My rear bumper with swingout tire carrier

[SkanlaxJMO]

good pic of it

 

[ExplorerDMB]

That is really cool - I like it a lot. Great job

-Drew

 

[Brian1]

Well I added a secondary latch in case the main latch gets tripped and comes undone. 1/4" stainless pin on a small wire lanyard. Worked out pretty good

 

[JoshC]

Not a bad idea. I never read where you said what size the box tubing for the bumper was??

 

[Brian1]

I never read where you said what size the box tubing for the bumper was??

2"x6"x3/16"

 

[SinCityKnights]

Well i'm going to try and make one for myself. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[ExplorerDMB]

I know I already posted on how cool this project was; but I ran across the thread again and I looked closer at the welds. Good lord those are gorgeous. Little dimes! Beautiful - you should become a shop teacher

-Drew

 

[Brian1]

I know I already posted on how cool this project was; but I ran across the thread again and I looked closer at the welds. Good lord those are gorgeous. Little dimes! Beautiful - you should become a shop teacher
-Drew

Thanks. I have good and bad days of welding like alot of other people I am sure. It just so happened that with this project my welds turned out really good. As for being a shop teacher, no thanks LOL

 

[tamaslukacs1]

I like your work a lot. I've been trying to figure out how I could make an already existing tire mount work for my '97 XLT but now I'm thinking about just trying to make one like this. Do you have any estimate for what the price was for all the materials needed to make this?

-Tamas

 

[Brian1]

Thanks. These prices are estimates because I already had the steel on the rack and I dont remember what it cost origionally. I would say $150-$175 in steel (only what I used, factoring in full sticks would be more) and then $75-$100 in parts like bolts, nuts, shackles, hinge parts and latch.

There are a few members who made a swing out tire carrier from their stock bumpers that I know of. Search for rear bumpers and tire carriers by Jefe and Perry.

 

[SinCityKnights]

The steel for the swing arm cost about 44 bucks for a 2 x 2 x .125 x 20ft. The wheel studs cost $1.99 ea. Latch cost me $20 and the thrust washers, bolt and nut cost $85. Diamond plate was free from the scrap yard. Brian is right on with the total price of the steel. I'm almost done with mine. Just a few more things to do and i will post some pics. This was alot harder then i thought it would be.

 

[Con Seann3ry]

Hey, I just wanted to say great job on the bumper, that was made with a lot of thought and is designed great. You seem to know your stuff so I've got a question for you, when I eventually build my rear bumper I was planning on going with 3/16th for in between the frame rails and then some 1/8 out to the corners to cut down on weight, bad idea? good idea?

 

[Brian1]

Hey, I just wanted to say great job on the bumper, that was made with a lot of thought and is designed great. You seem to know your stuff so I've got a question for you, when I eventually build my rear bumper I was planning on going with 3/16th for in between the frame rails and then some 1/8 out to the corners to cut down on weight, bad idea? good idea?

Thanks. There are alot of guys running around with 1/8" thick round tube bumpers that dont have many problems that I know of so that should be fine. Plus with the center being 3/16" it would probably be able to take a good hit from directly behind and the outer 1/8" sections should still be ok. Make sure to gusset it properly back to the frame so it doesnt have a chance to bend in and mess up the body. I made mine completly out of 3/16" because it is beefy yet lighter than 1/4" which is overkill. I also daily drive my Explorer in the city so I wanted it to be able to take a hit and only have to touch up the paint

 

[ProjectAviator]

Looks great Brian. I just wonder what they would look like on a 2nd Gen.

Tim

 

[FROADER]

^^ Almost the same, but the tire is in the middle. This is Blee1099's:

 

[Regulator_XLS]

i am in the middle of makig mine should be done tomorrow, and it is heavy, anyone have any problems with it sagging the ass end

 

[FROADER]

Mine lowered the rear end about an inch.

before:

after:

 

[Regulator_XLS]

whatd you do about it

 

[FROADER]

Nothing yet.

 

[Regulator_XLS]

i havent upgraded my shackles im thinking about just making some to correct the loss of lift, what do you think?