about to go ghetto fab on a swing away spare carrier. I like the looks of the hlc offering, and will make a few changes to that design. I am drawing up plans and have a couple questions.

1. is any one running one that opens in opposing direction of cargo door? thoughts?

2. anyone know of good sources for hinges and catches? rockstomper, polyperformance, competition4x4, and a couple jeep places i have found as sources for hinges. catches= I have not found much in the way of a GOOD catch, option.

also if anyone can give me a close up pic their great catch, that would be awesome.

thank you

 

1. is any one running one that opens in opposing direction of cargo door? thoughts?
its possible you could get into a situation where you cant swing the rack out of the way enough to get the door open. if it swings the same as the door you could get it partly open.

 

good point.. I was trying to sort out the stop catch point, so as not to interfere
with the door stop position. that's when I thought, hmmm.... if it opened in the opposing direction, I could have a fold down shelf, on the inside of the rack. that might be convenient for on sight hand load development/ changing outta mud boots/ light weight work bench/ dining out/ etc.... BUT, prolly more trouble than it is worth. I should just plan to have it catch farther out than the door and forgo the seat/shelf.

 

I built one before and the hinge was basicly a trailer axle stub with the wheel bearings pressed into a piece of steel tubing I could weld to the carrier, the axle stub went completely through bumper welded top and bottom ( this is a simplified explanation)

Similar to this. http://www.atozfabrication.com/store...roductid=16138

Or this. http://www.emsoffroad.com/store/inde...roducts_id=180

 

Not my pic but this is what I built had it on a cj7 with a 31 x 10.5 x 15 tire on it, mine also had a spot for the high lift jack which I never mounted cause the thing would shake bad going over bumps on road even though everything was tight, swing away part worked great
Mine also was built to carry 2 5 gallon Jerry cans between the spare and rack
Purpose for the socket on top is to set the tire mount depth to match your wheel tire combo
tire carrier hinge - Google Search

 

Oh wow, thanks tom! That ems combo is perfect. And I figured the can set would be simple enough since the tire is offset.
Thanks again

 

When I get a chance I'll snap some pics of mine. The HLC is nice but pretty much unavailable now that Denny is MIA, and they were BIG money!
The 90* Destaco latch is where it's at.

 

thank you

this guy? 2k lb


if so, it looks like the same one offered in the ems package

http://www.emsoffroad.com/store/inde...roducts_id=180

 

Yes, that's the latch. Here's some pics of my RockStar Fab swing away and some thoughts on what I'd do differently.

The De-Sta-Co latch is great. My swing sway also has secondary spring loaded catch. It's the T handle thing.

The cradle for the end of the swing away is HDPE or something. It's a very hard plastic but is better than metal on metal. It will wear(slowly) but is easily replaced.

The spindle has a Zerk fitting. However I noticed than greasing it was almost impossible because the assembly was pretty air tight. It would pop the cap off. So I took a tiny drill bit and drilled a hole in the side of the cap. Now I can grease the spindle and grease will push out the hole. Old out, new in.

I would(and will be) angle the tire to match the angle of the rear door. Aesthetics mainly, but it could also help shift the weight more directly over the carrier.

Be careful where you put the tire. You don't want to block your view, too much.

 

Perfect ... Thank you Brett.
That will help, tremendously. That little spring latch extra tee is a good idea. I bet I can flush up one of those locking hitch pins, there, and it would give me more options on locking down the spare from behind. I really appreciate the photos and tips, But No way am I going to try to replicate that side glass in the cargo hold.... Yikes. I bet that was a startling boom.