in good shape - brunnhilde part 18

Success! The spare tire carrier enhancement to Brunnhilde is done.

We are bracing for another pending significant rainfall with flood warning. This December is set to be the December with most rainfall here in Oregon and we are just cross the half way point of the month. Taking the opportunity of relatively dry day I play plumber today. One of my drain pipe for one side of the roof's down spout have clogged and the previous week long big downpour had caused the drain to back up. I was afraid if the matter is not tended to with urgency the excessive water running by the side of the house can cause soil erosion under the house's slab.

As if I am telepathic that the steel hook would arrive soon, I took some time today to fabricate the two hinge brackets. I had decided my original thought of using the thin electrical conduct bracket would not be sufficient for the weight and dynamic stress the bracket would face.

I was going to use the double up household wiring clamps at the bottom of the photo but decided they are insufficient

Done with playing plumber, I donned the blacksmith's work clothes for a different life's calling. I set out to modify two 1 inch conduct clamps that have only one hole for a fastener. I reformed them with hammer, vice grip, chisel, and a vice.

bottom left - before; bottom right - work in progress

after a lot of pounding and shaping the brackets are taking shape

a bit more hammering the two brackets now have the right shape and diameter for the steel bar of the spare tire basket

checking against the basket

the edge of the anvil of the vice took a lot of abuse - it is a cheap Chinese made vice so the steel is brittle instead of malleable - the importance of wearing eye protection

next is to drill the second hole

 compare to the original planned double up bracket (middle)

these two are significantly beefier and sufficient for the job

Christmas came early. Today the USPS delivered two packages which I have been waiting for. One of them is the two steel hooks for the spare tire carrier that Mopar Parts Overstock shipped to me as the replacement of the wrong parts they sent. So it seems the parts lady did came through contrary to what I was told by another person there yesterday. It took 2 whole weeks must due to the parts had to be order from Dodge warehouse.

Christmas came early - two packages that I have been impatiently waiting for

the installation of the two hook was a bit counter intuitive - after inserting into the key hole shape hole one have to rotate them 180 degrees; this prevent it from falling out should someone unscrewed the bolt completely - very smart and cost effective design

i scrounged around and found 4 sets of bolts and lock nuts

pre-mounting the two hinge brackets

The driveway was quite wet but fortunately my collection of flatten cardboard boxes let me work under the vehicle without getting my back soaking wet.

in no time i have the support bar mounted, followed immediately by attaching the spare tire carrier basket to the two hinge brackets

the locations of the two vertical bars are located perfect - there is very little room for error

the final proof of the pudding is to slide the spare tire into the basket, and raise it by drawing up the two steel hooks; all went as expected; the bolt that draws up the hook also serve to lock the basket to prevent it from disengaging from the hook

mission accomplished - another Reisemobile industry's infidel - Airstream's cheap trick squashed