Found the hinge brackets, measured up the other ones on the ute, documented that in the A-frame thread.
Mocked up the A-frame better than before and figured out where I want to bolt it on.
Need the brackets drilled and fasteners in hand before I can actually align it and drill into the car floor. Might need some pieces of plate steel cut to make it strong and safe. They'll go on the inside and extend back past the welded-on cross member just forward of the gas tank. I'll bolt them through the floor back there, too.
Volvo rubbish in the Suzuki:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 5532517377
I measured one of the halves at 21.2kg, the other would have been about the same, plus the radiator support, plus the cross member, plus the bumper absorbers, = roughly 50kg of steel out of the front = roughly 5 dollars in scrap! :-D
Initial mock up:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 8618816512
More detailed mock up:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 0828106752
Approximate mounting position for hinge brackets:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 7592059904
I was heading head-long for disaster with my jockey wheel plan, it wasn't going to work at all. Good thing I realised up front. I need to mount it so that it hinges forward and backward instead of left and right. Otherwise I can't mount it low enough to give the lift I want/need without it fouling the draw bar. So:
The way I need to build the front structure is:
- A piece of box welded onto the leftovers of the frame rails and spanning the entire gap at the right height
- A piece of flat bar across between the two halves of the A-frame with holes close to each side
- Two tabs coming down from the box cross member with holes drilled for bolting to the flat bar
- A chunky piece of box welded to the firewall gently and extending down into the middle of the trans tunnel
- A chunky piece of angle that the jockey wheel can be bolted to in order to swing forward and backward between the A-frame beams
- Another piece of box spanning the trans tunnel from firewall to firewall and supporting the lower end of the jockey wheel vertical box
So therefore I need to measure up and buy the following pieces:
- 50x6 flat bar long enough to span the A-frame in the right place with beveled ends. Possible reuse as jockey box brace.
- 50x6 flat bar 100 long, 2 of, for bolting to the above piece and welding to the cross member box
- 50x50x3 box long enough to cut into the frame rails in the right place and weld the above pieces to
- 100x100x3 box long enough to extend down into the trans tunnel and be welded at the top (may have this?)
- 100x100x6 angle ~200 long, or whatever the jockey wheel bracket is
- 50x50x3 box for jockey box brace
I might use 50x25x3 box instead, as I have some of this laying around. I also have some 50x25x3.5 channel I could use and I could use this for the verticals instead of flat bar, too. And possibly the A-frame cross bar instead of flat bar, too.
The A-frame cross bar needs to be multi purpose:
- Support tongue weight of caravan
- Support weight of "precision" flat work table
- Mounting point (quick install/remove) for pneumatic castor wheel for when in use as an A-frame
Can't see much of this getting done this week. Need to buy shoes and suit for wedding, move Volvo bits to storage, take scrap to scrap dealer, visit a VTNZ about changing vehicle usage class, try to buy Suzuki bushes, find documents for immigration officer, clear up garage in anticipation of getting the hotel out and putting the Starlet in, etc.
But we'll see, it'd be nice to have it functional, and legal, ASAP.
Fred.