Update time! Phew, it's been a short while. Lets see...
I've build most of the arm, tire mount, and passenger side of the main bumper. I added some more structure to the hinge side to minimize deflection when in the open position. I took a plasma cutter to an old front hub assembly for use as a tire mounting plate, which was full of grease and probably gave me cancer. After plasma, I ground the backside of it down relatively flat and welded it to a *45 on the end of some 2x2 to form the stick out angle. I had a piece of scrap laying on the ground from a hole saw that just so happened to fit perfectly in the center of the hub, so I used it to fill in the CV shaft hole and seal it all off. Did some more measuring and chopping until I came up with a good mounting stand and welded it to the arm. There is plenty of room for the back glass to open with the arm closed (new 35" tire shown), probably enough room for a 37".
Sidenote as I sit here looking at my welds... I am by no means a welder. My dad taught, er... told, me how to half-moon a puddle with a 110V/90A FCAW when I was 13, and I've been self/youtube taught ever since. I built my front MDB kit winch bumper with the same 90A machine. I just recently upgraded to a nicer 240V/220A multiprocess machine, this bumper being the first project I've used it on. With that said, I've been MIG'in this thing together with little to no clue what I'm doing. Sometimes I lay down pretty beads, sometimes I try to wipe it off because I'm so convinced it came out of the backside of a bird with the flu. Just throwing that in there for anyone looking through the pics trying to contain their laughter
Geez, can we get back on track now???
I had planned on using the Rotopax system for fuel/water storage since it's fairly modular and robust. I have since decided against Rotopax for a few reasons. Everything about them is stupid expensive for what they can hold. A plastic 2gal Rotopax can costs just as much as a brand name steel 5.3gal NATO Wavian jerrycan. The best I could do with Rotopax is (2x) side-by-side stacks of (2x) 2gal cans totaling my aux fuel storage at 8gal, and that would cost an upwards of $500+. I can easily use (2x) 5.3gal NATO cans totaling almost 11gal.
BUT I have to either find some type of NATO mounting bracket online that I can use, or make my own. I'd really love to put one of
THESE on each side of the tire mount "pillar" like this...
...but I'm not sure. Please let me know if anyone has suggestions for this.
Onto the pictures. Uploading here sucks, but uploading to a third party risks broken pics when someone comes to look at this thread later on. So if you're reading this in 2019 or later, you're welcome for the next few hours I'll spend attaching these one by one...