Overland Exped Vehicle Rear Motorcycle and Tire Lift

[Zuber]

I need to carry a light-ish motorcycle on the back of a FUSO FG (Earth Cruser) and I'm looking for ideas. The motorcycle will be less than 500 lbs, I'm getting a second spare wheel and tire so those will be on there also, maybe 100 lbs each. Max weight 1000 lbs. This is going to see a LOT of washboard roads so the fatigue strength must be very high. Since it has a fiberglass house, it will have to come off the rear truck frame channels only, no bracing above the frame.
To get enough departure angle, this will need to be at least 4 ft high when stored. So, that means simple motorcycle racks are out.
It comes down to a fabricated lift or a rack and a small crane. I'm thinking that fabricating a winch powered lift is probably the only reasonable solution.

Anyone here created one of these? What did you use for the slides?

An example picture of a very heavy one from OEW 2019

 

[mog]

B85 a member here has been building a rear rack system for his truck (an LMTV). It might be a little more 'heavy-duty' than you are looking for, but he has it very well documented, so perhaps adaptable to your Fuso application?
Link to B85's build, page 31

Update - you might also look into a commercial liftgate. They can often be had in the $500-1000 range on Craigslist. I had one on my Fuso FG, and in its factory configuration it would affect the departure angle, but with some easy modifications of moving the pump/hyd-tank up, and removing the auto-kickout bar, the angle would be back to 'normal'.

ArcLab Motorsport build a fancy version for their F550/Total Composite truck -

 

[AMBOT]

This looks like a modified Hydralift. Very curious to see how well it held up offroad / washboards. I wish this thread was 10 pages long with all kinds of examples.

 

[180out]

i mounted two storage boxes off the frame of my GXV. i am amazed what a beating the stuff i put in these boxes takes. the vibrations that the cab and house mounts adsorb is amazing. the stuff in these frame mounted boxes just gets hammered. just a personal observation.

 

[Zuber]

This looks like a modified Hydralift. Very curious to see how well it held up offroad / washboards. I wish this thread was 10 pages long with all kinds of examples.

OK, here's some more. Not sure where this pic came from. I'd like to know more about this build.
This is close to my ideal design. I have to come off the frame only and not touch the house. This shows what the frame would look like with the narrow spacing. Although light, the frame looks a little pieced together.
It looks like the slider is just made from square tubing. They have machined a slit to open the side. Probably removing the internal seam in the tube also.
I like the tire mounts. Notice they are trapped when the lift reaches the top. It also solves an issue of creating a stop for the winch.
Notice that the bike mount just slides into tubing on the main mount. So, the bike rack can be left off or adjusted higher.
I also like the bike rack mounting of the motorcycle. The tires are captured. Looks like they just bolt down through the footpegs to tie down the bike.
The winch lift is very simple.

 

[Zuber]

Other examples:

 

[180out]

2 & 3 are mounted to the house so you get all of the vibration absorbing of the house mounting, much better design imho.

 

[AMBOT]

2 & 3 are mounted to the house so you get all of the vibration absorbing of the house mounting, much better design imho.

i haven’t seen much vibration absorbing qualities in the box mounts whether spring mounted or pivot. Isn’t everything attached to the same suspension?

 

[AMBOT]

The GXV mount is the ideal one to replicate for me. Looks like it’s all stainless. In searching for some raw materials it’s looks like there’s a 4-6” C channel with a tube top and L channel bottom to subframe connection For the basic frame.

the older Pics of this setup with the storage boxes and spare laid flat is so versatile, if you saw them.

I wonder if that’s plate steel that was bent to form or actual C channel? The corners look real tight compared to mandrel drawn. C channel is so heavy and expensive.

The Bliss design is great and the engineering quality is obvious.

This is the area I’m working with. The back wall is reinforced with vertical and horizontal aluminum tube. I need to hold the spare, wr250r, and 3 ebikes, at minimum. Mini split will be fix mounted.
Our weight requirements are pretty similar. The GXV lift looks like it was designed and more importantly tested to support that type of load.

 

[Zuber]

Stainless is sexy. But, it's weak, prone to fatigue cracking and hard to weld.

Plain CRS (cold rolled steel) is much stronger and easy to weld and form (and fix in the field). Channels rolled from CRS plate is very strong for the weight and it's straight. Not commonly available, so more expensive. You'll have to order custom made shapes from a fab shop. Lengths under 8 ft can be made by anyone with a large press.

Extruded 'C' channel is cheap, but it is mild strength and heavy for the strength. Very commonly available though. The internal shape is not square, the legs are tapered (unless you are in Europe with a different standard).

Attaching this large 1500 lb weight on the back of an aluminum house frame may be a problem. It is hanging off the back and trying to rack the entire house frame. I doubt the house frame was designed for that kind of force. Attaching steel to aluminum is another problem. All doable. I'd add an angled brace coming from the back wall, forward and down to the house floor.

 

[mog]

Stainless is sexy. But, it's weak, prone to fatigue cracking and hard to weld.
Plain CRS (cold rolled steel) is much stronger and easy to weld and form (and fix in the field). Channels rolled from CRS plate is very strong for the weight and it's straight.

Zuber, you seem to know your steel. How about milling a slot in square tubing to make the channel? This was my plan as square tubing is easy to come by in my area, and cheap compared to other options that have to be ordered and shipped.
Blue- 2 x 2 tubing with milled slot (not full length)
Red - 1.75 x 1.75 without spacers, or 1.5 x 1.5 with HDPE spacers (yellow)

 

[Zuber]

Sure that works, the example that I'm using above has that design. But, you need a good outer tube with no seam inside. There are a few. I'm probably going to use 'Receiver Tube' for truck hitches. It is 2.03 x 2.03 inside and the internal weld seam has been ironed out. It has 1/4" wall and is stout (and kind of heavy). I just computed that I only need about two 4 ft pieces, so I can get by. Often listed as 2.53x2.53 x .25 wall.

There are other tubes meant for telescoping projects, like antennas and camping poles. But, most are too light of a wall. There is a tube type called DOM (drawn over mandrel) that has the seam ironed out, but I've only noticed these in round tube.

You can remove the seam yourself. There are a few You Tubers that show how to do it. Works ok for shorter tubes like less that a couple of feet.
Basically, you make a sharp edge on a tube and push/hammer it through.

 

[Hillbilly Heaven]

What would be wrong with cutting the slot where the weld is? I know it's harder material but common machine tools can handle it.

 

[Zuber]

What would be wrong with cutting the slot where the weld is? I know it's harder material but common machine tools can handle it.

If you can sort through the pile of tubes and find one with the seam in just the right spot.. then it would work, sure.
MOG wasn't going full length with the slot, so that what I was addressing.

 

[mog]

What would be wrong with cutting the slot where the weld is? I know it's harder material but common machine tools can handle it.

That was my plan. My 'metal guys' are very accommodating. I will try and use .125" walled tubing as my wheel/tire combo is 238 lbs (385/65-22.5 on an Alcoa), but I need to spread the rail/tracks the full height of my camper as it is composite and I will only be attaching to that (no truck frame), as the camper is detachable. But I do not need it to 'track' the full length, hence the reduced slot length. I'm thinking that tossing the tubing in the mill with take out the weld and give me a nice straight slot.

Zuber- thanks for the info