Andy-

The bumper is dead sexy, I like it a whole lot...except that lame Bama license plate frame. Seriously, nice work though. Make me one for Christmas.

 

ok, here's the hi-lift mounted. that should be about it except for finishing a few things to wrap up underneath before wheeling w/ it...

 

that looks so good. Can't believe this was your first venture with a welder

I also like that you did not put any shackle hangars on the rear. I like how it is clean. I bet you people will ask if it stock (after paint)

 

I love that thing, I'd kill to have just the bumper before the carrier. NIce work, Andy can't wait to see how it looks after you hit it with the gun.

 

OHHHHHHH I so dig that. Very nice fab job.

now, when are we going to grab that beer so I can look at the bumper first hand?

 

Andy, Glad to see the license plate holder worked out. I am adding it to my swing arm too.

 

Very nice bumper Andy. Amzing results for a first time fab job.

 

any more progress? is it red yet?

 

naaah. i took it off on tuesday and tweeked things almost all day.

i took everything off and plated the mounting brackets w/ thicker stuff down the full length on the bottom side and then added in some more plates (sandwiched) at some of the stress points and that helped a ton with the little flex that i was getting. now, all the flex is in the frame and i also have some torque movement in the swing out arm. not much at all. on a VERY bumpy section of interstate it will move maybe a 1/2" at most. the bumper doesn't move much at all - definitely not the 1" that schaeffer and others w/ the rockware bumper have seen.

i think i'm still going to "plate" the rear section of the frame from about where the rear coils are back to almost the end to stiffen it up just a touch. that and some added bracing to the swing out arm and it should be absolutely rock solid.

i'll be taking the bumper off and back apart in the spring some time to paint it and when i do, i'll take full pics and measurements of the final design and post them up for all to use. it would be awesome to be able to easily make a tire carrier work. i don't know if it's maybe something w/ steve's design that gave it harmonic vibration in the carrier or if it was the spindle, but for him, when he got up to 70 on a smooth road, he said the spare shook like no tomorrow - about 1" in every direction. mine, on a smooth road is rock solid - no movement whatsoever - zero. on a bumpy road, it moves a little, but it's really just torquing the arm for the most part. i should have used 1/4" thick on the arm instead of 3/16" thick tubing. i'll end up adding some angle turned on it's edge on the back side of the arm to stiffen it up and it should be fine.

 

Andy,

I am not trying to be offensive here and I will delete my post if you wish.

My question is: When does the additional weight of all of that steel counter act the gains made by moving the tire from under the truck? I mean, it seems that you have already added a significant amount of weight by the way you have braced everything, now you are planning to plate 4' of frame section. How much heavier than stock do you think you will be?

Isn't a heavier truck harder to wheel over difficult obstacles? I know a lot of people who are trying to lighten their load.

Just food for thought...

 

no offense taken.

carrier w/ tire & jack is about 110#. bumper is probably in the 120-130# range. i imagine that i've added about 80# to the rear when you subtract out the weight of the stock rear bumper, brackets, hitch receiver, and the wheel/tire that would be there regardless.

80# in my opinion isn't that much when you consider the gains. i didn't worry about weight gain when i added the winch & bumper up front.

i haven't yet plated the frame, but if/when i do, then it would be w/ fairly mild sheet, like 1/8" or so. that won't add more than about 20-30#. add a ~10 gallon aux tank, and that'd be about 120-130# over stock for the complete rear. about 200# over stock with a full aux tank. that's about the same as some runners w/ the expedition box in the rear.

weight will change the way it wheels, but adding weight in the rear also helps to balance out the heavy front w/ the winch. also, i have the air bags in the rear so i can lighten and stiffen the effective spring rate at will. that makes a HUGE difference on the runner as it is now.

 

Great job Andy! That looks like it was a lot more work than mine, and you finished it way quicker than I did. It looks awesome!

Chris

 

awesome, that thing looks dead stock, I like it, I envy it a lot! Your rig looks stock with a twist from everything from the LX450 wheels to the paint match ARB. How much to build me a rear tire carrier? hahaha, excellent job!

 

absoutely beautiful. i really like the tire carrier, and the look of it on the back.

any reason you didnt put some type of shackle hanger on the back?

also, have you towed anything with it yet? ive heard different things about rear bumpers with hitches on it, and im curious if youve towed, and how it held up under pressure.

cant wait to see it painted....

 

Chris: yeah, it didn't take me 2 years, but it sure as hell felt like it by the end. i figured i have somewhere between 50 & 60 hours in it, and i haven't painted it yet.

JHupp: thanks. this is the way a runner should have been "born". uhhh, and no way i'll build these for $. way too much time involved. i'm sort of a perfectionist (as if you couldn't tell) and i have way too much time in one to make it feasable to sell. i could probably make another one in 40 hours. my time is very precious to me and i already have a good career with very good pay, so it would take away time from my family to build them. you can't put a price on that, so they aren't for sale. even so, at $40/hr for fab work, that's $1600. add in the price of materials and supplies/consumables and you're well over $2k for one.

Andy: i'm not done with it yet. i always planned on two shackle hangers, but now i'm reconsidering. i haven't towed with it, but i have put a heavy carrier/basket back there and had about 240# on it and it held up fine. that's the same as about a 300# tounge weight and it was solid. however, i haven't pulled anything with it - yet.

i've changed a couple things and still plan a few more before i consider it done. i'll get some more pics up soon.

 

worked on the bumper anymore??

also, almost all of page 2 pics are gone, looks like the names got overlapped, cause there's a couple finished pics on page 2...

 

uhhh oh. i haven't done much more. i'll try to get more recent pics this week and update them.

 

did i read u were gona paint it sometime this spring?

 

i was going to try to paint it before SE4RJ3, but i don't think that will happen.

 

Just went through all 8 pages and it turned out very nice! Props to you

Looking to do somthing like this but just had a couple questions, where did you pick up the latch for the tire carrier? also what does the hinge for the tire carrier consist of?