Check it out fellas!! We will begin fabrication over the Thanksgiving break. I included a removeable 3'x18" safari rack. I plan on adding some rear KC lamps to the lower side of the rack too later. The slots for the rack will also be used for future appliances like a field rack (shovel, axe, sledge, pick), and a simple mounting component for a 48" Hi-Lift jack (will be lower behind spare tire) for daily use. And I'm not going ghetto with this, the whole assembly will be powder coated to match the tan running boards, the gas cans (one water, one fuel) will be painted to match the factory Ford Tucson Bronze, and the stock lethar Eddie Bauer tire cover will remain till momma buys me a NY Giants one for Christmas!! Its good to have a hook-up with a powder coater!!! All the welding will be done by my best friend and material out of my $ pocket.

I plan on using the stock locking mechanism (after some re-tooling) but we will be fabricating another latch attachment to the bumper for the lower swing arm just like on a Jeep, but we'll figure that out during fabrication.

Any and all comments are welcome! Thanks!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/Stalefish/CustomSwingGate1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/Stalefish/CustomSwingGate2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/Stalefish/CustomSwingGate3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/Stalefish/CustomSwingGate4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/Stalefish/CustomSwingGate5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/Stalefish/CustomSwingGate6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/Stalefish/CustomSwingGate7.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/Stalefish/CustomSwingGate8.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/Stalefish/CustomSwingGate9.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/Stalefish/CustomSwingGate10.jpg

Jay-

Ah ok, I looked at all the build pics before I read the last of what you said...

I was gonna say, I sure hope you didn't plan on using the stock swing brackets for holding all that, you'd have a hell of a bent rear quarter :rofl:

Looks sweet, can't wait to see what it looks like all fabbed up.

Nice, Jay! A few comments... Keep in mind what size tire you may eventually run and allow room for it. Also the same goes for your wheels regarding your backspacing. What size material are you planning to use? The stuff you have modeled in there looks like it could be a little flimsy. I really like the ice chest idea. When I build my bumper I may take your idea and make a detachable ice chest mount, too!

Oh, and FYI, Advance Auto and O'Reilly, etc. sell spray paint that is an exact match for the lower bronze color, though it's not listed as such. I can get the paint code if you'd like. It's what I used on my sliders and what I also plan on using to paint my rear bumper.

http://www.reganracing.com/bronco/bronco_005s.jpg

Tommy

That looks heavy as hell, Post up some pics when its done.:popc1:

Your hinges are going to rip out of the body and your tailgate is going to split open but otherwise have fun.

...jesus....

Prayin already.

Check out the Fabrication, Modification, and Tools forum for peoples custom bumpers and the vendor forum specifically for Big Mike, Dustin, and Davids78bronco's threads to get some other ideas for mounting options.

Your drawings were totally sweet. Cept fer the six lugs.

Good luck.

If you plan to use the safari rack for a cooler, you may want to think about lowering the spare tire a bit. From you drawings it looks as though the top of a cooler might end up being higher than your roof line.

I really like the idea though, definitely post pics of the fab. :thumbup

That is an interesting idea for a cooler/rod rack for fishing.
How much weight do you think something like that will hold?
Does anyone know of any motor vehicle restrictions about blocking the rear vision with the safari rack?

Thanks for the coments all, however, I think I should have posted this in the Fabrication Forum instead... Maybe a Mod could move it... Danny's Daddy, the rack bottom sits exactly 2 in. from to of the 35" tire, that puts the rack top dead center of the window. I will be reusing the stock spare mounting bridge and lug plate, so that retarded 6 lug setup is crap. After doing some preliminary calculations, each can, filled is approx. 45 lbs. each, the tire and wheel is approx. 40 lbs. The gate itself is made of 1" tube supports and 3" tube framing, I'm "guessing" about 70 lbs. of swing gate. Total approximated weight: 200 lbs. We looked this over last night and after looking at this link http://www.bc4x4.com/chrisw/projects/tirecarrier/carrier.asp the stock hindge locations may not be able to support this when open. I think I'm going to omit the 2nd gas can and save about 60 lbs.

I found this after some Google searching:
http://www.jamesduff.com/broncoII/bumpers_carriers.html

Your hinges are going to rip out of the body and your tailgate is going to split open but otherwise have fun.

:stupid

I like the idea, but the body nor the tailgate are capable of supporting that much weight.

If you are capable of building that, then build yourself a bumper and mount the carrier to the bumper. :thumbup

yeah 200lbs on the stock hinges isnt going to work. first bump the body is going wrinkle and tear along with the tailgate.

the tire and wheel is approx. 40 lbs.

What tire and wheel is 40 lbs? My 33's are 52 + the wheel (very heavy) which puts the total closer to 100 lbs.

I plan on using the stock locking mechanism (after some re-tooling) but we will be fabricating another latch attachment to the bumper for the lower swing arm just like on a Jeep, but we'll figure that out during fabrication.
He did say that he was going to add extra support. I am not sure if you guys caught that. I am waiting for the final pictures.

...THANKS... LOL

can you construct the unit out of aluminum instead of steel? I mean, if using the appropriate sized aluminum square tubing over steel, that may be a nice weight savings and still be just as durable as the steel.

Looks great though, best of luck!

