Well, they are welded together! :) Here's Schlud's.

And the wheel even fits over the studs! :D

Not bad for my first time, eh?

Notice I have my receiver sleeve at an angle. That is so that as I move the tire outward to clear the future jerrican, the tire will also move upward for better clearance out back.

I also discovered that the base of my pivot was not cut straight and that was contributing to my swing arm hitting the hitch receiver. As it swung closed it would move downward. I ground that flat and removed some metal from the top part of the pivot so that a washer will fit underneath. That gave me about 1/8" of extra clearance over the receiver, whcih I also ground down a little bit more. I'm still not sure what will happen with weight on it, but I think it's going to clear now. I think once everything is all tightened down the swingarm will clear the receiver by about 1/4". That's the plan anyway!

Wow! I'm speechless!

That's about the ugliest orange pillow I have ever seen in my life! :D

Nah, looks good Chuck. We'll have to throw them on and see how they work.

yeah. and what's up with all the brown stains on the couch cover thingy?? YIKES!

the swing way looks good though. :)

Originally posted by Schludwiller
Wow! I'm speechless!

That's about the ugliest orange pillow I have ever seen in my life! :D



Okay, I'm laughing my ass off right now! Chuck, you must not be married. The first thing out of my wife's mouth would be "Get that damn thing off the couch!" (the tire carrier, not the pillow).
On second thought, she might say that about the pillow too :licker:

The pillow is beige, not orange; you freaks! :finger: You'll all be happy to know it's a one of a kind and so you'll never have to see one in a store or anywhere else!

That's black cat hair on the blanket, not stains. That's why the blanket is there; because the cats like to sleep there. I remove it if anyone comes over.

The tire carriers are on the dining room table now...I have no wife to ask me to remove it! I have been known to sand, paint, glue, and whatever there. :D

Originally posted by ChuckH

The tire carriers are on the dining room table now...I have no wife to ask me to remove it! I have been known to sand, paint, glue, and whatever there. :D



You are living the good life my man, I am considering a divorce now. And you are right, that pillow is "one of a kind." :p

Well, I don't think being able to use the dining room table for a hobby bench is enough reason to get a divorce, but it's pretty cool! :D I've got it covered in paper now and I'm putting primer on Schlud's tire carrier. Gotta love the smell of paint fumes! I'd wait until the weekend and do it outside during the day, but Schlud wants his carrier before he leaves for GOX. That means I need to get the bastard done! :bloated:

Nice work on the tire carrier. You guys have done a hell of a job considering what you started with. I am in the process building a bumper / tire carrier for my Jeep. I have the bumper done, but need to complete the tire carrier. Of course with a Jeep, there are plenty of places I could have just bought the bumper. But, I'm trying to learn how to weld and figured I would practice with the Jeep. :)

Thanks Scott! I don't know how to weld, but I managed to line up some inexpensive sources. I supplied the plans and the other guys put it together. Now I'm trying to finish things up. I actually think it would have been easier to build the whole thing from scratch than to try and fix these. For example, getting the whole swing arm up onto the bandsaw so that I could remove the existing tire mount was a PITA! It's been a slow road, but so far it's looking pretty good. Here's a new picture of Schlud's arm with primer! :)


Good luck with your Jeep bumper!

Almost there. We have to grind down the hinge to get it to fit better, but the tire mount works great (Thanks Charles!). Should be done tomorrow.

(yes that's primer, matching paint will be added after GoX).

Why is everyone putting these tires up so high? Looking at that picture, I can see absolutely no reason why the tire couldn't be mounted 6 inches or so lower, just high enough that it doesn't interfere with the receiver or shackle... It doesn't need to be above the bumper height...

Originally posted by Chris_McCracken
Why is everyone putting these tires up so high? Looking at that picture, I can see absolutely no reason why the tire couldn't be mounted 6 inches or so lower, just high enough that it doesn't interfere with the receiver or shackle... It doesn't need to be above the bumper height...

