Swingers

[Zeta]

I was never happy with my Aluminess rear swing outs. They loosened over time, and finally the spare tire carrier failed.


I hoped to make it a simple bolt on procedure--didn't work out that way:


I made two 90 degree brackets that support the shafts Rock Slide engineering uses on their Jeep swing outs.



The brackets are made from extremely strong 2"x.250" steel square tubing, and bolt to the frame of the van and to the Aluminess bumper which, itself, is very rigid and well made.





I copied RSE's design for the swingouts. They are made from 2x4"x.120" steel tubing.





The video says it all:

http://youtu.be/ji8vCiviPXg

I'm very happy with the result. They have a much cleaner look than stock. Still need to make a few adjustments however--the EZ Rack on the right side will touch the taillight if not careful. And even though the rear doors have been reinforced with steel plate, they are still flexing too much for my taste. Gonna give them a bit of a test in the Maze next week!

Z

[Ocsmb]

Bravo !

[Gnarvan]

How much weight do you think you have put on the van doors? Do you have any pictures of the steel plate reinforced doors? Where are the doors flexing? Will the flexing of the doors lead to cracks and door failure?

How do you access the lock on the back door? Does the spare tire swing completely out of the way? The one motion pull cord to open the swingarm and the door as one unit sure would be handy.

[Zeta]

The bumpers carry all the weight, but the doors hold them closed.

I'm planning on building an internal frame for each door. It will span from the hinges to the latch, boxing in the structure.

I'll let you know next week if the doors cracked.

Z

[jwintersteller]

WOW! That looks really clean. Can't wait to see those door reinforcement frames.
Nice work.

[geoffff]

So cool!

Taking notes...
-- Geoff

[Ultrasport12]

Wow you have done a really great job on those....

I really like the fact that you can just open the door and the outer parts move too...

If it wasn't solid enough or you are worried about the doors couldn't you have a pin, latch or something in the center of the bumper (or just lock it to the other side of the hinge out) that you could use while off roading or long trips but when you were camping and such you could just leave it out and just use the doors without the pin?


...Jamie

[86Scotty]

Look, that's really cool and all but not what I was expecting the pictures to show after seeing the title. I'm somewhat let down.

[Pntyrmvr]

Hi;

Zeta that is how the unit should have been made in the first place. A very slick design. Well done.

Regards,

Gavin

[Ocsmb]

Look who I ran into at Bass Lake. Nice meeting you Zeta.