Oh with your original description, I thought you mean you were using a bumper post for the swing arms...

Yeah, you're definitely going to bend the chit out of the stock locations lol.

my 35" tire and steel spare weighs about 85 lbs...

I can see some design changes, that I would do, and wouldn't recommend mixing and matching the latches and hinges for the carrier, between the truck body, and the bumper

For one, I would change the hinge to a single pivot, with a double shear mount. With that change, alone, will make for a couple other changes to simplify the design, making it a bit lighter, and keeping the focus of the weight where it belongs

Right, good advice. Does anyone know the total weight of the stock assembly and spare? I was considering alum. tubing vs. steel too Phil, good idea. What bothers me is I really want to keep the truck looking like it did from Ford, thus making the new assembly clean and painted to match. i want to re-use the stock hindge locations. I dont want to tear off the bumper and install an aftermarket one.

Just an FYI on the truck itself: I'm married with 3 little girls, 9,5,& 2 so the truck is more of a weekend camping-boating-hiking-trailing-beach camping (Rocky Point, Mex.) truck. I'm NOT into hardcore 4 wheeling. I'm trying to keep it practical for my use you know? Plus its my daily driver, so I want it to stay clean.

Jay, simply putting a 35" tire on the factory carrier stresses the sheetmetal pretty significantly, IMO. 36" tires are known to have bent the sheetmetal! I'd get one of these:

http://www.rockstomper.com/images/products/pieces/hinges/hinge2.jpg (http://www.rockstomper.com/catalog/pieces/hinge.htm)

In fact, I *did* buy one for my setup....

http://www.reganracing.com/bronco/bumper_assy2s.jpg

Tommy

Alright, I'll give it one more shot, so take it how you will...
Does anyone know the total weight of the stock assembly and spare?
That's really not going to matter, considering everything else you've added
I was considering alum. tubing vs. steel too Phil, good idea.
Again, that won't matter, with the overall weight, on the stock hinge mounting
What bothers me is I really want to keep the truck looking like it did from Ford, thus making the new assembly clean and painted to match. i want to re-use the stock hindge locations. I dont want to tear off the bumper and install an aftermarket one.
That's your call, but you'll be regretting it later on. Maybe not in a month, and maybe not in 6mos, but when your quarter panel starts tearing apart, just remember that a few of us tried to offer some insight, and personal experience with carrying extra weight on the stock hinge mounts

Just an FYI on the truck itself: I'm married with 3 little girls, 9,5,& 2 so the truck is more of a weekend camping-boating-hiking-trailing-beach camping (Rocky Point, Mex.) truck. I'm NOT into hardcore 4 wheeling. I'm trying to keep it practical for my use you know? Plus its my daily driver, so I want it to stay clean.
So, what's to say that an aftermarket bumper and tire carrier won't be clean? :shrug You don't HAVE to be a serious offroader to install components on your truck, to help make it better and possibly last longer.

See, with your 2 gas cans, each one will weigh about 35 lbs. So, 70 lbs of gas, plus at least the same weight for a spare, plus the weight of a filled cooler (we'll say that about 40 lbs is a good general wight), PLUS the weight of the carrier/rack system, and you're looking at over 200 lbs, on Ford's stock tire carrier hinge mounts. Plus, it'll also be sitting on a latch mounted to an expensive tailgate

Or, you can decide to run with our suggestions, and build your carrier to be capable of something like this -
http://www.rockstomper.com/images/products/pieces/hinges/tony01.jpg

Or, you can decide to run with our suggestions, and build your carrier to be capable of something like this -
http://www.rockstomper.com/images/products/pieces/hinges/tony01.jpg

Hey Dave, Thats just like the one you were gonna send me for a christmas present right? I knew you liked me.:histerica :beer

I would have to agree that rack should have no contact with the trucks sheet metal

I would build a bumper to support it if you have decent fabrication skills you could build the bumper to look like the stock one overall but with the pivot on the end of it for the rack

another little Idea for the spare tire mount would to build it to accept a front spindle and hub setup the same as on the front of your truck less to carry on the inside for spare parts

gas can full is 45lbs.
your stock tire will be about 60lbs. (35" about 80-85, and my current 37" is just under 100).

I only have my 37" tire on the carrier now, and it rattles on-road driving around. I would not wheel with it back there. so that's 100 lbs. so I can tell you 2x's that weight will not work with the stock hinge setup.

what kind of program did you create and render that in?

AutoCAD 2007

Listen to everyone man, my stock rack is a little messed up from just carrying aound a 33" spare on rough terrain. Fixing torn sheet metal is not easy or cheap...

no worries.... apparently its not gonna happen now. Total waste of time...

Bummer!

Bummer!

haha what a nice way of saying "Thank GOD, he listend to us!" :toothless

I dont remember where i saw it but somebody use an old ttb spindle with the locking hub so once it was swung in they just turned the lock to keep it in place

Should be nice when its all done

hahaha monster thats actually a sweet idea... actually if you has the shaft in there and the locking hub and all you could turn the hub to lock in almost any position and lock the gate in that position...

hmmmmm...problem is the spindle and hub assembly is so damn big...

that would be cool though...a warn premium sticking outta your bumper...

dc

Still great CAD drawings