just have it for looks and to cover up the hi-lift! :D

I also realized that I don't really have a place to store jerricans when not in use, so if the mount for it is lockable, I will probably just leave it on there at all times. So if I go down your road I probably won't put the slider in.

You've definately done more research on this, so I know your way is good.

Could you explain what Eric put on your strike plate? If there is something premade, I would like to know what it is. I don't like that the arm just hits the strike plate and rubs there. I keep having to repaint the damn thing! :( I would like to find some sort of plate or soemthing to put over it that will not rust and will protect the strike plate and also a pice for the bottom of the arm. Actually, my arm swins low and I have to actually lift it to even get it to latch on the plate. I'm not sure how I'm going to fix that without paying a lot of money to have the plate moved and then having to paint the bumper again. I might add at this time that my bumper rattles really bad! I don't really care (and expect it) on the trails, but it's really annoying and embarrassing on the road!

you don't want to fix the fact that you have to lift it to get it onto the plate. not totally atleast. because otherwise it will rattle. the fact that it sits all the weight on the strike plate keep it form being annoying, so don't touch it. as far as making it so it doesn't mess up the strike plate. My KMA came with a stainless steal strike plate cause it is meant to get scratched up. we did not put it back on when we put the bumper back together as eric did not have the proper sticks to weld stainless to mild steel. but, mine lifts up enough to clear the strike plate and then sets down onto it and then the latch falls, thus not having to scrape it along the plate. but the plate is meant to do what you are expereiencing. how else would you do it? and since it is stainless (or atleast mine was) you should have no problems with rust. mine was a very high quality piece of stainless no less. no magnet would stick to it, which is the test of a good piece of stainless.

Here's what I'm thinking now! :thinkerg:

Synchro's way:

Pros:

Already tested.
Sturdy.
gas can protected from backing into trees and such.
One gas can and hi-lift weight is less and closer to truck.

Cons:

Only one gas can.
Tire has to sit up high for departure angle and to clear gas can bracket.


My way:

Pros:

Sturdy.
Could hold two gas cans and a hi-lift on one removeable carrier.
Could adapt easily for different hi-lift, cans, baskets, whatever attachments.
Attachments easy to remove or change out for different needs.
Tire can be mounted lower and closer in for better rearward visibility without affecting departure angle and for better street looks.

Cons:

Gas cans first line of defense in rear impact with tree or bus.
Two gas cans and hi-lift weigh a lot and will be hanging way out back!
Finding someone to build it!


I'm going to ask folks to vote on this in a seperate thread if I can create a vote. Please vote taking into consideration all pros and cons listed and also any others you can think of.