Actually it does need to be high to preserve your departure angle. We measured the angle from the rear tire across the bumper to the tire. (The tire is a LT. My swampers are larger and wider)The bottom end of the tire lines up with where it needs to be to clear obstacles.

This is an offroad vehicle so it has different considerations than someone who is towing things.

BTW, I really like ChuckH's adjustable carrier bar. I can adjust the bar to fit any size tire I want to carry on the rack. A nice touch.

Here are the modified frame sleeves. They go back into the boxed section of the frame and the holes were drilled with the bumper mounted so there is no slack in the holes. The lower bar extending from the frame is a reinforcing bar Chuck made.

To quote the welding shop who made the new sleeves "This bumper isn't leaving the truck without half the vehicle attached to it.". :D

Originally posted by Schludwiller
BTW, I really like ChuckH's adjustable carrier bar. I can adjust the bar to fit any size tire I want to carry on the rack. A nice touch.

Thanks! Remember, uhh, you only have two settings now. That third hole is probably not useful since I shortened the insert. There wouldn't be much leverage in that position. Unless you plan to go wider than a 12.5" tire anyway, there shouldn't be a problem! :D

And for Chris...yes, the departure angle issue is what dictated where the tire would go. You will see on my carrier that I had to angle the sleeve so that the tire would move higher as it moved outward to clear my gas can. We pretty much put them both in the lowest practical position to reduce the liklihood that the tire would drag on anything. Schlud will get to test his out at Moab next week. Take it slow there Schlud...just in case!

Originally posted by Chris_McCracken
Why is everyone putting these tires up so high? Looking at that picture, I can see absolutely no reason why the tire couldn't be mounted 6 inches or so lower, just high enough that it doesn't interfere with the receiver or shackle... It doesn't need to be above the bumper height...

Imagine if this hill were a little steeper...
http://medcina.50megs.com/Western_VA_2/Dcp_1233_resized.jpg
(picture of MT, taken by killerx.)

Hmm.. OK, I can see that point of view now... Has anyone considered angling the aupport arms inward toward the hatch? There's a pretty good distance between the arm and the hatch, and I would think that if you angled the arm towards the hatch it would help (not sure exactly how... just thinking aloud).

While Gothamists picture is a good one, I run into more situations coming off of rocks. Once your rear tires leave the rock you need a lot of departure angle to keep from ripping things off.

Originally posted by Schludwiller
While Gothamists picture is a good one, I run into more situations coming off of rocks. Once your rear tires leave the rock you need a lot of departure angle to keep from ripping things off.

You mean like the rear bumper? :eek:

It's 4:35 and I'm on my way out the door. Traffic will dictate when I get to your house, but it should be about 45 minutes. Hope you got the washer and stuff! :D

The Turd is done. At least enough for GoX anyway. Then I get to take it all apart, sand it and actually paint the damn thing. Anyway, looks good and the truck is ready to go. Now I have to pack!!! :eek:

We should have taken a picture for the kiddies!

You're going to have the coolest bumper at GOX! :D

Originally posted by ChuckH
You're going to have the coolest bumper at GOX! :D

except that mine is totally finished. :flipa: we'll compete. it'll be exactly like a show and shine except different. ;)

Originally posted by Synchro


except that mine is totally finished. :flipa: we'll compete. it'll be exactly like a show and shine except different. ;)

I'm sorry to say that mine is going to look a whole lot like yours. There are some technical difference in how I attached things and such, but the general layout is pretty much the same. um, sorry 'bout that!!!

:rolleyes:

I should have the other side painted soon and be able to put the jerrican holder on in the morning. I'm leaving my Hi-Lift brackets unfinished for now, but the rest should be done within the next 12-16 hours so I can put it on the truck. Fianlly found the right Charcoal gray paint too that I used originally, so I don't have to repaint the bumper now. :) Well, here's what the backside looks like!

PS: Yes I'm painting in my dining room again...it was raining earlier and it's too dark and damp outside now to do it.