DIY swing away carrier/ rear bar - QLD legalities

[-Mick-]

I'm going to start building my own rear bar with swingaway carrier attached in the next fes days..... but I'm not sure about the legalities of it in qld.

It'll be based on a rear bar design like this http://equip4.co.nz/rear%20bumper.htm but I already have a seperate towbar assembly so I will not be including that. I believe the bumper won't have any real legalities attached since I'm not towing from it as long as there's the usual sound structure, no sharp bits or protrusions.

The swingaway carrier I haven't designed yet. I have to figure out what pivoting bearing to use (any ideas?) and see if there's regulations about it before I design it. It will hold a 31 spare.

Are there any regulations I need to worry about??? Anyone done this before??? The car is an 87 4runner if it matters at all

Thanks, Mick

[DamTriton]

I'm going to start building my own rear bar with swingaway carrier attached in the next fes days..... but I'm not sure about the legalities of it in qld.

It'll be based on a rear bar design like this http://equip4.co.nz/rear%20bumper.htm but I already have a seperate towbar assembly so I will not be including that. I believe the bumper won't have any real legalities attached since I'm not towing from it as long as there's the usual sound structure, no sharp bits or protrusions.

The swingaway carrier I haven't designed yet. I have to figure out what pivoting bearing to use (any ideas?) and see if there's regulations about it before I design it. It will hold a 31 spare.

Are there any regulations I need to worry about??? Anyone done this before??? The car is an 87 4runner if it matters at all

Thanks, Mick

Most ppl tend to use trailer wheel bearing sets

[mkpatrol]

As far as the manufacture of the assembly itsel you should have no problems as long as its secure & has no sharp edges.

The only thing you really have to consider is the lighting. All your rear lights must be visible for 45 degrees from the centre on a horizintal line.

Most spare wheel carriers invade this line & the manufactures fit adittional lamps to the bumper bar to compensate.

[Shadow]

You willl definantly need extra brake/stop/tail lights in the bumper.

There are requirements of how all corners must be radias'd etc, but there is not alot else to worry about. Make sure it doesnt hang too far out each side of the vehicle (more than 1" is asking for trouble, flush is better) and also make sure it provides adequate protection for the fuel tank.

A trailer bearing setup is a good rattle free system for the wheel carrier. You can get the stub axles from supercheap etc and for a hub you need to get the right size tube and make one (i hear the tube is hard to find) or maybe cut up a cast iron wheel hub from supercheap aswell? can you weld to cast?

[Pinball]

Scratched one up from a 100 series kaymar unit i acquired. They use the Holden stub axle and bearings you can get from Supercheap or similar outlets.

As mentioned, lighting angles and distances become an issue, as does number plate visibility (45 degrees from all angles).

For a link to mine;
http://pointnshoot.whoever.org/modules. ... =0&thold=0

and for an excerpt on lighting requirements for Qld DoT;
http://pointnshoot.whoever.org/index.ph ... load&cid=5

Good luck, the tub tolerance will probably be the tricky bit.

Spock

[defender kev]

Heres a rear bar and swingaway i made for a 60series

[mike]

I'd be interested in what you end up doing for the swing away. as I've been want to make one for awhile...

[-Mick-]

this is all good guys keep it coming I don't really have time to digest it now but after work I will

[nicbeer]

Heres a rear bar and swingaway i made for a 60series

Nice bar. where those lights are, is that legal?

-Mick- (get that BL out)

Nic

[mkpatrol]

Heres a rear bar and swingaway i made for a 60series

Nice bar. where those lights are, is that legal?

-Mick- (get that BL out)

Nic

Nope they are to far inboard, maximum 400mm from the edge of the vehicle (not including lighting and mirrors).

[-Mick-]

For a link to mine;
http://pointnshoot.whoever.org/modules. ... =0&thold=0

and for an excerpt on lighting requirements for Qld DoT;
http://pointnshoot.whoever.org/index.ph ... load&cid=5

Good luck, the tub tolerance will probably be the tricky bit.

Spock

Great write up pinball.... really informative

Heres a rear bar and swingaway i made for a 60series

Defender Kev how bout some more details about yours?? What materials, bearing, locking mechanism etc...

Anyone got any design ideas?? I like the one in the first link I posted but I'm open to suggestions.

[defender kev]

Mick the main bar is 80mm pipe,smaller stuff is 40mm nominal bore and checker plate is 2.1mm thick

Locking catch is a Southco over centre latch.
For the swingaway i just used a Ford stub axle and bearings
Reason i used Ford was they are slighty larger in diameter than Holden therefore hopefully a bit stronger...

Cheers Kev.......

[-Mick-]

maybe a change of plans......

Had a good look at the towbar today and its pretty beefy. It could happily support a wheel carrier I think.

See pics....

[-Mick-]

one more... and I was thinking something like the final image... where the base of the carrier fits snugly inside the tube already there on the towbar and bolts in there. That'd be fairly easy. The tube is about 50mm ID so do people think that'll be strong enough???

