What did you do to your SMB today?

[pjpvi]

Has anyone ever installed roller bearings in the Aluminess swing away arms?

I have spent a lot of time thinking about and trying to research exactly this idea, but have never hit on the solution. Hopefully someone works on it and shares the results!

Phil

[canyonrover]

Zeta, you beat me to it. I even have the poly sitting in my garage waiting to be cut for the same purpose. I never considered rollers. Huh?

[Gnarvan]

Originally Posted by Zeta

Made and installed some delrin supports for the, shall we say, delicate, Aluminess swing away carriers; a' la our friend Skywagon

Planning on adding more weight to the tire carrier and wanted it to, like, not break. Made one for both sides.

Has anyone ever installed roller bearings in the Aluminess swing away arms?

Z

I like the idea of a spacer under the swing arms to help support the weight. How much extra weight will the Rotopack fuel system add to your tire carrier? Is there any way to tie the left and right swingarms together at the top to help eliminate vibration that may lead to a failure down the road?

I'm hoping Aluminess ships my new bumper within the next couple of days. I plan on following your lead and add some type of spacer under the swing arms.

I would like to be able to carry water on the rack above the fuel box without breaking the swingarm.

[Greggd]

These Spacers are available with the Aluminess Bumpers and I would think that Dave would send along with your new
Bumper .
Greggd

[macmcintire]

Originally Posted by Greggd

These Spacers are available with the Aluminess Bumpers and I would think that Dave would send along with your new
Bumper .
Greggd

They come automatically with the bumpers now when you buy them.

[Gnarvan]

Originally Posted by Greggd

These Spacers are available with the Aluminess Bumpers and I would think that Dave would send along with your new
Bumper .
Greggd

Thanks for the tip. I'll talk to Kenny about it when he calls to tell me how big of a hurt he's putting on my checking account.

[daveb]

Originally Posted by pjpvi

I have spent a lot of time thinking about and trying to research exactly this idea, but have never hit on the solution. Hopefully someone works on it and shares the results!

Phil

It's been done but since aluminess quit using the full threaded bolts, most of the wear has not been an issue. I had them add two extra hinges to my box side and one to the spare tire side. I still use a hitch pin when closed. They also added the pads.

[jwintersteller]

Originally Posted by pjpvi

I have spent a lot of time thinking about and trying to research exactly this idea, but have never hit on the solution. Hopefully someone works on it and shares the results!

Phil

I have fabricated some bronze bearings for mine. I did this about 4 years ago and have not had a problem with them since. I never have to tighten or adjust anything. Only put a few drops of oil on then once or twice a year. And I only have the two hinge setup.

So here are some pics of my spare tire swing arm pivot mod. The section cut drawing gives the best explanation of what was done.



The main goal was to eliminate all friction from the aluminum. All movement is now between steel and bronze or bronze and bronze.
The drawing is for the upper pivot, the lower is the same only inverted.
The main components are the shoulder bolt, bronze flanged sleeve bearing, lubricated bronze sleeve bearings and the lubricated bronze thrust bearing.



The swing arm pivots were bored out to very tightly except the flanged sleeve bearing, they had to be pressed in. Next is the sleeve bearing that was cut to the appropriate length and bored out to the same inner diameter that the swing arm pivots were bored to. That was then pressed on to the remainder of the flanged sleeve bearing.
The swing arm bracket (the fixed points) were drilled out and tapped.
Assembly went like this. Shoulder bolt got a steel washer and a thrust bearing. That was then put into the swing arm. Then one more thrust bearing with the ID being smaller then the shoulder of the shoulder bolt. When tightened to the now threaded bracket the last thrust bearing becomes fixed to the bracket.





To do all this you will need a lathe and a drill press. All of these part were bought from McMaster Carr and then modified on a lathe and dimensions were very critical. A reamer was key to getting the swing arm bored out to the right ID.

Cheers,
John

[Gooseberry]

with all events I have been to that have stickers I wanted to show them but did not want to stick to the van. I went to Home depot and picked up a sheet of lexan. Did not know that they do not cut glass or plastic anymore so made the attempt with the scrib they had for sale.




I also pulled stuff out that we have not used or now has duplicates so to make more room. I also fixed the drip tray in the fridge. The plastic is not good to use a shelf offroad.


good old clean and scrub.

[OttoVolcomSMB]

I rigged up a screen for the barn door window using fiberglass screen material. Got 48' from lowes for $8 and measured cut and took off the curtain and used Velcro strip to hold it do that I can un-Velcro to open and close window.