I'm guessing cheap stainless, I've seen rusty stainless before.
CK5
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That's my thought as well. They were an Amazon special. My thoughts are perhaps to have the panels blasted and powder coated, so the coat is something hard enough to not get damaged when installed, and invest in quality stainless hardware this time.
Those are not Stainless steel. They are Chinesium.
Make sure the next set is 300 grade Stainless. I am sure those are 400 grade with high cadmium. Prone to rusting. Yep, Stainless does rust.
Put these washers on the bolts. They are an AN style. Small outside diameter. Should prevent the paint chipping. And if you install them curved side down, would be better for the paint. Even though I like them curved side up for aesthetics. I am sure you can find a smaller quantity somewhere.
Make sure the next set is 300 grade Stainless. I am sure those are 400 grade with high cadmium. Prone to rusting. Yep, Stainless does rust.
Put these washers on the bolts. They are an AN style. Small outside diameter. Should prevent the paint chipping. And if you install them curved side down, would be better for the paint. Even though I like them curved side up for aesthetics. I am sure you can find a smaller quantity somewhere.
That’s probably not the hardware corroding, but the exposed steel under them. Hardware has a way of messing up the paint under it, so it’s likely just light corrosion “blooming” up to the button head. If the button head is anything other than 300 series, it’ll also eventually corrode. 18-8 is pretty common, and unfortunately pretty cheap, too.
Also, weld it only if you want to do a ton of block sanding.
David
Also, weld it only if you want to do a ton of block sanding.
David
Quick check of the Amazon order history confirms the hardware used is the cheap 18-8 304 stainless.
I’ll snag the washers as @ktmoutfront suggests, as well as some better quality bolts, and some more paint. This will be a Fall project.
And @AgDieseler & @KirsL know body work is not my specialty, nor sanding, so I’ll give this stainless hardware stuff another shot. If it still doesn’t work out, I know a guy in Texas that might give me a decent rate on block sanding.
Good 304 will not rust in your lifetime. It might discolor a little over time. So once a year you need to remove them all and polish them. 
Snip snip. Looks like this is all the cutting I’ll need to do.
With the legs left at their current length, it actually creates quite the perfect pocket for the tire to sit down into. Cutting out the extra length between the bumper hoop and the bottom of the license plate, as well as, rotating the tire hoop around so that the two make more of a 90* angle (maybe an 80) looks like it will solve my height problem. With the tips of the tire hoop coped, the bottom of the license plate should rest against the bumper hoop and create the perfect gusset to tie the two pieces back together.
I may very well add back some side bracing for lateral support, we will see.
Playing with what the hangover off the bumper will look like. If I angle the bumper hoop upward, that will assist with “departure angle” (what departure angle??) but I can’t help but feel that it will get hung up on some rocks and get ripped off. But, fortunately this truck doesn’t see rocks that often.
The tire is being intentionally spaced away from the doors to make room for the lifting mechanism, which will be revealed soon.
I’ll get the bumper hoop cleaned up during lunch and that will be it for the day. Tomorrow it’ll get pieced back together.
Andy
With the legs left at their current length, it actually creates quite the perfect pocket for the tire to sit down into. Cutting out the extra length between the bumper hoop and the bottom of the license plate, as well as, rotating the tire hoop around so that the two make more of a 90* angle (maybe an 80) looks like it will solve my height problem. With the tips of the tire hoop coped, the bottom of the license plate should rest against the bumper hoop and create the perfect gusset to tie the two pieces back together.
I may very well add back some side bracing for lateral support, we will see.
Playing with what the hangover off the bumper will look like. If I angle the bumper hoop upward, that will assist with “departure angle” (what departure angle??) but I can’t help but feel that it will get hung up on some rocks and get ripped off. But, fortunately this truck doesn’t see rocks that often.
The tire is being intentionally spaced away from the doors to make room for the lifting mechanism, which will be revealed soon.
I’ll get the bumper hoop cleaned up during lunch and that will be it for the day. Tomorrow it’ll get pieced back together.
Andy
If the louvers didn't already have holes, we use some glue that would work great for that. In retrospect, I should have used it on mine.
Good work. I still wouldn't want to lift a 40 regularly to get access to the back but if your lifting mechanism has the stones to make it easier on the back it should be better.
I had my "little" spare on a swing down and I got to hate lifting the 35" tire up but it had no mechanism to aid in the process.
Yours is already more thought out than mine was.
I had my "little" spare on a swing down and I got to hate lifting the 35" tire up but it had no mechanism to aid in the process.
Yours is already more thought out than mine was.
I'm really hoping for either a pneumatic lift assist or some sort of spring loaded cable spool like a garage door would have, but no matter what it ends up with I may eventually borrow from your design when I get to putting more money into my truck haha
Lifting a 37” E-Rated tire on a steel 17” wheel was enough to convince me to do something. Not sure if a C-Rated 40 on an alloy wheel is much heavier, but the added weight to the rack and the Jack are not helping.
You are pretty close.
The prep work is all done.
I’m half tempted to go ahead and weld it all together, but we all know it’s not as simple as just burning it in. There’s quite a bit of work involved in mocking this up and getting the angles and position of the tire just right. My afternoon is filled with meetings and then church this evening so the day is spoken for. Tonight I’ll likely finish cutting the threads in the tire mount bolts. So tomorrow is the day.
