Started a bit of a fabrication project..

[aemravan]

Long story short.. I have a mechanical engineering background, have access to solidworks, a bit of spare time, I'm super cheap.. and I need (**also pronounced want...) a good way to carry a spare 35 and a trailer for my RTT..

after a bit of design work here and there between conference calls, I am finally in the starting process of making a custom swing out tire carrier and an off road trailer.

We'll see how it comes out.. the material is in the garage and I have spent a few hours over the weekend cutting some stuff down to size and started the fabrication process of the swing out and the 3-way swivel hitch. I'll share my pictures of the progress as I make it...fingers crossed it comes out as designed lol.

Pictures to follow in the next post.

 

[aemravan]

Here are a few pics

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[Bumbo]

Looks like you are off to a good start. Keep us updated with progress and photos!

 

[randy88fj62]

Not bad. What thickness steel are you using for the trailer adapter?

I'm always tinkering with my trucks as well. Hard to leave the mind and CAD idle.

 

[aemravan]

Not bad. What thickness steel are you using for the trailer adapter?

I'm always tinkering with my trucks as well. Hard to leave the mind and CAD idle.

All the hi-load structural stuff is 1/4" steel. That one pieces probably looks on the thin side from the photos, but that is the rounded edge of the square tube that thins out. I certainly didn't run any calculations for the design, but looked at quite a bit of different applications and noted their sizes of material and thickness so feel confident that it'll be more than enough for my 800lb trailer ( maybe 1300 lbs FULLY loaded)

 

[Toyo-duh]

Love it so far.

Reminiscent of RIGd tire swing outs


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[aemravan]

Love it so far.

Reminiscent of RIGd tire swing outs


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Thanks!

Yea I would be lying if I said that wasn't the inspiration behind the original design. However, as with a lot of stuff, its hard for it not to look similar while accomplishing the same goal.

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[aemravan]

Made some more progress with getting the material pre-cut and fabricated a bit.

The welder delivered and is sitting at my dads garage waiting for the walls to be painted and 220v to be run. I am hoping that by end of this month I'll have at least a little something to show.. at least tack welded together


This is the swivel hitch trailer side adapter piece that will house the 1" grade 12 bolt.

The collar will be welded into the retainer plate inside of square tube, and then also be capped off. There is a provision for a small grease fitting that will in theory at least partially lubricate the thrust bearing I will have inside. I am not going to fully seal it from the inside since I don't really want to spend all the extra time..this could still possibly change since the design is still evolving a little.

This is the swivel portion that will allow up/down movement and receive the other side of the bolt. Didn't come out half bad for only an angle grinder, cutoff disc and a sanding disk.. who needs a notcher anyway??

Ended up with too much of an aggressive angle on the wheel carrier face plate..free-hand cutting material in a perfect line proved to be a bit hard.. my original design called for approximately 10 degrees of lean, I ended up a tad over 20.. so i'll be grinding that back some on a belt sander instead..

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[Bumbo]

These are the types of threads that make me wish I had a bit more space at home so I could get setup for some welding and fabrication.

Very cool project.

 

[royal T4R]

These are the types of threads that make me wish I had a bit more space at home so I could get setup for some welding and fabrication.

Very cool project.

You can do it with little space at all. The problem is the cost up front for a MIG set up.

The bottle and gas, the machine, and all of the tools to get you going start to add up real fast.

 

[Bumbo]

You can do it with little space at all. The problem is the cost up front for a MIG set up.

The bottle and gas, the machine, and all of the tools to get you going start to add up real fast.

therein lies the rub... I probably won't take it seriously enough to justify spending that

Still... it's a skill I would like to learn

 

[aemravan]

These are the types of threads that make me wish I had a bit more space at home so I could get setup for some welding and fabrication.



Very cool project.

I'll post a picture of the size of the garage i am currently doing this in later space is nice but ultimately not the limiting factor

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[royal T4R]

therein lies the rub... I probably won't take it seriously enough to justify spending that

Still... it's a skill I would like to learn

For around $300 you can always pick up the bare minimum and have fun while learning!

170 Amp-DC, 240 Volt, MIG/Flux Cored Welder

Welding Helmet - Adjustable Shade, Auto-Darkening Helmet

3 Piece Welder'''s Leather Combo Set

3/32 in. AWS E7018 Welding Electrode, 2.00 lb.

Magnetic Welding Holders, 4 Pk.

https://www.harborfreight.com/corded-4-12-in-43-amp-angle-grinder-69645.html

https://www.harborfreight.com/10-pi...nding-and-cutting-wheel-assortment-47572.html

This assumes you have a tape measure. Stick welding isnt super pretty but it gets the job done. If you plan on grinding everything down and blending it then you can achieve a nice finish.



Dont let some $3000 welding set ups scare you away.

 

[duffdog]

I would like to see how this works out. The rotating joint with what looks like a 1" bolt may not be strong enough to avoid deformation of the metal depending on how heavy the tire is.

For reference, my girl has a BFG KM3 33" tire with a beadlock wheel on a CBI swingout with the tire carrier. It is made of 3/8" steel with 6 1/2" bolts to hold it. During the last race she was in, the 3/8" steel literally tore apart, ripped all 6 bolts out and the wheel (still attached to the mount) flew off the truck.

I think the problem was the parasitic oscillation from going over all the jumps in the desert gradually weakening the steel from the vibration, but I'm not sure. In any case, good luck!

 

[aemravan]

I would like to see how this works out. The rotating joint with what looks like a 1" bolt may not be strong enough to avoid deformation of the metal depending on how heavy the tire is.



For reference, my girl has a BFG KM3 33" tire with a beadlock wheel on a CBI swingout with the tire carrier. It is made of 3/8" steel with 6 1/2" bolts to hold it. During the last race she was in, the 3/8" steel literally tore apart, ripped all 6 bolts out and the wheel (still attached to the mount) flew off the truck.



I think the problem was the parasitic oscillation from going over all the jumps in the desert gradually weakening the steel from the vibration, but I'm not sure. In any case, good luck!

Yea.. I guess ill see how it all goes together. With the tire carrier closed the weight of thr swing out arm will be fully supported by a welded on piece of angle on the main tube, sk the only time the weight will be carried by the bolt/hinge is when the the tire is being swung out.



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[aemravan]

Made some more progress today. Just about ready to start tacking and then welding

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[aemravan]

Finally got around to making some ti.e to head over to my mom and dads place to test out my dads new miller welder.

I was so anxious to get welding...and man, did it not disappoint. Heck of a welder for not too much of an entry cost... just under 2 grand for the welder, cart, tanks, and small odds and ends.

First time doing real welding and I feel like I got a hang of it pretty good. The thick material is obviously easier to weld than the thinner stuff. Im excited to get it done. Its a mostly tacked together now and the swing out portion is fully welded.

 

[aemravan]

So hand drilling 1/2" steel proved to be my least favorite part of thr project... a good drill press would have helped a ton..

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[aemravan]

One step closer

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[Warwicke36]

Looks damn good. Great job.