I've been sniffing around trying to get a spare tire carrier for my 4 runner. I think the Detours of Maine one is the nicest available, but I thought I could make mine fit a little bit better and also be a little cleaner looking.
*******************EDIT*******************
I was thinking about making FIVE more of these total. One is already spoken for. If you'd be interested, shoot me a DM.
In addition to my original design with the tight fitting installation, they would have a few new features like:
1) camera mount in the center of the wheel
2) higher mounted license plate
3) wiring tie tabs
4) secondary latch system which holds gate in "open" position
5) 2 stage wrinkle black powdercoating
6) stainless steel contact areas in places where the powdercoat could get damaged.
It could be available either centered or offset. I'd be interested to hear if the general desire would be for centered or offset design.
*******************EDIT*******************
There are some things I'd change if I did it again, though. I was just sort of winging it as I went. Usually I spend more time on the "planning" stage.
Here's a finished shot:
Here's how it went down.
First I bought an amazon hitch extender for like 20 bucks.
Then I cut and beveled some 2x4x1/4 wall rectangular tube:
Tacked them together:
Then finish welded, and chucked them in the mill and cut the ends to accept the pivot. Doing this after welding allowed me to ensure my arms would be perfectly parallel.
Then I turned a pivot shaft from some solid 2" round. I used 1.375 as diameter of pivot pin:
Next I welded on some tube to the end of the upper arm, then put it in the mill and bored it to eliminate any distortion from welding.
This is my second MIG welding project so don't judge my welds too harshly.
I didn't have any appropriate bushings laying around but I did have some Bronze and a lathe:
These pressed in nicely. Please ignore horrible welds.
Next I pulled my bumper cover, unbolted my receiver, and welded two tabs to it. There are a lot of different ways these hitch carriers lock on, but for me this was the easiest.
Next I started mocking things up on the truck:
One of the key things I wanted to do was keep the bars really tight to the bumper. Aftermarket ones to me all looked like farm equipment.
No pictures, but I machined a small block to bolt the locking clamp to. There is a bracket that hangs off the upper arm. This supports the wheel when it's closed and doubles as a tab for my clamp to lock down. It rests on a striker plate I welded to the lower arm. Both these parts are made from stainless steel because eventually the powdercoat will rub off. I also added a license plate holder and some stoppers to keep it from opening too far.
Here's a crappy shot of everything after it was all welded
Then I powdercoated it and it was ready to use. It's ROCK solid and functions exactly how I expected it to. Here are some more finished pics.
One of the things I wanted was for it to be offset (for future ladder placement) and as close to the hatch as reasonably possible.
So what would I change? A couple things:
1) Less offset. I think I could have moved the wheel about 3" to the left. I think it would just look a bit better aesthetically.
2) shorten the receiver a bit. This was just me being lazy. It will hurt departure angle.
3) make the bottom tube about 2" longer so I could have put my plate higher. It was either going to hang off the end of the tube or hang below. It's on a sturdy bracket but we will see if it snags on stuff on the trail. It doesn't hang lower than the hitch, though.
All said and done, not a bad way to spend a weekend and 100 bucks.
*******************EDIT*******************
I was thinking about making FIVE more of these total. One is already spoken for. If you'd be interested, shoot me a DM.
In addition to my original design with the tight fitting installation, they would have a few new features like:
1) camera mount in the center of the wheel
2) higher mounted license plate
3) wiring tie tabs
4) secondary latch system which holds gate in "open" position
5) 2 stage wrinkle black powdercoating
6) stainless steel contact areas in places where the powdercoat could get damaged.
It could be available either centered or offset. I'd be interested to hear if the general desire would be for centered or offset design.
*******************EDIT*******************
There are some things I'd change if I did it again, though. I was just sort of winging it as I went. Usually I spend more time on the "planning" stage.
Here's a finished shot:
Here's how it went down.
First I bought an amazon hitch extender for like 20 bucks.
Then I cut and beveled some 2x4x1/4 wall rectangular tube:
Tacked them together:
Then finish welded, and chucked them in the mill and cut the ends to accept the pivot. Doing this after welding allowed me to ensure my arms would be perfectly parallel.
Then I turned a pivot shaft from some solid 2" round. I used 1.375 as diameter of pivot pin:
Next I welded on some tube to the end of the upper arm, then put it in the mill and bored it to eliminate any distortion from welding.
This is my second MIG welding project so don't judge my welds too harshly.
I didn't have any appropriate bushings laying around but I did have some Bronze and a lathe:
These pressed in nicely. Please ignore horrible welds.
Next I pulled my bumper cover, unbolted my receiver, and welded two tabs to it. There are a lot of different ways these hitch carriers lock on, but for me this was the easiest.
Next I started mocking things up on the truck:
One of the key things I wanted to do was keep the bars really tight to the bumper. Aftermarket ones to me all looked like farm equipment.
No pictures, but I machined a small block to bolt the locking clamp to. There is a bracket that hangs off the upper arm. This supports the wheel when it's closed and doubles as a tab for my clamp to lock down. It rests on a striker plate I welded to the lower arm. Both these parts are made from stainless steel because eventually the powdercoat will rub off. I also added a license plate holder and some stoppers to keep it from opening too far.
Here's a crappy shot of everything after it was all welded
Then I powdercoated it and it was ready to use. It's ROCK solid and functions exactly how I expected it to. Here are some more finished pics.
One of the things I wanted was for it to be offset (for future ladder placement) and as close to the hatch as reasonably possible.
So what would I change? A couple things:
1) Less offset. I think I could have moved the wheel about 3" to the left. I think it would just look a bit better aesthetically.
2) shorten the receiver a bit. This was just me being lazy. It will hurt departure angle.
3) make the bottom tube about 2" longer so I could have put my plate higher. It was either going to hang off the end of the tube or hang below. It's on a sturdy bracket but we will see if it snags on stuff on the trail. It doesn't hang lower than the hitch, though.
All said and done, not a bad way to spend a weekend and 100 bucks.
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