Another failure from CBI Offroad.
I've run into problems with CBI before - both with their customer service when I was initially installing my rear bumper, as well as customer service when the latch that keeps the two swingouts closed, failed.
This time, I was driving along the bumpy roads of the Whipple Mountains when I noticed that the Trasharoo was hanging at an odd angle off of my spare tire. This isn't unusual - all the jostling tends to move it around a bit - so after snapping a quick photo of some fantastic landscape, I set the camera down to adjust it.
The entire tire moved with the Trasharoo.
Knowing something was wrong - and assuming it was that the lug nuts holding the tire to the tire carrier had come loose - I removed the Trasharoo and discovered that the lug nuts were tight, but that the welds on the tire carrier itself had sheared.
That's not right. And it's also not good!
I'd done some welding on the tire carrier when I shed weight from the Tacoma, so initially I figured that it was my crappy welding that'd failed. After a bit more inspection however, I realized that it was CBI's welds that had failed. In fact, it seemed to me - a completely uneducated welder - like they'd probably gotten the whole thing too hot, as the sheering - along more than 15 inches of weld - followed a scalloped pattern, right along the edge of the weld itself.
With no way to permanently fix the issue on the trail, I considered my options:
- Stand the tire up along in the back of the bed - I didn't like this option because it would roll back and forth - smashing into the bed sides - as I turned left and right.
- Rearrange all my boxes in the bed in order to lay the tire down - this just seemed like a lot of work.
- Whip out the ratchet straps, which seem to be able to fix just about anything.
Ratchet straps for the win!
The straps worked wonderfully - again - and I completed the trip without issue. Well, without any issues until I realized that in order to fix this thing, I'd need to get it home. Even that wouldn't have been a big deal were it not for the fact that I was headed home on Spirit Airlines, where the motto is, "of course $27 flights are safe?"
After a quick lunch, I unbolted the tire carrier and stuffed it into my backpack. TSA is going to love this!
Go figure - I got through TSA and Spirit Airlines with way less trouble than when I've tried to carry an avocado on the plane or "sneak" a pair of fingernail clippers in my carry-on.
Then, it was time to get to work.
The operation was straight forward. Cut the tire carrier apart where CBI's welds had failed. Grind everything flat. Use the Miller 211 metal melter to glue everything back together. Paint.
I don't usually cut with only my left hand, but someone needed to snap a photo!
After cutting everything off, I discovered that where the top weld had failed, so had the backing plate.
Cutting and grinding done. Cracks ground out. Time for melting of metal.
Geeze, I'm even worse than I used to be at this.
I have no idea if my welds are going to last longer than the five years I got out of the ones from CBI, but given that none of the welds I'd made to the tire carrier when I'd modified it a few years ago showed any signs of fatigue, my guess is that they'll be just fine.
Now the only challenge is hoping that my luck will hold out and that I can get this thing through security again, and back onto the Tacoma!
A quick note:
Though I've had several problems (both QA and customer service) with CBI, the rear bumper has generally performed well, and I do generally like the way it looks, so on balance, I'm still glad I added it to the Tacoma.
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Saw that when you first posted it a few days ago and looked like the metal wasn't up to the task, not heavy enough for the job. Hopefully you got it fixed for a while and your welds look pretty good to me, better than a lot of the commercial welds I've seen.
I'd better check mine...I have the same bumper and spare carrier from CBI.
What thickness is the tire carrier portion made from?
Personally, I feel 1/4" is needed to carry a 33" plus size tire for hundreds of off road miles. Can probably get away with 3/16.
The cbi welds look pretty. Nice and consistent stack of dimes, but once it's painted/powdercoated you can't see anything as far penetration.
It's 3/16" on the CBI carrier (at least, on the one I've got from 2018). That seemed like a reasonable side to me for a 33" tire, but I'd definitely want to go to 1/4" for something larger.