Fossicker
I completed a rear tire carrier for my LR3. The carrier started as a partially finished unit from a guy on lrrforums (who was attempting to produce 20 of these). I was lucky enough to pick up the 'test fit' unit the fabrication shop shipped to him for test fitment before they started welding/completing up the other 19. Unfortunately the test unit they sent wasn't a perfect fit and needed quite a bit more work, which led the fabrication shop and the guy to part ways. Since the guy on lrrforums still had the prototype he built for himself, he offered up the "test fit" unit to me since I was willing to take on the task, with my buddy's help, to complete it. The carrier needed roughly 12 hours of additional work to it for fitment...drilling, welding, grinding, cutting, etc, etc, etc. The end result is a beautiful tire carrier! We ended up shortening the arm that extends out the back to tuck the tire up closer to the body from the length the guy on lrrforums had it in his original design. We also put a slight tilt to it to follow the line of the rear hatch to give it a more OEM look to it. We ended up welding the bracket into place, instead of just bolting it, since we saw a hint of flex in the bracket when the tire swung open since there wasn't a good place to bolt it from the bottom to tie together the far right side of the bracket. The slight flex also produced a hint of creaking too. Welding the bracket into place completely eliminated the flex and creaking and now its solid as heck! See the pics below.
Carrier when I received it:
Cut to the bumper:
Face of bracket pre-weld:
Top pre-weld showing top plate welded on:
Bottom showing top plate welded on & angle cut and welded cap:
Bottom angle cut and welded cap:
Left top weld to bumper:
Left side weld to bumper:
Right top welds to bumper:
Weld to the right end bottom of the bumper (this was the key weld to make it solid):
Swing Arm out of powder coat:
Arm without tire:
Arm with tire:
Arm Detail:
Hinge with Zerk fitting:
Latch:
with fuel can holder added
Here is a comparison of the Rasta unit vs mine from a profile view:
Wizard
SupporterNice work, very neat.
I like the way the catch works both the hold open and the locking one, up out of the road and hidden.
You also get away without an issues with the rear park sensors.
I would only use the jerry can holder on the back for water only, not too good having fuel especially petrol virtually unprotected in an accident.
2014 SDV6 HSE - LLAMS, Tuff Ant Tree Sliders, Tuff Ant 18" rims, Nitto Ridge Grappler tyres 265/65 R18, Custom Lipo4 battery, Custom Drawer storage system https://www.box.com/s/jem0ilac3cner2mexq64
Swaggie
SubscriberMate that's brilliant, great work indeed.
Baz.
Cheers Baz.
2011 Discovery 4 SE 2.7L
1990 Perentie FFR EX Aust Army
1967 Series IIa 109 (Farm Truck)
2007 BMW R1200GS
1979 BMW R80/7
1983 BMW R100TIC Ex ACT Police
1994 Yamaha XT225 Serow
Master
Neat looking job. Some goood design ideas like following the line of the tailgate and the jerry can holder.
Two things I've wondered with most designs:
1) Why is the tyre so much higher than the rear bumper? Lowering it an inch or two would improve rear view.
2) To make it easier to get to the top tailgate could the vertical arm section drop rear ward on a catch say 25-30 degrees so the tailgate could swing up?
Fossicker
Had an issue with the center right sensor. Ended up using the cut in half adhesive clear vinyl furniture protector trick....thanks for aulro for pointing this out!Originally Posted by ~Rich~
Nice work, very neat.
I like the way the catch works both the hold open and the locking one, up out of the road and hidden.
You also get away without an issues with the rear park sensors.
I would only use the jerry can holder on the back for water only, not too good having fuel especially petrol virtually unprotected in an accident.
I agree about the fuel can, plan to only utilizing fuel when on an off road excursion...or for water as you suggested
Fossicker
(1) Suppose I could have lowered it a bit more, but it doesn't block the window that much with looking back. Plus I have a rear camera.
(2) This would be possible but it would introduce a rattle point and could become very annoying. Also I think it would take equal or more effort to swing the tire fwd vs swing it outward.
OldBushie
Looks great.. Nicely done...
I'd be bracing up that wheel arm though...
Vibration and corrugations will break it. Especially with 25kg of Water/Can hanging there.
Just some gussets etc....
Skuilnaam
Fossicker
The arm is really stout and made from some fairly thick quality steel. The weak point of any carrier is the weld at the hinge. Additional bracing of the arm does nothing to help this point and would actually put more stress on it due to the added weight. We' ve had two guys hanging from the arm supporting over 400 lbs Plus the weight of the tire without a hint of stress flex.
OldBushie
OK....
A lot of them in Oz have a support at the locking mechanism to stop them vibrating against the hinge.
They are also braced quite often.
I've seen several - heavy material - similar designed wheel carriers fracture on outback roads...
But like I said - if you're happy then that is all that matters - and I still really like your work.
Fossicker
Yeah, I've been contemplating some type of support at the locking mechanism. Here is an example of a jeep bumper (jeeperman) with a very similar locking mechanism as mine and you can see they have that small support cylander thing just to the right of the latch:OK....
A lot of them in Oz have a support at the locking mechanism to stop them vibrating against the hinge.
They are also braced quite often.
I've seen several - heavy material - similar designed wheel carriers fracture on outback roads...
But like I said - if you're happy then that is all that matters - and I still really like your work.
For the arm, the design of mine looked to the Kaymar design for pointers. They don't brace theirs (see below) and I've always assumed Kaymar was the best of the best. Are any of the fractured arms you've seen been any of the Kaymar arms?
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