Tire Carrier by RTI

[Ric]

I wanted to share this with you all first, I have a friend thats starting his own fab shop, hes been fabbing for years now, but I wanted a fold down tire carrier until I get the cash for a real rear bumper, so he came up a design that not only folds down, but will fold sideways, making it easy to get in the rear window.
This is 90% done, heres a couple test pix, I hope to make a quick video when its said and done, but with a new job it might be a couple more weeks.
Heres the few pix I took so far:



We still need to make the license plate mount, I was thinking about something from an old FJ40 or Hilux Surf mounted on the liftgate itself, but we will see lol
If you have any inexpensive thoughts/ideas for the license plate let me know.

[troyboy162]

I think the bend to the right wont be very usefull and give the design more slop and play. I dont think I have ever needed to reach in my rear window. I just grab over the back seats.

Its already built though so maybe it will be the thing to have...who knows

[Seanz0rz]

looks good.

my experience with sheer pins: they are tight now but will loosen over time.

interested to see how it holds up over time and how that tilt feature works out.

[Ric]

Thanks for your opinions, thats why I love this place, you are honest without being rude, just very helpful
and yes, after driving around a bit, it does sway from side to side to much for my comfort, lol we thought about plating it where it swings to the side, and just have it fold down/out and not, to either side.
We also talked about just dowing a swing out carrier and just building off of the frame and last cross member, who knows lol

[Seanz0rz]

also, are those urethane bushings? or delrin? urethane will allow it to move too much. that could be one reason its moving too much.

also, on the hitch, does it fit super tight in the receiver? i had to drill and tap mine for bolts to hold the 2" tube tight into the receiver.

many of us have experiences that others don't. we've tried things that failed, tried things that worked. if we can share that knowledge with others without them getting butt hurt about it, then the world is a better place!

[corax]

If your sway is in the receiver tube itself there are a few ways you can tighten it up. Even though I don't see any problem with drilling and tapping into the receiver for a bolt to push against your hitch, I personally don't like that method. Here are two alternatives.

The simple method - less than $10 to make it yourself, or buy one here:


I've also seen a hitch bolt that tightens down to pull the hitch up against the receiver tube like this:

this is what the hitch pin look like. you put the nut inside the hitch tube, slide that into your receiver and then tighten the pin through the receiver/nut/into the lock on the other side

[Ric]

thanks for the ideas

[YotaFun]

I know that you where thinking of doing the FJ licence plate holder, but if you really don't want to invest to much into this till you get a bumper built here is an Idea

http://www.amazon.com/Fasteners-Unli.../dp/B000BGK17U

[4x4mike]

This is what I did to mine to cut down on the slop.

[Ric]

Now Im thinking about something like what shrockworks does on the xterra, to give you an idea:
[img width=800 height=600]http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb406/aggiefco/IMG_2144.jpg[/img]
[img width=800 height=600]http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb406/aggiefco/IMG_2143.jpg[/img]
[img width=800 height=600]http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb406/aggiefco/IMG_2141.jpg[/img]
but Id have the tire in the center, as not to cover the brake light, and do something for the license plate, and a different latch/pin but you get the idea lol
Thoughts ????