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SSWesty Samba Member
Joined: August 20, 2008 Posts: 732 Location: Bellevue
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 2:13 pm Post subject: Bumper, Hitch & Tire/Fuel swing away build |
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The time has come to replace my lovely crack fiberglass bumpers and add some more functionality. My tow hook mounted hitch served me well but it’s for that to go. I am looking to gain the follow with the new configuration:
-A bumper that won't get damaged if I back into a stump or rock in a dark campground
-A 2" receiver for towing less than 1,000 pounds
-A swing out for a second spare tire for trips where a second spare is prudent. Primary spare will be in the clamshell up front.
-A swing out for 3 NATO fuel cans for remote trips or firewood for local trips.
The design path I went down is a hitch with a skin around it. If the corner of the bumper or some other part gets messed up I should be able to just replace the skin.
Here is what I have so far.
-Frame mounts are 3/8” x 2” flat bar and they use the forward hole for a total of 3 bolts per side.
-Cross member for receiver is 1.5” by 2” tubing with a 1/8” wall thickness
-Receiver is a Harbor Freight class III step bumper mount welded to cross member
-Skin is 6” x 1/8” on the vertical face with a 3” x 1/8” on the top horizontal face
On the ends I’ll probably just use some 5” x 1/8” so I can get some taper going on the ends. Wherever it looks like something will flex too much I’ll just add more metal. Once I get happy with the skin I’ll start on the swing outs.
The skin sits about a 1/2" away from the crossmember. If I get rearended I want the skin to have some give to absorb some crash energy.
The skin so far, you can see the receiver sticks out and will create a nice step after I put a plate on top of it. It should also start to crunch the plastic on a car getting to close in parking lots or street parking. It's not going to be pretty for folks parallel parking by feel.
Last edited by SSWesty on Sat May 19, 2012 3:25 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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SSWesty Samba Member
Joined: August 20, 2008 Posts: 732 Location: Bellevue
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 3:17 pm Post subject: |
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The end caps come forward 10". Not sure I like the look or the amount they flex so I think I'll whack off a couple inches.
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SSWesty Samba Member
Joined: August 20, 2008 Posts: 732 Location: Bellevue
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 10:35 pm Post subject: |
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Picture of mounting brackets that use 3 attachment points per side. I got slowed down with my build. Waiting for more time to weld the bumper skin to the hitch.
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canasync Samba Member
Joined: June 28, 2010 Posts: 656 Location: BC
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 11:04 pm Post subject: |
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Lookin good, who needs GoWesty
Make sure to add some gussets to the receiver where its welded to the tube to increase the strength. _________________ 1987 Syncro
3 knobs
PumpeDüse TDI (17mm Garret Turbo, bigger injectors, stage 4 malone tune, intercooled)
Cruise Control
Remote Start/locks
Custom Lift
Custom Bumpers with receivers
Coast Mountain Hightop - Comming Soon
1985 2wd Vanagon Pre-runner in the making
soon to be powered by 2.5L Subaru
Custom Lift |
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j_dirge Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2007 Posts: 4641 Location: Twain Harte, CA
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 7:31 am Post subject: |
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And I would add two recovery loops.. or something to hang recovery shackles from.. Possibly hidden behind/under the bumper cover.
My Burley hitch (very similar design to yours) does not have them.. its one improvement/option Burley has made since mine. One I'd like to have. _________________ -89 GL Westy, SVX.. finally.
-57 pan f/g buggy with a 67 pancake Type 3 "S"
"Jimi Hendrix owned one. Richard Nixon did not"
-Grand Tour, Season 1, episodes 4 and 5
danfromsyr wrote: |
those are straight line runs with light weight race cars for only 1/4mile at a time..
not pushing a loaded brick up a mountain pass with a family of 4+ inside expecting to have an event free vacation..
