Swing away carrier hinge

[Shane]

In the process of building a rear bumper with a swing away tyre carrier for the TJ and need to saught out the hinge or pivot section. Any info on what you fabricators use would be muchly appreciated .

[Gildo]

Ive seen one with a stump axle, and modified hub as the pivot.
Saw one on a CJ that has the whole locking hub and centre inc bearings, locked open in any position, and handy spot to carry the spare bearings, cups and hub

[OzJeeper]

One of the simpler axle hinges is to start with;
M14 X 140 HT bolt with a nyloc nut and washers
2 sets of Timken 30302CM tapered roller bearing sets
100 mm length of 42 mm NB tube
and a couple of round washers of felt to seal.

Dummy fit the outer cage into the tube so the roller bearing is just poking it's nose out from the base and top of the tube. Mark and remove the cage.
Angle grind two cuts 90 opposed in the tube the depth of the cages, re-insert the cages and check marking. Tack weld into place using the cuts in the tube. Re-check bearing is still proud of tube surface and final weld into place if OK.

Position your hinge where you want it and drill a bolt hole - insert bolt through said hole, drop in first felt washer followed by the roller bearing, then the hinge, then the second roller bearing and felt washer. Cap it off with a large washer that will cover all the hinge top/felt washer, another washer to tighten on and then the nyloc nut. Check position of hinge for the swing away and weld bolt into place.

You will need to weld the carrier frame onto the piece of tube before long so it can carry a tyre.

Word of warning. If you go above a 33" tyre/rim combo - the weight becomes an issue and you may need to think about a bracket (replaces top washer) to support the top of the hinge. You may break it off at the base when operating the swing-away otherwise.

hope this helps....

Please note there is no mention of 20mm angle iron in this post

[ozjeepguy]

Ozjeeper just to check yoursaying to actualy weld the outer bearing race to the tube, yeh.?

[OzJeeper]

Yep. Another way is to cut your outer tube to 100mm. This is to weld the carrier to. Then cut another piece of tube to 73mm and fit this inside the 100mm section. Center it and this will support the bearing cups. No need to weld the cups to the tube and you can replace them as they just sit inside the 100mm high tube.

The pic under is what we end up with. This is without any seal or provision to stop dust, mud, crud intrusion....

[ozjeepguy]

yeh your second option is more like what I had in mind
not welded just kinda sandwiched into place.
was thinkin bout mounting to the outer edge of the bumper tho
not the top

[ozjeepguy]

do you think if I were to brace mounting points and bar on a stock XJ bumper it might support a 31" spare.
was thinking both mounts braced/beefed up and the maybe use angle iron or thick flatbar
behind the bumper and bolt swingarm and latch to the beefed up section to keep the stock look of the bumper but with added usefulness of a swingarm