Pull Pal on Aluminess rear bumper swing arms

[Railvan]

Last spring I mounted the main body of the Pull Pal on the left rear bumper swing arm of my SMB before my trip to Arizona. For a million reasons, the mount for the blade part of the Pull Pal just got done today.

Photo 1 is the main body on the left swing arm. At the lower end is a simple C shape chunk of aluminum welded to the arm to capture the bolt on the Pull Pal. On the upper end, two plates hold the Pull Pal between them and a stainless pin slides through the brackets and the Pull Pal, and the pin has a hole through it for a padlock.

Photo 2 and 3 is the blade on the right swing arm. A rectangular 1/4" thick piece of aluminum with a V shaped cut in it holds the top of the blade, while two tabs welded on the lower swing arm tube traps the bottom in place. Thanks to T.Low's bro-in-law Jason for his help with brainstorming and welding.

The red tie strap is the keep the waffle boards from vibrating, and is not part of the Pull Pal blade mount.

Brian

 

[Topher Walters]

Excellent job. I was wondering of the best place to mount the pull pal. What size pull pal is that?

 

[Chris]

Turned out great Brian Thanks for the R&D effort.

Note to self.....add pull pal to the x-mass list.

:ylsmoke:

Thanks and have a Merry Christmas & Happy new year

 

[Trail Monkey]

Great job. Good thinking..!

 

[spencyg]

Finally! A good picture of the hinge mechanism on those Aluminess swing-outs!

Oh, and nice job on the pull pal mount too!

:sombrero:

Spence

 

[Railvan]

Excellent job. I was wondering of the best place to mount the pull pal. What size pull pal is that?

Da BIG one... The 14,000 pound model.

 

[Topher Walters]

It looked like the big one, just wanted to check.
Thanks

 

[G35Vortec454]

I've debated with myself about getting a pull pal, especially after I got stuck in Baja blow sand. I was a newbie then and didn't have a front locker yet at the time.

Have you ever used your pull pall to really get you out of a situation?

 

[Railvan]

Have you ever used your pull pall to really get you out of a situation?

Been to the mall many times and never needed it yet... Seriously, nope, I haven't used it yet. (And I never go to the mall.) I got the Pull Pal just before I went to Overland Expo last spring. I figured I was going to remote areas in NV and AZ where trees to winch from would be rare. But when I travel by myself, I am really conservative about taking risks, so didn't get stuck on that trip.

I want to try it out and get some experience with it but just haven't had time to play with it.

Brian

 

[Blackeye]

when I travel by myself, I am really conservative about taking risks

Brian,

I concur with your statement above, even more so when my wife is with me. Therefore I've got the Pull-Pal but have not figured out the best way to transport it. Looks like you have a great solution! Great job and well thought out.

Since I am not inclined to attempt welding and powdercoating this deal on my own, with your permission I would like to approach Dave at Aluminess to see if they would create mounts for our rig that are similar to what you have done. What do you think?

Thanks in advance,

Blackeye

 

[Railvan]

Brian,

Since I am not inclined to attempt welding and powdercoating this deal on my own, with your permission I would like to approach Dave at Aluminess to see if they would create mounts for our rig that are similar to what you have done. What do you think?

Blackeye

Fine by me. I was thinking of passing along photos to him in case people asked him to mount one, he could choose to use this idea or not. He has already done something similar.

The left hand swing arm, with the main body of the Pull Pal on it, is mounted in much the same way as another SMB owner had done that I saw at Overland Expo. It turns out Dave had just recently added this mounting on this other SMB prior to the show. I thought I was going to show him my cool new idea, and he come up with a mount that was 90% the same design. I think his had two supports, like I have at the top, at both top and bottom. I do like the large C shaped lower mount to carry the weight.

The right hand swing arm mount for the blade is what came out of me thinking about it for months. The other SMB that had the Pull Pal body on the left arm at Expo, also had the blade on the right arm, but had it laying horizontally (and just held with a strap, if I recall correctly). I took the idea of making it fit on the backside of the arm, and just kept moving it around until this seemed to be the best fit. The plate with the V shaped cut out was the last part of the puzzle to make it work.

BTW, SEM brand "Trim Black" is a perfect match for the black powdercoating on the Aluminess bumpers. I used it to touch up both rear swing arms and on the front winch cover that I modified too.

Brian Rutherford

 

[Blackeye]

Many thanks Brian. I just might see what Dave (ALUMINESS) can do. He's got his own SMB now.