Hello,

I promised to provide my take on a swing down tire carrier.
Here you go.

My custom made bumper ( made by me ) had a 2" reciever built in.



I was tired of hauling the 150 lbs of tire and rim off the roof rack, also wanted to get the CG back down lower.

This is what I came up with:



Rear View in up position.



Rear view down position.



Side view down position.

Now details:

It straddles the hitch and bolts above and below, I put a 5/8" bolt through the hitch and it can still be used.
The side plates are 3/8" plate.
It is as high as I could make it and not have it stick above the roof, it does not sacrifice ground clearance.



This is the clearance to the hatch when it is being opened. ( Tire in down position )



Here is a close up of the mechanism. ( Tire in up position )

The bumper is held on with the factory 8 bolts plus 2 x 2 tube that goes into the unibody and is bolted by 6 more 1/2" bolts ( Same as skid plate and factory trailer hitch )



The hitch cover removed.

Thanks
Nitro

 

I like it but it looks like it takes 2 people to operate it.

 

Nope,

Pull the pin, lower tire until it bottoms out on the hitch rubber cap, raise it a little and inset pin.
It is not light as the tire and rim combo is 150 lbs.
But since it is not free weight and on a controlled arc it is not to bad.
I field tested it twice now and had good results.

Nitro

 

how do you figure? its takes almost two people to remove a 35" spare from a roof the swing out carriers are lame and everyone has one as well as a roof rack. i like it it works its simple and it looks easy enought for ONE person to do. at least for a man!

 

Any shots from the side with the tire up?
I love it though.

 

i obviously wasnt talking about the weight of it dips%$t. i was talking about having to hold the tire and reach around and put the pin in the side. but i guess for someone like you who is used to giving a reach around on a regular basis it would be no big deal.

 

I love the idea, looks well built MY only problem is the fact that I would be in and out of the rear hatch 150 times more often then I would be getting a spare off the roof. thats looks like something you ought to start fabbing up and selling. great job. thanks for sharing.

 

ruuuuthless

 

I really like it! Are you going to make any more to sell?

 

To AZ4Wheeler, I'm in the back of mine a lot too! But the hatch usually stays open because that's where all the tools my friends need and most importantly...the BEER!

 

Yeah

 

Will post side viewpic in the AM from faster computer.
No plans to make and sell, kind of short on time these days.
Thanks for comments feel free to R&D (Ripp off and Duplicate )

Nitro

 

Looks good and I bet its a lot easier than getting it off the roof!

 

Side view picture added.



Enjoy.

Nitro

 

I like it. I really need to get A welder an learn how to weld