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Fabricators for a bespoke Rear Swing-away...?

I've seen them doing 55 depending on tyres etc. Plus if your travelling with your lodgings does it matter how long it takes. Plus on some roads in Russian I wouldn't want to do 55.
 
I'm just doing my c1 so I can drive one. Already designed the back and done the costings. They pop up all the time, seems like 6k can get you a good one. Do the killer dowel pin and they are bullet proof.
 
Starting again with anything isn’t financially viable. ‘Cheap’ simply doesn’t feature when you’re talking about bringing an old vehicle up to mechanical spec to do extended travel in. And the notion of building a ‘cheap’ camper again just isn’t a reality. Sure you can build one much cheaper than it’d cost to have one built but materials and kit alone will easily run past £10k.

My truck is mechanically where I want it to be and I’ve already bought most of the kit. I just need a bit more space and I’m sorted.
 
No I meant a trailer just to throw the bikes in
But then I simply wouldn't take bikes.

Having bikes means we can leave our camp (i.e. the truck) set up whilst we go places and do things. Having tried both with and without, we now wouldn’t not take bikes.

Did I mention there’s an inflatable kayak with all the kit in there too.....
 
Ahh. so what you REALLY need Lorin is TWO vehicles. Ok I got it now ...

Unless you can actually take a military convoy, you have to satisfy one thing. What compromises are you prepared to make? It's tough isn't it. You just can't have something that does it all unless it says International Rescue on the side.

Take the trailer to Russia? Christ no. I'd still be stuck there now. But then will I ever so anything as hardcore as Russia again? I doubt it. I'm now looking at pulling the trailer with the Hilux. The world is covered with tarmac.
 
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I don't know your set up so im going in blind here.
could you "manage" with a oem sub tank? this would get you a spare under the vehicle again.
the only thing that's held me back from getting a hard shell tent like you have is the amount of room they use on the roof rack. a canvas RTT leaves a good amount of room for a large storage box at the front.
 
Army trucks are governed way down low to make them last so if they can turn them down you can turn them back up again but only to 53mph so you can stuff up the middle lane according to EU LAW
 
Lorin, have you considered making your swing out a bi-fold with a stout hinge in the middle? It may not be practical to get it to fold out of the way of the tailgate when it’s loaded, but for times when it’s not, it could help free up space down low for when you need to open it in a car park. Just thinking out loud really. I’m accessing the tailgate every day so I couldn’t consider a swing out. I thought of a ‘swing up’ but the forces involved would be damaging to the upper tailgate and the gas struts would be huge so that idea quickly died a death.

Whatever you have made, design it well first and iron out all the wrinkles on paper. It’ll cost at least as much to make as buying one but you will get what you want.
 
I'd be very interested to hear what you think about the guys at IRCradocks and Sons, as i'm in the market for a wheel carrier myself.

We've got the same thoughts with regard to fitting 4 people in the truck while doing long term overloading. The same solution comes up every time - take less stuff! I'm sure that on previous trips we've taken too much stuff on a just in case basis, and while its better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it, if its a matter of don't take it or don't go then we'll head off with what we can pack and make do.

I honestly think these days we are never really as far from help as we'd think (or would like to think) so we can probably leave the spare alternator behind (yes we took one of those once...)

Obviously everyones different but just my personal opinion

N
 
I don't know your set up so im going in blind here.
could you "manage" with a oem sub tank? this would get you a spare under the vehicle again.
the only thing that's held me back from getting a hard shell tent like you have is the amount of room they use on the roof rack. a canvas RTT leaves a good amount of room for a large storage box at the front.

These are all good points and things I've mulled over many times. Whilst a long range tank isn't needed 98% of the time, there are a few trips we've got planned that will need the range and I'd have no other way of carrying additional fuel. Unfortunately there's also not much chance of getting a 37 under the vehicle even if I could manage with a smaller tank.

The hard shell tent is being changed this year for a fabric one again. But yet again, this doesn't really solve the space issue as we're getting a 1.9m wide tent so our daughter can sleep up with us. That means there is no spare space on the roof at all. I'm already going as far as storing the table and chairs under the roof-tent and solar panels on top!
 
I'd be very interested to hear what you think about the guys at IRCradocks and Sons, as i'm in the market for a wheel carrier myself.

We've got the same thoughts with regard to fitting 4 people in the truck while doing long term overloading. The same solution comes up every time - take less stuff! I'm sure that on previous trips we've taken too much stuff on a just in case basis, and while its better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it, if its a matter of don't take it or don't go then we'll head off with what we can pack and make do.

I honestly think these days we are never really as far from help as we'd think (or would like to think) so we can probably leave the spare alternator behind (yes we took one of those once...)

Obviously everyones different but just my personal opinion

N

I'll let you know the outcome. I'm hoping to go seen them for a good chat in the next few weeks.

Something that is very apparent when you start thinking about long-term travel in a LC sized 4x4 is that almost all existing set-ups and solutions are for 1-2 people travelling, and are therefore not optimised for 3 (& and large dog) or 4 people. Working out how to fit everything you need requires some careful consideration. Admittedly, there's a lot to be said for working out what is essential and what isn't, and I think you're right that lots of spares are actually fairly obtainable so not essential to be carried. In preparing the truck this time I've taken the approach of replacing things with new rather than carrying them as spares, and carrying the absolute minimum I would need to just be able to get to help. I also tried to free-up and utilise every last bit of space including locating all my leisure electrics under the bonnet rather than in the back, removing all the trim in the back to use the cavity space that is there, using the space in the tailgate etc..

