Almost done

[Bigbob]

First coat of paint is on. Being one of these has never been made to my knowledge I had to re-do it a couple times to get what I wanted. Sort of!



It's a new tailgate hinge/tire carrier. 1" pins for the hinge and the tailgate bolts to it as opposed to the tire carrier hanging on the tailgate. The "swing" mounts to Rockmen short corners. I do think it is gonna work. I'll post more pics once it's finally complete. BTW The paint is Rustoleum Sunburst yellow which comes pretty close to the Jeep Solar Yellow. Not a perfect match, but at less than $10.00 a quart versus over $100.00 for auto paint I think it is great.

It is sitting 90 degrees off how it will be mounted. The drivers side Rockmen corner is in the background. The tire mounts to the right and the license plate mount is on the left. You can see the 2 bushings on the bottom along with the 4 tailgate "hinge" bolt holes and the 4 smaller holes that also support the tailgate via the old tire carrier bolt holes. The tapered end on top will hold a De-Tas-Co latch to go along with the stock tailgate latch/lock.Directly below the taper you can see the cut out/notch for the stock tailgate latch/lock. It will open both the swing and tailgate as a unit. An LED will mount in the center of the tire mount as a third brake light. It will also hold 2 back-up lamps on either side of the license plate.

I am jazzed if it will work. If not, scrap iron goes for about $60.00 a ton. LOL Bob

Here's another pic turned 90 degrees.

[Mr.B]

It's so yellow!




J/k Looks real good.

[Baotchi]

Looking forward to see it completed

[Bigbob]

Originally Posted by Mr.B

It's so yellow!
J/k Looks real good.

Agreed, I changed the color of the swing portion to black. The corners are still a slightly off shade Yellow from the factory color, but hell, it's a Jeep not a Lambo. I got it all installed tonight and I think it is going to work much better than I expected. All I have left to do is to build a "rest" for the drivers side of the swing and glue/install the rubber pieces on the stops so there is no metal to metal contact. Can't wait to post some pics. I am going to try and figure out how to do a short video of this thing. Really sweet working deal. All this damm work and figuring out stuff, re doing this and that, cussing and throwing stuff, sharping the pencil and starting over, well now I am seeing some fruit to my labor and it is a pretty nice looking Apple IMHO. 2-3 days more max. I am wondering if I need to Patent this deal? Any advice on this sort of thing? Bob

[Bigbob]

Well, I have almost got it done. I decided to change colors on the actual swing portion. Just too much yellow. Sorry for the lousy phone pics, but my digital is not working for some reason. I'll bring my office camera home and take some better shots.

Here is the rear view. The spare is now about 4-5 inches higher than stock.
LED third brake light. Led lights on the License plate as well. The large lights are new back up lamps. I need to wire them in.





This is the hinge side. 1" hard steel pins in bronze bushings. Grease able of course. These are mounted on to Rockmen short corners. Works very well. So far.





In addition to the stock tailgate latch and lock I installed a 2,000 lb DeStasCo just to take any strain off the stock latch pin. I will install a "rest" for the swing under the latch area so any wash board roads won't tweak anything. Getting at the factory lock and latch is still easy. The 2" rect tube is notched out where the tailgate latch lifts up.



Here it is opened. Tailgate and tire swing all in one. Instead of the tire mounting to the tailgate the tailgate mounts to the tire swing. Note the receiver hitch aimed upwards. I figure I can eventually mount a ice chest rack off of that.


So far this gizmo works much better than I ever anticipated. It swings a little heavier than stock, but it is heavier than stock. I am a really big man. 6'6" and 300 lbs. I sat on the tire and had the wife open and shut the sucker a couple times just for fun. This thing is built like a front end loader, but I really don't think it added much more weight than a lot of the bumper mounted tire swings add. Now for the test period.

[Baotchi]

Man I so want one... That is what I need. I don't want to modify my bumper to add a swing carrier. I want just that.

Have any plans you could post or you want to keep your design for future commercial use?


that is just awesome.

[Bigbob]

Originally Posted by Baotchi

Man I so want one... That is what I need. I don't want to modify my bumper to add a swing carrier. I want just that.

Have any plans you could post or you want to keep your design for future commercial use?


that is just awesome.

LOL I would love to go into business, but I still gotta go to work everyday. I am trying to get a patent, but that process is really a PITA and the patent would only be good for this exact deal. If someone else builds something similar that is not an infringement. I never did draw up any formal plan. I just built it. I will write a small description on how I did it soon. It is actually pretty darn simple. BTW Rockmen just lowered their prices on short corners for TJ's. the LJ units I got were blems. The metal was pitted somewhat, but it is a Jeep not a Lambo so I could care less. Stay tuned, I'll give a thumbnail sketch of the process.


BTW, please excuse my toilet paper in the trunk. I just noticed it! LOL At least I am always prepared.

[ezrider327]

Nice build, like the black better.

BTW your excused TP is standard equipment better to have and not need, than to need and not have.

[Bigbob]

Here are some better pics of this project. I built a "rest" for the drivers side to sit on. You can see it here under the latch. I also wired the back up lights today and they work great.



Here is what it looks like with the spare off.



The frame is 2"X2"X3/16" rectangular tube. The corners are also 3/16" thick. I spaced the frame 1/16" off the corners and used 1/4" plate as spacers between the frame and the tailgate. Perfect alignment. I used the same tailgate attachment points as before. If you have ever had the tailgate off you will know that there is actually quite a bit of adjustment there.




This is the "rest" I built and installed today. It is steel with poly on it. The area of the frame next to the de-tas-co latch sits on this. I did not want all the weight of this to just hang it's stuff on one side of the Jeep. Even with those heavy duty corners the tub has a certain amount of flex to it. Now instead of bending down the rest will stop any flex there. The rubber washer is to prevent any steel to steel contact of the frame with the corner.




Here is a little more detail to the actual hinge. 1" pin, bronze bushings. Grease zerk and a 5/16" bolt to keep it from spinning in there. The pins have a 3/8" bolt on the bottom holding them in. You can kinda see the bolt in the pic. Also note the small piece of rubber I used as a cushion for the travel stop.




I used countersunk 3/8" bolts in place of the stock 5/16" bolts at the tub side hinge mount holes.

[BESRK]

Now THAT is super nice!

[Bigbob]

Originally Posted by BESRK

Now THAT is super nice!

Well, coming from you I take that as a great compliment. Thanks.

I hope to get out on some washboard roads and see if it develops any rattles. I plan on re-tightening all the corner bolts here in the next couple days. I did silicon all the edges in to help glue them in place a little so they don't shift and cause noise and also to seal moisture out which is not a big issue here. Sunbelt.

So far it is really nice. Much better than what I had planned on, but I am a pessimist!

[Ryanpowell167]

That is friggin nice. It looks really solid and by looking at the pictures it sounds like you wont have any problems with it. Nice work!

[mferrari]

Nice work!

[Comanche]

Thats look awsome

[Bigbob]

Thanks all. The next one will be a lot easier to build.