Guess what this is!

Guess what this is and what it's for. The winner gets..........well..........nothing. Except the satisfaction of figuring it out.

 

Well, I see a wheel bearing hub with the flange removed and studs in the bolt holes. It's a purple nurple giver? R) Nickmil

 

A removable pivot for a spare tire carrier that bolts through the bumper and the tire carrier bolts to where the locking hub normally would?

 

Looks to me like a trans-brake/driveshaft brake, minus rotor.

 

I am retracting my previous statement as the u-joint looks far to weak to take any sort of torque stress.

I am going to have to go with tire carrier as well.

 

It is part of one of those crazy offroad hitches that allows the trailer to flex in just about 360deg about all axis's?

 

Wow! That didn't take long. Good work mb82. I think Nickmil was close with that purple nurple thing. I hope to post some more pics today.

 

I got it right? Wow I was totally guessing since that looks nothing like the one I saw the other day online.

Might I ask where you got it?

 

Actually, I made it. I saw something like it somewhere, but I can't remember where. I actually went through 2 or 3 designs before I settled on this. In fact I may be making one more change to the hitch. But I'm gonna tow it around for awhile and see how it does first. I have to give Nickmil credit on ID'ing the hub. It's actually a D27 hub and spindle. I cut off the wheel mount flange with a cut-off wheel and a grinder. Took about an hour. I hope to put up some more photos later tonight.

 

I will be interested to see it. The one I saw I thought it looked like something I could make.

 

Here's a link to some more photos. They're not the best quality as the lighting in my warehouse sucks. I should be able to move it outside tomorrow and get some better pics. The most difficult part of making the hitch was boring the 1" holes in the yokes. My drill press doesn't go slow enough for a hole that size. Tomorrow I plan to fab up some brackets for the safety chains and work on the top supports for the sides and front. Then I still have to make a tailgate.

http://community.webshots.com/album/561337968FsBssD

 

Wow that thing looks great. What kind of weight are you expecting to carry/pull with it?

 

Wow. Way cool. Looks like it could be kind of a pain due to not being able to quickly unhook the trailer but probably worth it if it holds up. Very nice.

 

Why not just unhook the receiver pin and pull it all out?

 

I'm thinking there will be some weight on the tongue, making it more difficult to pull the hitch out of the receiver. I've done that with a ball when I had to and it isn't as efficient as it might seem. The hitch has to be weight neutral with the receiver or else there's a bit of a bind. It's also way difficult to hook it up that way.

 

That's true. I grew up using the ball style. Drag the tounge over with it open, drop it on, kick the top of the hitch as hard as you can until it pops closed.
Carry on.

 

One thought just came to me....
with your design, there is nothing to stop the trailer from turning turtle on a sidehill or a large pothole at highway speeds. I think the military stuff uses a large spring to keep help it upright (I think)
Have you thought of this? any ideas?

 

It's actually very easy to hook up since it swivels in every direction you don't even have to line things up particularly well (unlike with a ball) and in it goes. As far as it turning turtle, I figure (a) it's behind me, (b) if I didn't roll neither will it, (c) if I roll it will stay on its wheels. Not that it would matter much. The springs are rated at 800 lbs ea, but I probably won't ever have much more than a couple hundred pounds in it. I volunteer for Friends of the Rubicon work parties where we sometimes trailer loads of rock at about 1,000 lbs. a load. Shouldn't be a problem. I have a pair of 33 x 12.50 Super Swamper TSL's to carry the weight also. Looks like I may have to make fenders or re-configure some stock fenders as I can't find any that will cover that big of a tire.

 

Huh. Figured it was a poor-boy PTO, driving implements off the front hub. You know, useful stuff like ice cream makers and hog spits.

 

Very cool! Keep us up on how it worked! Nickmil