This swing away is for me an essential part of the solution as it will free up additional space inside and allow us to take stuff that otherwise wasn't possible.
 
Lorin, I know you asked for fabricators and we're all trying to reinvent the wheel for you, but sometimes new ideas emerge.

I'd question the whole 'I don't want a bumper' idea. The goal there is weight saving, not a phobia of bumpers I presume. The thing is that working around the factory bumper makes life very difficult so you probably end up with it looking like the first picture which is frankly fuggly without some kind of trim. By time you've added sufficient scaffolding to make it strong enough, I thing your weight saving will be negligible unless you're having it made from space alloy. Steel bumpers do have more function that just being a heavier replacement for plastic. The biggest challenge that I see is having a solid enough mounting point to prevent it springing when fully opened with the weight on. The pin has to be far enough out to allow the tailgate to drop of course. I tried that off the single chassis leg. It was rubbish. In the pic I can see they've gone full length across the back which should solve that. I'm not sure how they've attached the whole framework but it's neat, but I'll say again, I think the pin mount looks very under-engineered.

I tried to make one that sat across the back rather than on top so that the pin didn't foul the tailgate. It didn't last long.

Screenshot 2019-02-01 at 09.42.26.jpg
 
One thing about the James Baroud which is good, is the wheel well storage on top. Now their dedicated bag is utter trash, but once I'd bought some dry bags, you can shove huge amounts of bulky stuff up there. OK you loose a bit of head room and you can't sleep three in there but in terms of that 1-2 person travel you mention, getting stuff out of the vehicle does free up space. I removed one rear seat or one trip. That's a massive amount of space to build a proper unit into. I can't recall your set up Lorin, but if you've room for one, the rear upper shelf behind the cargo barrier has been indispensable. Piling stuff up just doesn't work. Separation is the key to a tidy life.

Screen Shot 2013-12-30 at 23.41.56.jpg
 
Chris, you're right, I've no inherent aversion to a rear bumper, it is just that the focus is the swing away rather than a bumper and I want to keep weight as low as possible. I'm aware that many of the well considered rear bumpers in the US completely do away with the stock chassis cross-member, the bumper effectively replacing it with a substantially more rigid set-up. I've already got rid of the factory rear bumper, there's just bare chassis at the back. It'll be interesting to see what sort of a design fits the brief best but I take your point about the pin/pivot being the weak point.
 
What else is going on the swing out besides the spare and some bikes and might those offset the weight imbalance of an none central spare? Seems like a centred spare limits you to a narrow bit of space either side of the spare? Sounds like an interesting project anyway!
 
What else is going on the swing out besides the spare and some bikes and might those offset the weight imbalance of an none central spare? Seems like a centred spare limits you to a narrow bit of space either side of the spare? Sounds like an interesting project anyway!

I'd
What else is going on the swing out besides the spare and some bikes and might those offset the weight imbalance of an none central spare? Seems like a centred spare limits you to a narrow bit of space either side of the spare? Sounds like an interesting project anyway!

My 'plan' is that either side of the spare will be a small basket, one side to hold a gas bottle, the other side to just hold a rubbish bag. One of the big 'issues' I want the carrier to also solve, is to be able to access the back when the bikes are on the carrier, rather than having to take them off every time. I've tried to sketch it below.....

I want the carrier to be removable when not being used, to swing down to make it easy to put the bikes on and off, and to preserve the departure angle. Something like this, from here http://www.isi-carriers.com/4x4x4/4x4x4_bike-carrier.html

ISI Carrier.jpg


Side View.png


Rear View 3.jpg
 
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I didn't see prices but is it viable to buy the bike carrier you linked to and just have a mount for it on the swing out rather than re-inventing the bike carrier functionality? The rest of what you want is pretty straight forward but I can see having a fabricator replicate the bike carrier itself being as time consuming as the whole of the rest of what you want.

Have you measured or mocked up what you've sketched and know for sure there is enough space? Seems like quite a lot of free space for a 37!

Is the tow bar staying? That should help towards stiffening up the chassis if it is.
 
I didn't see prices but is it viable to buy the bike carrier you linked to and just have a mount for it on the swing out rather than re-inventing the bike carrier functionality? The rest of what you want is pretty straight forward but I can see having a fabricator replicate the bike carrier itself being as time consuming as the whole of the rest of what you want.

Have you measured or mocked up what you've sketched and know for sure there is enough space? Seems like quite a lot of free space for a 37!

Is the tow bar staying? That should help towards stiffening up the chassis if it is.

To buy the bike carrier works out around £1,000 with import duty and VAT. I was interested to know whether a fabricator could 'replicate' something with similar functionality as part of the swing-away for less. If not, then yes I would buy one and have it integrated into the swing-away build.

I should have said, no I've not measured what I sketched. The photos in my first post are of a 37 mounted just off-centre and I've seen a 40 mounted centrally, albeit a bit higher than I want. I took it from looking at them that my plan is viable, even if I have to lift the tyre a little. I will place the spare in position tomorrow and see.....

The tow bar mount can stay, or it can go. At the minute it serves as a recovery point and bit of extra protection for the LR tank. I'm not bothered either way.
 
is it the departure angle that interests you in that bike rack?
speak to pendle, im sure they could do something for you for a lot less than a G.
 
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