donnie

Thank you for posting this.
I also have one of their "bumper/tire carrier."
Have had it for a couple of years.
Replaced the bearings twice and added shims and still have
drooping.
I'm content with the bumper. It s the carrier that sux.
I m getting the funds together to get another one and scrap the POS
now on mine.
Thinking about going LOD.

JohnnyQuik

I had an issue with the castle nut on mine not staying tight and causing it to droop. I finally rigged up something to tighten the piss out of it and no drooping. I wondered why Body Armor sent extra bearings and caps with mine. Guess they expect it to fail. You get what you pay for and LoD is really good stuff.

Sunnysideup

Had mine for 2.5 years... it seemed to me that the written directions were terrible. I did figure it out... I got it all tight and filled it with a thick grease. Honestly I have only had to tighten it once and it has never given me problems at the bearing side, still works flawless.

But the pot-metal latch snapped on me! I drilled it out and had a grade 8 bolt rod bent into shape and no problems since, but when that latch snapped the tire wanted to fling out! I had a couple bungie cords I used to tie it up.

Overall with the price I paid for it, I'm real pleased.
But... if you got the bucks- there are a lot of different styles and companies that might be significantly stronger.

donnie

IMHO, The main reasoning for going LOD is the ability to carry xtra fuel if needed.
With my luck, Id add the fuel carrier to mine and the whole carrier
would break at the most inopertune time.
That s what I get for trying to go economical.

Blank1984

I have searched for every post related to this swing arm carrier because of the recent troubles I have had with my own. Quick story: I had rust lines down my bumper from a failed bottom bearing - the race shattered. After research and calling Body Armor customer support, I have the new bearings and races installed and it all seems kosher.

The installation instructions are available here and fail to mention that for both sides, the races go in first and the small ends of the bearings point towards each other in an hourglass shape AND proper torque is 100 ft-lbs: http://www.quadratec.com/Assets/Installation/129371.pdf

Also, the bottom shims were a band-aid to a manufacturing error and should not be needed anymore. Finally, the replacement bearings are L68149 & L44649. My carrier was so bad that it was warped out-of-round and I had to use the frozen race / blow-torched carrier method to get it to fit. I used these replacements (since they aren't for an actual axle & look "good enough"): Amazon.com: Bearing Kit L68149 & L44649, 10-19 Seal, 1.719" I.d.: Sports & Outdoors

CO Jeeper

I have/had the same problem with the JK-5294 Swing Arm. The supplied bolts for the swing arm handle/latch might be an issue.

I had the Body Armor JK-2394 rear bumper for a year now and love it. It was a breeze to install and solid. The swing arm I just installed last week, not so much. The directions do suck but I got it installed without any droop and was very pleased.

That was until I had driven a short distance (doing about 45 mph...on hwy...no bumps, etc.) and heard a clunk and saw in my passenger side view mirror that the swing arm had swung open. I pulled over and closed it and before I got another 1/2 mile it swung open again. This time I used a bungee cord to keep the handle closed until I got home.

When I got home, I checked the tension on the handle and it seemed perfect and tight. So I bungee'd it up again and headed to the hardware store to look for a pin others talked about. Before I got to the hardware store it opened again (I didn't bungee it tight but at least it didn't swing all the way open like before).

By this time though, I had some serious droop.

I got home with some hitch pins and began to figure something out. What I noticed though was that my handle was not closing all the way because the two rear button head bolts were preventing it from locking down that last 1/4 inch or so.



I removed one of the button head bolts and now it closes all the way and has not 'sprung' open again.



However, I am going to contact Body Armor and let them know and I will ask for them to send new bearings because I have a feeling when I open up the carrier to tighten the castle nut to remove the droop, I probably with have to replace a bearing or two.

Until then, I am using a hitch pin for a little extra insurance until I can figure something else out.

JK505

I had mine swing open once and all I did was readjust the handle to make it tight again and tada! All good again. Maybe I got lucky?

Also, the last 1/4" is key. When I close mine, I just close the latch with a little vertical pressure and it's locked in.

donnie

JK505,
From personal experience I can almost guarentee your going to be replaceing both bearings.
I ordered a replacement set from Body Armor and they sent the bearings and spacers.
The replacements lasted about a month.
Ordered another set.
Before I had a chance to replace the bearings, I sold the Jeep.
Good luck .

JK505

I respectfully disagree sir. I have full intentions of replacing both the bumper and tire carrier completely. I don't give a damn about the bearing after that!

CO Jeeper

@ JK505. Thanks for following up and letting me know you haven't had any more issues. My swing arm does feel a lot more solid now that I am able to close it further (that last 1/4" is key). I'll run it without the hitch pin for a little while to see if I'm good/lucky too (I'd like not to have to mess with a temp solution).

@ donnie. I have a feeling you're going to be right about the bearings; as solid as a Tommy Callahan guarantee.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MGTq0QHWCQ It seems like it would be a PITA to replace the bearings (let alone removing everything to get to the bearings) but I will give the Body Armor replacements a try once then maybe look at getting different bearings or something. But that droop just drives me (especially having it happen so quickly).

If Body Armor suggests anything useful...I will definitely post it.