Norcal69's Common Sense Build.

Great photos. I grew up in Scott Valley and now live in Shasta.

 

Thank you, is that tamarack lake in your avatar pic?

 

Yep. That is Tamarack from a few years ago.

 

I thought it looked like Tamarack. I enjoy the tamarack/ twin lakes areas, but lately there have been too many bone head rock crawler types up there. Last summer they were driving up trees and destroying the meadow below twin lakes and the Forest Service closed the road.

 

I finally got around to installing my two hole passenger side knuckle. The increased leverage really makes the manual steering much nicer. When I set up my steering before I needed a drop pitman arm. Now that the suspension has settled down about an inch, I was able to install the straight cj pitman arm.
I can now easily steer with one hand while turning into a parking space.
I was never happy with the quality of Herms HD tie rods so I made my own crossover steering rods out of some .188 wall 1" OD dom tube. I purchased the left and right taps from MSC for $40 each and had $8 in tube total. I wish that I would have bored out a 1" jamb nut and welded it on the tube so I wouldn't mar the tube.

 

What variety of knuckle is that?

 

I have no idea what it came off of. Some have said that they may be off of a scout. They were on an axle that I drove 2 hours to get. It was supposed to be a dana 27 with a powerlock and disc brakes. When I got there I found that it was actually a 25 with a powerlock and gm full size disc brakes.
I will be putting the 25 powerlock, axles, and rest of the parts up for sale soon.

 

While hunting this fall my wiper motor burned up. As every jeep project goes, wiper motor turns into rust repair and paint. After several evenings of welding, grinding and sanding, I returned my window frame back to factory black.

 

I finally got my windshield frame project finished up. New Glass Thread is here. Broke My Perfect Windshield

 

I looks fantastic!

 

The time has come for a spare tire carrier. My fab skills do not approach ITLKSEZ or Tarry99, but I'm feeling pretty good about this so far. Earlier in my build, you can see that my rear cross member/bumper has been changed to 4" channel. My pivot bracket will bolt on to the channel.
The pivot is 1 1/4" .188 wall tube with 7/8"OD x 3/4"ID oillite bronze bushings. The axle will be a 3/4"x4 3/4" shoulder bolt. I ordered the bushings and shoulder bolt from Mcmaster Carr. The main horizontal arm and vertical upright are 1 1/2"x 3" .120 wall rectangle tube.
Here is how far I got last night.

I will be installing a grease fitting in this once the project is complete.


This is a mock up of the Pivot flanges. 3/8" x 3" bar stock.









The pivot bracket will bolt to the bumper and gussets will be added to the top and bottom flanges.


This is how far I got last night. I need to think about it some more before I continue forward.

 

If you can, think about incorporating a way to lock it open, too. Maybe it's just me, but there's nothing as annoying as being parked on a side-hill and fighting with a tire carrier pushing you down the hill while trying to get something out of the back. (Or the wind catching it in a parking lot while putting groceries in the back, and it slamming into the car next to you.)

Looks great so far!

 

Looks good Kyle.............Lots of leverage on that long bar with that heavy tire attached....................that 3/8"x3 FB should to a good job holding that , but don't forget to get back into the bumper and the frame behind it and add some strength there also..........put a nice radius on those corners of that F Bar and do incorporate a pair of grease fittings into those bushings or housing.........in fact I would keep that cavity full of grease just to keep water out.
As far as locks.........Ruff Stuff has some spring loaded ones that work quite well........and a vertical gusset at the edge of the 2 flat bar pieces will also act as a limit stop.

 

Thank you guys,
I have a McMaster-Carr T pin to lock the carrier in the open position and a McMaster-Carr to hold it closed. The left side will have a support and rubber bumper that the toggle clamp will pull the horizontal bar against.
My goal is to have the ability to lock the carrier open at 90 degrees and at 180 degrees.

 

Some more mock up.


3/4" shoulder bolt for the pivot.

 

That's a purdy bolt!

It may be too late, but there are options out there to take a preemptive strike against sag. Just one option... eccentric bushings like this are available.


Otherwise, at a minimum, I'd weld it in while the latch end is shimmed up 1/4" - 1/2" to get a jump on torsional sag and wear.

 

I was planning on shimming the latch end up about 1/4" to compensate for any sag I might have. I could easily make an eccentric if I need too.

 

I made the wheel bracket last night. I know that I can buy one for about $12 from DIY 4X4, but I did not want a universal multi hole pattern, and I wanted to have it in time for the weekend.
1/4" steel plate scrap, 7" grinding wheel, 5/8" center transfer punch.


Rough cut out with torch. You can barley see the center punch. Disregard the old torch hole.



I tacked a scrap of steel to the back and took it to the mill. Just a wood/ metal hole saw on the slowest speed. Use a little cutting oil.



From there, I spent about 20 min in the lathe truing up the torch cut.



Next I used the wheel to transfer the bolt holes to the mounting plate.



I drilled and tapped the stud holes. The studs will be locktited in.





I went ahead and used all five lugs. It is overkill, but I think that only using 3 looks dumb and it never hurt to have a couple extra nuts laying around.

 

I did a little mock up this afternoon. I am going to move the tire up about 3 inches. I am planning on putting a 3rd brake light in the center of the spare.
It's hard to see but there is an axe on the drivers side.