In pursuit of building a rear bumper I thought I might as well see if I can fab a rear tire swing arm onto the existing stock bumper... I figure what the hell.. might as well give it a shot for all the nay-sayers out there...

Of course the stock rear bumper is not the strongest metal so attaching a hinge system to the bumper sheet metal would not carry the weight... my solution was to fab up a bracket that bolts directly to the frame. All that's required is a little trimming of the bumper and rear quarter panel. After bolting it on, I have no doubt that it will be strong enough to carry a rear swing arm...

I used 2" x 4" rectangular steel tubing.. bolted with grade 8 bolts directly to the frame. This is the exact dimension of the frame itself so any upward or downward torque will be directly applied to the frame, keeping the stress on the bolts to a minimum..

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/1540/img5555v.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/341/img5555v.jpg/)

view from the top

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/2176/img5557gx.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/24/img5557gx.jpg/)

view from the bottom

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/4418/img5558j.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/266/img5558j.jpg/)

From this I can fab up a hinged swing arm... you may not be able to see what I've got in mind but trust me I can do it... I left it a little long so that I have some material to work with..

Here it is with the bumper pieces back on and a little bedliner..

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/6707/img5559d.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/6/img5559d.jpg/)

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/588/img5563g.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/72/img5563g.jpg/)

http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/3935/img5562nk.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/853/img5562nk.jpg/)

Basically I've extended the frame through the bumper allowing for a swinging rear tire carrier... and yes i'll be finishing it up and making it fully functional... stay tuned.

Best part is this can be done with very little welding, basic tools, and less than $100...

Beat that!

Basically I've extended the frame through the bumper allowing for a swinging rear tire carrier... and yes i'll be finishing it up and making it fully functional... stay tuned.

Best part is this can be done with very little welding, basic tools, and less than $100...

Beat that!

Pure Genius!


:rrg:



I guess you'll add a frame extension on the other side the same way, to provide a place to brace the other end of the swing arm, so the tire doesn't get pushed through the hatch on a rear impact, etc, gusset it to take the torque loads, and it will be as good as a bumper based carrier.

I like it.

Yep... I'll do the same thing to the other side where it'll lock in...

I kinda got a late start to it this evening so I was only able to get the one side..

Im not aware of a hitch flip mod.....

I have a trailer hitch... im guessing you mean flip it upside down???

edit: I did a quick search and saw what your talking about... no I wont be flipping the hitch...

Very cool. I should do that when I get new tires

Ok, I noticed you have a gen2. I didnt know if I was going to be able to try this on a gen 1 but after finally getting out of work and looking at my rig, I think its possible. I noticed the where I would be cutting into the bumper is going to be a little different but the frame and bolt set up looks the same.
I just did however notice I have a shock completely busted off on the passenger rear. Interesting.
Keep us updated on your project. I really want to see how it turns out!

Great idea and work Steeze! Can't wait to see how it turns out

Yep from what I remember from my 1st gen the same concept would apply... definitely possible for the 1st gens

Can't wait to see the final product. Keep up the work Steeze, always something new and interesting you come up with. Possible second gen. chop?

no chopping the 2nd gen... unless I roll it.

i see only one problem it looks week cause you cut the rectangular tubing and it is only held on one wall it probably would of been better if you could of inserted it into the frame or cut a 45* and drill and then plate it to close the opening it would of had 3 walls for strength but it would of pushed it out a whole 2 " further out toward the plastic side but great idea i like it .

there's little to no force applied from the left or right.. all the stress is up and down at which there is no issue... this is 3/16 steel... it's going to take a lot of force to bend it.. way more than just a swing arm and spare tire..

If you think about how the force is applied and how the hinge will distribute that.. there's no way it'll bend.

Maybe if it was all the way open.. as in 180* from the closed position and I was sitting on the spare it MIGHT stress the bracket.. but why would I ever put that much stress on it anyways..

and you can't sandwich the frame because of the existing tow hitch and bumper bolts.. it wont work. I thought a lot about it and I have no doubt that it's more than sufficient to carry the weight of a swing arm and 35" spare.
This will not be a problem, I plan on using struts to keep the swing arm from swinging that far open.. this will also assist in opening and closing.

The swing arm im going to build will be light weight... the spare will weigh more than the arm

If I have to I'll clamp a big chunk of steel tubing on it and stand at the end to simulate a fully opened arm with 150 lbs of weight on the end. Maybe i'll do that tomorrow...

7338
here is what i meant

thats some high level mspaint skillz

thats some high level mspaint skillz

thanks lol

I see what you mean...

There's just no way a swing arm even with a 35 on it will bend the bracket... it's just swinging open and closed.. I have no intention of swinging it completely open and jumping up and down on it. Normal operation isn't going to stress it that much.

Shit if it ever did I'd fab up another one... I can build and change whatever I want whenever I want.. appreciate the input though

I do like your idea with the 45*... that's definitely an option.. only reason I wouldn't do it that way is because then I'd have to cut into the plastic quarter panel quite a bit... I'd rather cut the bumper than the quarter panel

I see what you mean...

There's just no way a swing arm even with a 35 on it will bend the bracket... it's just swinging open and closed.. I have no intention of swinging it completely open and jumping up and down on it. Normal operation isn't going to stress it that much.

Shit if it ever did I'd fab up another one... I can build and change whatever I want whenever I want.. appreciate the input though

I do like your idea with the 45*... that's definitely an option.. only reason I wouldn't do it that way is because then I'd have to cut into the plastic quarter panel quite a bit... I'd rather cut the bumper than the quarter panel

good point do a combination of both it it ever fails or you decide to change it up bolt it with the 45*to the side of the frame and then bolt or weld the another piece to it on the side where you have it so it stays in the place where you got it right now but with all the structural integrity of all the four walls

Yea... that might work... its pretty tight though.. the bracket is only about 6" and between with the quarter panel it's even tighter.

There's really not many options but we'll see how it goes...

I really plan to build a whole new rear bumper at some point.. this was just an experiment to see if it's possible

kool lets see how it goes

I've been considering this for a while. You gave me some good inspiration here. I like the idea of moving it out and cut through the plastic bumper. Gives some more clearance.
I want to make one where it swings out from the middle so i can open with a trailer on back. Maybe tire on one side and jerry cans on other. Just need to support the middle somehow.