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CdnVWJunkie Samba Member
Joined: February 01, 2004 Posts: 1110 Location: Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 3:42 am Post subject: |
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Nice simple and clean design. Personally I like the length of the side pieces already, maybe adding a gusset to each side at the bottom would increase their strength and reduce flex? If not, then maybe a bolt through and large washer in behind the wheel well? |
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Christopher Schimke Samba Member
Joined: August 03, 2005 Posts: 5391 Location: PNW
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 6:40 am Post subject: |
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I just love seeing/watching people build their own stuff! It's so cool! _________________ "Sometimes you have to build a box to think outside of." - Bruce (not Springsteen)
*Custom wheel hardware for Audi/VW, Porsche and Mercedes wheels - Urethane Suspension Bushings*
T3Technique.com or contact me at [email protected] |
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hans j Samba Member
Joined: May 06, 2006 Posts: 2715 Location: Salt Lake City UT
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Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 8:40 pm Post subject: |
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Any testing yet? I am planning my bumper build next week and interested in the strength of your hitch. _________________ 1986 Canadian Syncro Westy TDI - 1989 Syncro Single Cab - 2001 Audi S4 - 1981 VW Caddy ABA - 1980 VW Caddy EV - 1973 VW T-181 |
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SSWesty Samba Member
Joined: August 20, 2008 Posts: 732 Location: Bellevue
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Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 9:43 pm Post subject: |
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Yes I've got about 500 miles of towing the boat in on two different trips. Here is what the boat looks like(old bumper) and I figure it weighs about 700 pounds with the trailer and gear.
So far no problems, the welds look great and no hints of anything being deformed. I haven't attached the bumper skin yet because I wanted to really look it over good after towing. What I have noticed if I(240lbs) jump up and down the tongue of the boat trailer when it's hooked up I can get the hitch to flex a little. There seems to be a SLIGHT bit of twist or flex in the rectangle tube that the receiver is welded to. However this is much much less flex than the bumper mounted hitch I was running that attached to the tow hooks. That thing would really flex if I jumped on it. So if you wanted to avoid any flex I’d say thicker walled tubing or larger tubing like 2” square or 1.5” x 3” rectangle. Also the mounts going to the frame could be bumped up to 2.25” or 2.5” and/or moving up to 7/16” thick flat bar if you could find it. Given that I’ve towed thousands of trouble free miles with the Class 1 tow hook mounted hitch I really don’t have any concerns with this new setup as I consider it much stronger.
This weekend I hope to get time to build the swing away arms and the tray for the gas cans. The following weekend I’ll road test the setup going between Seattle and Portland. Stay tuned. |
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SSWesty Samba Member
Joined: August 20, 2008 Posts: 732 Location: Bellevue
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Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 9:16 pm Post subject: |
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More progress this weekend. Finished up the corners of the bumper and started on the swing way bracket and arm. At the moment the arm is about 3' too long and will get cut down when I figure out the fuel can tray.
Added a triangle gusset to firm up the end caps.
Bracket for the swing away arm, 3/16" plate on top and 3/16" angle iron below. All the corners will get tapered or rounded off once I get happy with the bracket fit.
Next comes the tray... |
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rubbachicken Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2004 Posts: 3058 Location: socal
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Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 9:22 pm Post subject: |
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very nice, i like the look of that
the arm that pivots out, i'd box it in {for strength} and aesthetics, also weld a sleeve into it, for the bolt, making it effectively solid _________________ lucy our westy
lucy's BIG adventure
meet 'burni'
markswagen {mobile mechanic} san diego area all early VW's cared for.
619 201 0310 or 617 935 4182 |
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hans j Samba Member
Joined: May 06, 2006 Posts: 2715 Location: Salt Lake City UT
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Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 9:55 pm Post subject: |
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Looking good! No bushings in the hinge? I started my build yesterday and should be done this week. Check these bushings out http://www.tomken.com/detail.php?id=247. I am actually going to use some 3/4" ones but basically the same thing.
I like the end caps too! I haven't decided what to do with mine yet. _________________ 1986 Canadian Syncro Westy TDI - 1989 Syncro Single Cab - 2001 Audi S4 - 1981 VW Caddy ABA - 1980 VW Caddy EV - 1973 VW T-181 |
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SSWesty Samba Member
Joined: August 20, 2008 Posts: 732 Location: Bellevue
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Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:28 pm Post subject: |
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Well I am couple weeks behind schedule but I am picking away at it. Here is a view of the gas can tray that will hold 3 nato style cans. I thought about doing 4 so I could get a water can back there but I was concerned about all the weight back there. These cans with gas come in around 42 pounds each. I really only need a couple cans of fuel so the 3rd is truly a reserve and the water can will go in the luggage rack. The tray needs some gussets then I should be ready to move onto the tire carrier. I'll get some better pictures when the tray is done. Thanks for chiming in with some tips.
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SSWesty Samba Member
Joined: August 20, 2008 Posts: 732 Location: Bellevue
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Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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Ending up going with 1" square tubing to brace the tray. The wall thickness is probably about 1/16", it's pretty light. That sucker is rock solid now with no flex. I am happy about that so I can move on the the tire carrier.
