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Glad to help, keep the pics coming of the upgrade. Are you going to weld on a thicker piece of plate in the pivot location underneath? I sure would and cut a hole to poke the spindle through so you can weld it top and bottom,seen a few fail from flexing and work hardening the metal.thats actually just the front of the truck that the rear bumper was being built for, but yes, i made that one too. i used the same size channel and diamond plate for the front and used a bolt on brush guard from a full size chevy that i reworked to tightly fit the channel. then i used a tube kinker to bend the tubes to protect the headlights (its all in the build thread if you have lots of free time). it took me a couple of weeks to build from scratch, mostly because i spent alot of time mocking up and brainstorming an original design, but the rear only took me 2-3 days because i already had a basic design to follow so all i had to do was mock it up and then make sure the gaps were all acceptable before welding. i recieved the trailer spindle and bearing kit ill be using for the new pivot from the UPS man yesterday, so all i need to do now is get ahold of the right size tube to house the spindle and bearings and re-fit the swing out and start welding.
:EDIT: i just ordered a machined pivot tube from trout industries - thanks lima bean!
Great look foreward to seeing it should be bulletproof this time, the spindle pivots are the only way to go.there is already a 1/2 plate welded to the bottom side of the diamond plate as well as another piece of angle iron tieing the pivot end of the bumper back into the main mounting rail, but i will definately be adding another plate on the bottom to better secure the spindle. now that ive got all the right parts for the pivot i just have to make sure to build everything right the first time. oh yeah, i made the license plate light braket last night but i didnt take pictures as i figured ill take plenty when i rebuilt the swing in a few days.
the front one weighed in around 120lbs and the rear i would guess is about 80lbs, plus the weight of the spare tire (65lbs). it rides very stable and balanced and i can actually use my bed again for truck things!how much do you think it weighs?