Bumper, Hitch & Tire/Fuel swing away build

[heynanc]

I’m now contemplating the rear bumper/hitch project. First, I’d like to say THANK YOU to SS for his beautiful work and posting and pics. I’m curious if the other folks on the thread would be willing to share what they ended up doing?
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Nancy
2011 Subaru Outback daily driver
1975 “art bus” transporter “Cherry Garcia”
1984 Westfailia Vanagon EJ22 “ Guinness”
2006 Dodge Sprinter (long/tall)
2006 Winnebago View (in case the buses aren’t cooperating)

[SSWesty]

Oh boy it's been about 5 years since I've touched this thread and missed a couple questions.

Weight - I don't have an exact weight but it's probably around 50 pounds.
Corner bracing - Where the swing-outs attach it caused the bumper to twist a little when the swing-outs where open. I added a gusset during the build on the back side of the bumper that ties into the end cap and that firmed it up.
Pivot points - Even though this is just metal on metal with no bushings or bearings they work fine. I don't really see that much wear if any on the swing-outs. They probably only get opened about 30 times a year if that.
One bump test - I backed into a tree one night in the middle of no where and hit the corner. Didn't even scuff the rattle can paint but did collect a small bark sample on the bumper. Thankfully that has been it in terms of impact.

[Vanagator]

[Zeitgeist 13]

I'm trying to figure out how to build my own swing away tire carrier like this that still uses the stock fibreglass rear bumper
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[Vanagator]

I would like a swing out bike rack that supports two mountain bikes. I'm using part of this design in this post for my new swing away-bike rack, which will be mounted to a new rear bumper as well.
I'm on the drawing board now. I'm thinking of using my existing steel mounts to beef up the bumper to support the swing arm for bikes, similar to what SSWESTY has going on.
One issue is the end of the mounts I have are not plumb vertically. So my idea is to weld on some angle iron, kinda like this....

Not sure if this is a good idea or not yet. My other option would be to not use them at all and build an all new mounting bracket similar to bracket in above pics.
Any thoughts?

[Vanagator]

Great job SSWesty. How's it working out?
I'm planning on merging some of your design for a swing out bike rack.
How much would you say the whole bumper and one swing arm would weight? any idea?
Thanks again.....

[Steve M.]

[SSWesty]

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.

[westylife]

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.
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1983.5 Westfalia Bostig RG1

[nmerrill]

Old post, revived, but...
It's not clear to me what sort of latch mech. you used to hold the swingers closed?

[djkeev]

Thanks for documenting your build and the real life use narrative, it looks like an excellent design for the person with welding skills to utilize!

Thanks for freely sharing your ideas and solutions with us all!

Bravo!

Dave
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Stop Dead Photo Links how to post photos

Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[bluefirefly]

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
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86 Syncro Tintop G60
work in progress ...as always!

[SSWesty]

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.

[SSWesty]

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.

[SSWesty]

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.

[hans j]

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.
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1986 Canadian Syncro Westy TDI - 1989 Syncro Single Cab - 2001 Audi S4 - 1981 VW Caddy ABA - 1980 VW Caddy EV - 1973 VW T-181

[rubbachicken]

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
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lucy our westy

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[SSWesty]

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...

[SSWesty]

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.

[hans j]

Any testing yet? I am planning my bumper build next week and interested in the strength of your hitch.
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1986 Canadian Syncro Westy TDI - 1989 Syncro Single Cab - 2001 Audi S4 - 1981 VW Caddy ABA - 1980 VW Caddy EV - 1973 VW T-181