Keeping it low ensures the swinging assembly clears the tailgate when its lowered too. the tyre I sketched is a pretty good estimation of how much it will cover (31" spare) so I'll have to move the number plate. Is it ok to just put that on the spare tyre???

Thanks again guys

[-Mick-]

I purchased a trailer stub axle and trailer bearings to get stuck into this For those who have used trailer bearings etc what tube have you used to house the stub axle???

The larger bearing is a pooftinth shy of 59mm diamater so I need tube of 59mm internal diamater.... does such a thing exist and what wall thickness should I shoot for... 5mm +

[-Mick-]

bump

[Loanrangie]

Hi Kev, where can you get those over center catches from ?

[defender kev]

Southco Fasteners Pty Ltd

International Trade Pk 3 Aviation Pl Tullamarine VIC 3043
ph: (03) 9335 4335 Fasteners--Industrial

[Loanrangie]

Great, just around the corner from work ! What size tube did you use for the bearing holder part of the swing away ?

[-Mick-]

just went to supercheap to check out a hub.... was thinking of butchering one for the swinging mechanism. Looks tricky though plus they're cast

what size tube are people using for this swinging mechanism

[Loanrangie]

just went to supercheap to check out a hub.... was thinking of butchering one for the swinging mechanism. Looks tricky though plus they're cast

what size tube are people using for this swinging mechanism

Measure the outside dim of the bearings and see if there is tube with a close id or get a pice of bar machined to suit.

[-Mick-]

just went to supercheap to check out a hub.... was thinking of butchering one for the swinging mechanism. Looks tricky though plus they're cast

what size tube are people using for this swinging mechanism

Measure the outside dim of the bearings and see if there is tube with a close id or get a pice of bar machined to suit.

how close is reasonable though?? .5mm ---- 1.5mm??? and what wall thickness???

I think I will just get some bar machined it looks easier atm

[Pinball]

Mick,

try getting some heavy wall tube a tad smaller id than your bearing od, then get it machined to seat the bearing, locates bearing and less stress for a machine shop to do than trying to machine a lump of bar to shape.

Spock

[-Mick-]

Found what I'm going to use for the swingaway bit Big thanks to Nicbeer for helping me with my search engine down syndrome on this one

C0131 - Hub : Steel-noflange :std $37.15

C0131B - Hub : Steel-noflange S/line $38.66

on this page...... http://www.trailerparts.net.au/shop/sto ... egoryID=CA

std or slimline depends on the bearing size used. Std uses a outer 19mm, inner 32mm and seal 37.5mm. Slimline is outer 22mm, inner 35mm and seal 44.5mm. These are std trailer (holden Ford) sizes. I've already purchased a stub axle so I'm going to measure the bearings this afternoon and then order one of these bad boys.

They're steel so you can weld to them and a nice thick wall so strong

[chimpboy]

Found what I'm going to use for the swingaway bit Big thanks to Nicbeer for helping me with my search engine down syndrome on this one

C0131 - Hub : Steel-noflange :std $37.15

C0131B - Hub : Steel-noflange S/line $38.66

on this page...... http://www.trailerparts.net.au/shop/sto ... egoryID=CA

std or slimline depends on the bearing size used. Std uses a outer 19mm, inner 32mm and seal 37.5mm. Slimline is outer 22mm, inner 35mm and seal 44.5mm. These are std trailer (holden Ford) sizes. I've already purchased a stub axle so I'm going to measure the bearings this afternoon and then order one of these bad boys.

They're steel so you can weld to them and a nice thick wall so strong

Are you going to cut them down and just use the centre?

[nicbeer]

Something like this i guess.

My bar. (Cheers drew)

Nic

[-Mick-]

If I have to chimpboy. The snug fit over the bearing is what I needed..... the rest I can play with when it gets here. Not hard to chop a bit out

Nic's bar is a good example but those pics can be a bit hard to make out

[nicbeer]

I got a below pic to show where the stub comes through if u need it.

i will try take the digi camera home and do some better pics.

cheers

[-Mick-]

had a slight hiccup I scored about 5 meters of 50x50x5 box for free Friday night (see pics) so I thought I'd take the towbar off Saturday morning and start designing No worries right

I only bought this vehicle fairly recently and had never had a really good look at the towbar mounting points........ there was only 1 nut attached out of 4 bolts dodgy...... the bolts were also nice and frozen in there

so after a day of farkin around I chopped the bolt heads off That got 2 bolts out but the others still wouldn't budge It was bad enough that 3 grown men couldn't move any of it The ONLY way to get the towbar off was what you see in the pics... choppy choppy

Can I get these mounts welded back on by a shop or is that too dangerous for towing I'd probably need to make up a template of the chassis to get the spacing right cause a few mm of material were lost in grinding......

I'd rather avoid making a custom towbar now this towbar is easy to attach the carrier to

[Pinball]

Bugger m8,

the joy of custom fab.

Looks like a fair bit of meat was lost to the grinder, might be better to make a clean cut near your rearmost mount point and then refabricate from there forward.

Mind you, there is undoubtedly others with better knowledge of metal who'll be able to suggest a way to make existing work again.

Spock