Over the winter my buddy Bill and I put together a new rear bumper with swing out tire carrier. The tire carrier that swung down from the hitch was ok, but sucked lowering and lifting all the time on trips. Plus how dirty one gets lifting a dusty tire up or setting it down. So we set on to build the swingout with a 10 bolt spindle and hub as the hinge.
Mocking it up on the truck. We reused part of the old tire carrier to recycle and save time.
We used a torch to pre-heat the spindle prior to welding to aid penetration.
The welds came out good and there was extra gusseting added inside the box to support the spindle. The spindle and bearings are twice the size one gets from the online fab shops selling trailer spindles for swingout hinges.
Start of the swingout arm. Yes the lockout is functional. I can lock it in any position to hold the arm open. Don't matter if it's parked flat or on a side hill.
We tucked in a trailer reciever too.
We added 1/4" thick mounting brackets and thick D-ring mounts.
It got a scuff and spray paint job with our favorite tractor paint and mounted on the truck.
It got finished off with a basket to carry three jerry cans and a plate light/bracket to be legal again.
That was to get the truck ready for the '19 Desert trip. Sadly I was unable to attend due to issues beyond my control at work.