Birth of a new rear wheel carrier and winch mount

[Chris]

Well folks it pretty much does what it says on the tin. I have been a bit quiet recently because I have been banging away in the shed.

The bumper and carrier that I had before was good. Very good actually but off road on steep angles etc it just wasn't helping. So I have taken that off and had it coated. It can sit in the garden now until I work out what to do with it.

So, it's in two bits this time. A winch mount and a wheel carrier - no bumper! I went off road a few weeks ago with it all removed and it was virtually unstoppable. The loss of weight made it sit higher and the improvement in departure helped everything.

Here's a few snaps. essentially what I did for the carrier is cantilever off the chassis. Not ideal I know but you need to get far enough out with the hinge or you run into geometry hell. I used a trailer axle and hub for the spindle. Ready made really. All I did was machine off the flange and add a small extension piece. I turned it down to fit inside the hub so that I could do a nice ovelap weld then stick it back in the lathe and turn it down. Man is weld tough!!!

I used decent thickness steel and I have to say that I am staggered at the lack of deflection. I weigh more than the wheel, I know (no stranger to the cheese board) and it took my full weight no problem at all.

It has a slam catch which works a treat

The number plate is pure genius. Well I think so. You unplug the Flymo plug, slacken the aluminium wheel then pull out the two split collets. This then lets you pull the whole thing through the tube complete with the number plate. The plate sits on little tube feet located onto the top of the wheel nuts.

I have to make a stop and a hold open latch yet, but given the Lincomb deadline, it's been a race to the finish.



I need to cut off the chassis tube on the near side now (err I think) and sort one or two other bits. But essentially it's done. The winch is very solid and nearer in to the axle so the effective weight over the coils is less. It's much higher up too and out of the s***

So if you are at Lincoom this weekend and you wanna stick your head underneath and make sucking noises, feel free. But either way, I am going UP THAT HILL!!!!!!!!




















I might not get over the top, but I am going up.

 

[adrianr]

Very nice Chris.

Very nice indeed.

 

[Dan W]

That's brilliant, does it clip to the back door or does the carrier itself lock?

 

[clivehorridge]

Brill Chris!

My mate is turning an axle pin in s/steel at the mo and cursing me for breaking so many lathe cutters! It was his idea. I suggested a trailer hub but he insisted on stainless...

 

[Shayne]

I attempted a tidy weld for the first time in my life this week and .... well .... i guess you can all have a laugh at it when i get there .

 

[sae70]

That's proper tidy is that I like it, a lot

 

[Gary820]

Nicely made, I like the winch mount

 

[Ben]

Looks good Chris.

But I thought you always take your spare off when you go off road?

 

[karl webster]

All top work Chris

 

[Chris]

Thanks chaps. Yes Ben I do take my spare off when I off road. But I have to take it with me some how, hence the carrier. It won't fit in the boot. But it's not the wheel that catches, it was the bumper. And the carrier was attached to the bumper .... yes? If I did huge trips like you where I couldn't leave the spare by my tent, I'd have to think again. Maybe. Buit the departure angle is now drastically improved even with the wheel on.

The slam catch is on the end of the carrier arm and there is a plate on the cross member where it catches and drops into. To unlock, you just pull up the pin. It's exactly the same system as I had on the other carrier. It's so quick and safe too. I just don't get some of the other locking mechanisms with these big cam buckles.

One of the things I did this time was turn the wheel around so that the C.O.G was closer into the carrier. Concious that I had to avoid as much bendy bendy as possible, I realised that with the stupid off set on these, I could bring the wheel in closer to the door and have room to put the number plate inside the dish of the rim.

 

[Scott]

Excellent work Chris I'll have a butchers at the weekend.

Oh......let me know when you're attempting 'that HILL', I'd like to watch !!!

 

[Chris]

What a bag of crap that turned out to be. I was off road the other week and I always remove the spare wheel from the carrier. A it's extra weight I don't need and B if you are in deep, it's difficult to open the tailgate to get recovery gear. So I was just going and a nob in a Frontera came begging for help. I left the wheel on and went in. I dropped off a big ledge and the hub section of the carrier literally split in two. It split right down the middle with me dragging the wheel along behind me. I ended up hoofing the spare into the boot on top of the drawers with the upper tailgate ratchet strapped down. These 37's are massive. I battered the tailgate and it wouldn't shut at all. Only got around to it today.

So I unbolted the carrier mount and checked it for square. It was spot on. But not only was the hub smashed to bits, the pin was bent to buggery too so I chopped it out and tacked in my spare pin



I needed to cut the end off the arm to tidy that up and so removing the still welded in section of broken hub. That left it too short of course. So I hit on an idea. I had some box with an inside dimension the same as the outside of the existing arm. I made a sleeve to go over and cut a new position on the miller. The beauty of this is that the arm is adjustable so I can get it all lined up in the same place and then weld it. This would add some strength too as the whole thing is much deeper.



That all seemed fine and I genuinely thought Id be done in an hour. Yippee. Then I realised that with the beefed up shroud, I couldn't drop the tailgate. Arrgghh. I really don't want to have to re make the mount as it bolts up so well. So, I used the same sleeve idea to lengthen the mount arm with some humungus box I had lying around. Pics to come, but safe to say it won't be bending in a hurry.

Whilst I was mending the tailgate which at one point I managed to lock but couldn't get it open again (This is where the time goes, leaning in through the back window trying to unscrew the fascia) I came across a really badly corroded connector. Now I have never seen this one before it's a bit hidden. But it comes out of the lock and activates the rear dome light. Supply and earth in there.




The supply was OK although the contact needed cleaning up, but the earth was rotten. I mean like it had been in a fire, or acid. Maybe just immersed in water for two decades. I chased the wire back further and further but inside the sheath it was all just black. I pulled a section of insulation off and twisted it then used some wire wool to try and clean it up. Once I could see copper, I managed to tin it with solder. I then used a crimp connector which I eventually managed to solder on as well. Then I rebuilt the plug and connected it up with a new piece grafted in. Well whaddya know, my lights work again.

Managed to get the upper and lower tail gates battered into submission and working again. They'll do.