Some progress on the hitch . Added some gussets (ironically, which I cut off of an old hitch basket that I repurposed for the Mighty Max trailer, so it's pretty beefy).
End caps of the main support beam, I chopped some tubing so as not to have squared ends (knees go OW!). The open top will be covered at a later time
Got rainy, so had to set up some dry space lol
And installed the spindles.
Notching the first arm for the outer spindle. I got a couple of these large hole saws off Amazon (Chinese) and they've done really well on this 3/16" tubing with no appreciable wear, so pretty pleased with those (I use cutting oil liberally)
For the arms, I'm doing a double-angle here so when they are at 90 degrees swung-out, they clear the Sequoia's rear hatch. It was either that or make the entire thing stick out to the edges of the bumper, which I don't like.
So here's the first one welded up. I will be adding more bracing as I go along, but want to get the basic setup built first and then decide where I want to brace/gusset things.
Installed the De-Sta-Co latch, though I may grind this one off and re-install with more of an angle to it (like I did on the Raider). I thought this off-vertical orientation would be fine, but it still allows too much play so I'm a bit annoyed at myself for trying to take a shortcut here.
And the bumper. Some guys put this part on the base/bumper, but I like it on the swing-out arms themselves so they're not sticking up on the baseplate when it's open. Not an issue if I was using a single long arm (with the bumper/latch at the end), but with the dual swings have to do it differently.
I did some other stuff today, but no pics yet so that'll have to wait.
End caps of the main support beam, I chopped some tubing so as not to have squared ends (knees go OW!). The open top will be covered at a later time
Got rainy, so had to set up some dry space lol
And installed the spindles.
Notching the first arm for the outer spindle. I got a couple of these large hole saws off Amazon (Chinese) and they've done really well on this 3/16" tubing with no appreciable wear, so pretty pleased with those (I use cutting oil liberally)
For the arms, I'm doing a double-angle here so when they are at 90 degrees swung-out, they clear the Sequoia's rear hatch. It was either that or make the entire thing stick out to the edges of the bumper, which I don't like.
So here's the first one welded up. I will be adding more bracing as I go along, but want to get the basic setup built first and then decide where I want to brace/gusset things.
Installed the De-Sta-Co latch, though I may grind this one off and re-install with more of an angle to it (like I did on the Raider). I thought this off-vertical orientation would be fine, but it still allows too much play so I'm a bit annoyed at myself for trying to take a shortcut here.
And the bumper. Some guys put this part on the base/bumper, but I like it on the swing-out arms themselves so they're not sticking up on the baseplate when it's open. Not an issue if I was using a single long arm (with the bumper/latch at the end), but with the dual swings have to do it differently.
I did some other stuff today, but no pics yet so that'll have to wait.