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SSWesty Samba Member
Joined: August 20, 2008 Posts: 732 Location: Bellevue
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 1:26 pm Post subject: |
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Here are some pictures of the final product after a worthy road test to north of the Artic Circle. We drove up to Deadhorse Alaska this summer and explored for a month+, things worked better than I expected.
In full open mode they clear the sides of the van, I didn't measure for this to happen when I made the tray and I got lucky that it cleared. When I made the tire swing away I measured so the tire would clear the side of the van.
If needed I use a pin to hold them open, rarely needed and the hole is not threaded I just drop in the pins. When closed the pins just ride in the holes.
To provide additional support I can add a bolt through the upright and bumper however I found I didn't need them. Then Dalton highway has about 600 miles of gravel so it gave me plenty of miles to validate. I ran about 450 miles without the bolts in and figured I better put them in on the last 150 to test.
Tire rack is made for 27x8.50 tires, they work for me.
One strap and a cable lock seems to work fine for holding things in place
Made a nylon cover to for the cans, I didn't want 3 bright red gas cans to stand out saying take me.
The recovery hook has only been used once and that was on the Alaska ferry. On some routes cars get tied down with 4 straps.
I have about 6,000 miles on this configuration and really like the options for the swing aways. I'll probably make a another swing out for 1 gas can so I can use the tray for firewood or other camping stuff. It's not often that you need to 2 spares so I see the tire swing away collecting dust in the garage.
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bluefirefly Samba Member
Joined: March 16, 2011 Posts: 438 Location: Calgary, Ab
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 6:33 pm Post subject: |
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I really like it, thanks a lot for posting and adding comment to let us know how it performed.
I was a little surprised about those bolts that hold both swings in place. You said there is no really need for it.
I'll be afraid of those swing opening going up on a steep hill. Was it an issue?
Anyway, good job.
Thanks _________________ 86 Syncro Tintop G60
work in progress ...as always! |
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djkeev Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007 Posts: 32630 Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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nmerrill Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2014 Posts: 388 Location: Vermont
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 7:13 am Post subject: |
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Old post, revived, but...
It's not clear to me what sort of latch mech. you used to hold the swingers closed? |
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westylife Samba Member
Joined: October 28, 2007 Posts: 409 Location: Anchorage, Alaska
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 9:24 am Post subject: |
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This is awesome! I wish I saw this before I bought the GW bumper set. They want another $350.00 for their swing away that attaches to their bumper.
As far as securing the swing away to the bumper: How about using a high tension quick release pin? People in the military will recognize these with the "Remove before flight" streamer attached to them
http://www.avibank.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.prods&product_id=16
Great Job! Looks fantastic!
Westylife. _________________ 1983.5 Westfalia Bostig RG1 |
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SSWesty Samba Member
Joined: August 20, 2008 Posts: 732 Location: Bellevue
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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 9:59 pm Post subject: |
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Shoot I missed a couple questions here about how the swing outs lock. Hopefully this will help, I put a piece of angle iron on the backside of the uprights for the tray and spare tire. Then just drilled a hole and used a simple pin to hold them shut. So far so good and the holes haven't hogged out or anything. The angle iron holds some of the weight so it's not all on the swinging hinge. Here is a close up
Something is whacky with the picture upload function. I can't seem to get a picture that was taken vertically to stay upright. On my computer it's upright then once it's upload to theSamba it flops over. So tilt your head to the right since some of the pics are sideways.
Last year I did a trip to Moab and drove a chunk of the White Rim Trail on the east side. There are some rough sections that give you a good shake. That was the first time I felt that I had to use the extra bolts on the bottom of the swing out uprights. A rougher road will sometimes get the uprights to sway fore and aft 1/4-1/2" measured at say the top of the tire. However on the White Rim Trail they were swaying more than not so I put in the bolts to hold them steady. Originally I thought I would have to use the bolts more however it's pretty dang steady without them. This is a pic with no bolt, just the open hole on the bottom of the spare tire upright.
One more data point. I decided to weigh the tire swing out the other day and as pictured it comes in at 16.5 pounds.
As you can see I have a few spots of rust here and there that could use a touch up. I used rust-oleum truck bed liner from a spray can, it's not that tough. It has chipped off in a couple places but in general has probably been better than just straight spray paint out of a can. |
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