Alright! The moment you've all been waiting for people! My how-to on my rear tire carrier swing-out! Time to break out your reading glasses.:nerd:
Steel Materials:
- 41" 2" square tubing for main arm.
- 20" 2" square tubing for vertical tire support.
- 6" 2" square tubing for wheel mount standoff.
- 1/4" plate gussets for upright tire support.
- Steel unthreaded spacer McMaster-Carr # 92415A159 for inside the swing arm to locate the latch pin.
- 3 studs to mount spare tire.
- T-Handle Push-button Pin McMaster-Carr # 93750A713
Latch system:
I used the same 2" square tubing and cut off 3 of the sides most of the way down a 3" section. I then welded on the CNC-cut top and bottom plates of the latch with 1/2" bushings from McMaster Carr. I went with a pin because I knew I would be paranoid of it swinging out while driving if I used a bolt with a welded on handle or a red-handled latch and I only wanted to use 1 hand to open it. These other two options would be easier to keep from rattling though. I had a
perfect fit with my latch system; it slid in so smooth and hardly had any play. But the way it's designed (metal on metal) if there was half a millimeter of play, it would rattle when you drove it. I temporarily placed a small rubber strand which gets pinched when the swing-out locks in place and that little guy has solved my rattling problem (pictured below). If I were to redesign the latch, I would add some rubber bushings around the pin to reduce metal on metal rattling.
Hinge System:
I used the 4Xinnovations hinge and it has worked great except for the two holes they use to locate the spring-loaded pin. The first hole the pin locks into doesn't allow the tire to swing far enough away and hits the hatch when it opens. I welded in a steel spacer plate in the stainless steel plate that comes with the kit so the spring-loaded pin slides overtop the hole and into the next one. This all depends on where you weld the spring-loaded pin in relation to the spindle so don't just weld it anywhere! Unfortunately the steel I welded in of course caused some rust issues in the stainless plate.:doh:
Other Design Considerations:
The most important thing with a swing-out on our trucks- make sure when the hatch door opens it clears the tire!! Mine does by 2-3" with a 33" tire so I'm pretty sure a 35 would fit. This is a function of the length of the swing arm aka the distance the tire is mounted from the spindle and where the spindle gets welded to the frame. My spindle plate from the 4Xinnovations kit is welded hanging off the right side of my frame an inch or so to get the arm distance as long as possible shown in the below picture. You probably don't want your tire to cover up your rear tailight so it involves a bit of math. (Or guess and check)
I welded the latch to the truck with the tire mounted on the swing arm. Without the tire mounted, I have to push down on the arm to get it to latch.
You will need to relocate your license plate.
olice:
I had to remove the factory towing accessory because of how close I wanted the swing arm to the frame and the accessory has a plate that bolts to the center of the rear crossmember and sticks out. I didn't really mind losing it because I wanted as large of departure angle as possible.
I can see the rear tire in the rearview mirror bounce front to back a bit even on the interstate, but it survived a 2000mi wheeling trip to Moab and Colorado so I'm not too concerned. I think most of this comes from the torsional stress (twisting) of the swing arm and less from the vertical tire support tube. I would make sure to use some thick-walled tubing for the swing arm unlike me where I could only find like .1" wall at work. :doh:
I obviously trimmed the rear bumper with a dremel, the pictures are pretty self-explanatory. There is a gap below the grey tread plate from my body lift and if I would have welded the tire carrier a bit higher it would have covered this up. But since I trimmed the rear bumper this tread plate basically has no support underneath so I will need to add a spacer like the factory foam piece that fits under there if I plan on using the tread plate.
For more pictures- they are a couple pages back in this build thread.
Resources:
Spare tire carrier - Toyota 120 Platforms Forum
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/117953-rear-tire-carrier.html
t4rman's build - Page 11 - Toyota 120 Platforms Forum
chiplee's LTD '04 V8 - Page 2 - Toyota 120 Platforms Forum
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/101762-what-did-you-do-your-4runner-today-891.html
Show me your homemade bumper swing outs! - Page 3 - Expedition Portal
Now go and build your own! Don't bother me about selling one to you.:flipoff:
Update
This whole time I thought it was my latch that was the weak point allowing the tire to continuously rock front to back an inch on certain parts of the interstate, making me nervous watching it in the rearview mirror. As you can see I've continued to weld scrap metal on to try and stop this. I bought a destaco 334 latch clamp and welded it on this weekend to find out it really didn't help either. My end conclusion is that the main tube is simply too weak to support the tire's torsional stress; it just twists even though the two ends are solidly anchored. I could only find this thin wall 2" tube at work at the time. Wish I used 1/4 wall.
I learned a lot about making swing-outs, and this one will still hold me over until I make a full rear bumper, I know how I would improve the tire carrier for next time.
Some of my welds turned out crappy because I was in a hurry and it was breezy outside which of course blew away all the shielding gas.
