Ok, I've been threatening to do this for a while. I purchased my bumper and carrier from Steve (owner/operator CBI fabrications). Before I placed the order I played 20 questions with Steve, "how much, how long, what materials, maybe next month. yada yada yada" He was very patient, even sending me a few in-progress pictures to tease me. His customer service was excellent and he delivered faster than promised at a great price. Now I could have gone with a swing away carrier, but with the cleance I have I can stuff my 33" underneath if needed, so I went with the removable swing down carrier. When it arrived, all it needed was a rub down, paint and install. Install on the bumper was an Joy, It fit better than if even Toyota had made it, perfectly square to the frame and level, not to mention solid and well built. The carrier required minor modifications (to suit me) after painting and assembly I installed the all-thread and lock nut, I quickly found the lock nut was too thick to tighten down the wheel. I threw it (nut) in the vise and cut it in half with a hack-saw (about 2 minutes) with the new thinner nut the speed nut worked flawlessley. I also added a liberal dose of loctite to the threads. Now how to secure the tire, I simply drilled through the end of the all thread in 2 stages to make a hole large enough for a pad-lock. Wiring for the liscence plate light (included) was easy as well, I simply tapped into the harness for my trailer lights. Now 4k miles later, I am very pleased and still have no movement in the Carrier. Thank You Steve, Good job!
http://www.cbioffroadfab.com/
Raw Bumper

painted carrier

stabilizing bolt in the reciever hitch that stops wiggle

installed bumper

 

perfect alignment and beafy mount

sawed nut and padlock hole drilled


all done

 

High clearance, easy to remove, but it is heavy as he!!
holds jack nicely too..

 

I just assembled mine and got everything to work today! (except for the huge nut on the huge bolt which won't thread)

 

"lefty loosey, righty tighty "

 

yes, thank you, i know.

 

Hey thanks Mike, we appreciate the kudos

 

Mike, can you take a picture of the hole you drilled in the receiver hitch and the nut you welded on then? I'm not able to picture exactly how that works ...

 

Very nice. Clean work.

 

I like it, but have some questions/observations (sorry if all of this has been answered somewhere else - I just stumbled on this thread)

you lose the use of the receiver hitch to tow, unless you remove the tire carrier? is there an option to have both (your cake and eat it too)?
how is visibility out the rear?
can you order custom add-ons to the bumper prior to manufacture - such as tabs for aux. backup lights, antenna mounts, etc?

tia

 

Yes you lose your hitch for towing, the only options are:
1) swing away carrier (much more $$)
2) tire inside cargo area
3) roof rack mount
4) stock location
5) no spare


Visibilty is somewhat limited, but not unbearable (use your side mirrors)

Add ons, ask Steve his name is CBIguy here on yotatech or contact him through http://www.cbioffroadfab.com/ . I bet he could do about anything. Also as far as I know he builds them for you, not a "stocked" item so expect a couple weeks!

 

I haven't lost much visability with mine - certainly not like some vehicles I've seen!

 

Hey r0cky, do you have any pics of your bumper?

 

Sorry Drew, I don't have a bumper.

 

here are some pics of mine installed:

 

that looks sweet!

glad you got it to work

 

Thanks, Garrett!

(I'm glad I got it to work too! I've had it on for a couple weeks now, and it has been great!)

 

looks good tracy!

 

thanks Mike.

 

Looks real good r0cky.