This should give a pretty good indicator as to the difference in height achieved.
Before:
After:
Andy
I’m half tempted to go ahead and weld it all together, but we all know it’s not as simple as just burning it in. There’s quite a bit of work involved in mocking this up and getting the angles and position of the tire just right. My afternoon is filled with meetings and then church this evening so the day is spoken for. Tonight I’ll likely finish cutting the threads in the tire mount bolts. So tomorrow is the day.
This should give a pretty good indicator as to the difference in height achieved.
Before:
After:
Andy
I cannot divulge the methods employed for positioning this rig, but I can confirm no animals were harmed during the testing of this product.
Andy
Andy
Looks good.
Not to be a dream crusher, but I don't know if I'm 100% behind your lift assist idea. Seems like a lot of work to haul around the jack, board, and stands. Plus you have to get them out with the tire carrier in the way.
Yes, that was tongue in cheek.
Not to be a dream crusher, but I don't know if I'm 100% behind your lift assist idea. Seems like a lot of work to haul around the jack, board, and stands. Plus you have to get them out with the tire carrier in the way.
Yes, that was tongue in cheek.
You are going to need wheels on that stand if you plan on driving it.
Haha. I laughed out loud … while in a meeting. Sure glad my computer was muted.
The tire rack is fully welded and I even added back some side bracing. Forgive the welds. It was dark, I was tired, but trust me, they’re sufficiently burned in. It’ll clean up nicely tonight once I have a fresh supply of flap discs.
With all the changes made to the rack, it no longer folds completely down to the ground. But that’s okay, I already have a plan for that.
It is now time to divulge all my secrets. Stay tuned…
Andy
With all the changes made to the rack, it no longer folds completely down to the ground. But that’s okay, I already have a plan for that.
It is now time to divulge all my secrets. Stay tuned…
Andy
Okay here we go.
First, the biggest issue I had to address was where the rack latched. The Rev0 design hinged off the bottom of the bumper and latched at the top of the bumper. Well, that’s only 6” of vertical separation and with the poly mounts included, the rack had significant wobble when latched. So much so I had to use a ratchet strap to keep it from bouncing around.
During an initial conversation with @AgDieseler during the construction of Rev0, he mentioned the absolute best place to latch to would be a roof rack as it offers maximum vertical separation.
Well, at the time, I didn’t have a roof rack. And I still don’t. But I figured I could utilize the old mounting holes for the air deflector and build a “roof bar” which could provide the location for a latch and later be built out into a full rack.
This is what I scavenged the long length of 1.5” from the front bumper for. Using some flat plate and shock tabs, I was able to fab up the rest, and used rivenuts to secure the rack to the roof.
Okay, that’s cool, but how does the tire rack actually attach to the roof bar?
I have an answer for that.
Tabs will be added to both the roof bar and the rack right above the name plate, and a “latch bar” will connect the two, once I discern the appropriate length. Here’s version 1, obviously too long. At the roof bar end, there is a heim joint (sourced from Barnes 4wd) with high misalignment spacers. This will be permanently bolted and will pivot up and out of the way when not in use. The purpose of the heim joint is to allow the tire rack (which is bolted to the bumper bolted to the frame) to have plenty of room to flex separately from the roof bar (which is bolted to the roof) without ripping a huge hole in the roof. At the other end, is a DOM poly bushing that will latch to the tire rack via the same hitch pin I’ve been using with Rev0.
Initial testing indicated this will be a very sturdy setup and resolve my bouncing issues from Rev0.
Andy
First, the biggest issue I had to address was where the rack latched. The Rev0 design hinged off the bottom of the bumper and latched at the top of the bumper. Well, that’s only 6” of vertical separation and with the poly mounts included, the rack had significant wobble when latched. So much so I had to use a ratchet strap to keep it from bouncing around.
During an initial conversation with @AgDieseler during the construction of Rev0, he mentioned the absolute best place to latch to would be a roof rack as it offers maximum vertical separation.
Well, at the time, I didn’t have a roof rack. And I still don’t. But I figured I could utilize the old mounting holes for the air deflector and build a “roof bar” which could provide the location for a latch and later be built out into a full rack.
This is what I scavenged the long length of 1.5” from the front bumper for. Using some flat plate and shock tabs, I was able to fab up the rest, and used rivenuts to secure the rack to the roof.
Okay, that’s cool, but how does the tire rack actually attach to the roof bar?
I have an answer for that.
Tabs will be added to both the roof bar and the rack right above the name plate, and a “latch bar” will connect the two, once I discern the appropriate length. Here’s version 1, obviously too long. At the roof bar end, there is a heim joint (sourced from Barnes 4wd) with high misalignment spacers. This will be permanently bolted and will pivot up and out of the way when not in use. The purpose of the heim joint is to allow the tire rack (which is bolted to the bumper bolted to the frame) to have plenty of room to flex separately from the roof bar (which is bolted to the roof) without ripping a huge hole in the roof. At the other end, is a DOM poly bushing that will latch to the tire rack via the same hitch pin I’ve been using with Rev0.
Initial testing indicated this will be a very sturdy setup and resolve my bouncing issues from Rev0.
Andy
That bar is perfect to mount a roller for the front winch line to lift the spare. Just say'n.
