damn i was hopin for more progress pics

 

alright already

Okay here is what I am doing progress-wise.
So it is a bolt on Tacoma 4 link from Cando. But I'm welding it onto my 92. So these are the lower bar mounts:

So I want to weld them onto the the bottom of the frame. So I added some 3/16 inch steel (5 inch wide) to make a flat surface under the frame:

Here's a look underneath on the pass. side:

 

more pics

here is the driver's side underneath smoothed and flat:

here is another weld that I like the looks of:

And a shot of the bag location. I will need to cut out some metal to run the airline and tighten bolts for the bags:

 

Today

The 3/16 inch I put on the bottom is going to get cut down to the width of the frame except for where the bags are. There is will be wider to allow the bag to sit nicely (surface area).

Today I welded the lower bar mount on the bottom of the 3/16. It is hard to do because it is virtually an upside down weld.


If anyone with some knowledge with welding can help me out, I am wondering if I should give the lower mounts another pass. I welded it with the MIG set for 1/4 inch steel (mounts are 1/4 inch onto 3/16 inch). The metal was almost dripping in some spots. Any tips or help? The Miller handbook has this page where it reads to make a pass for each 1/8 in metal:

 

PM Bernie, he can help you or I'm sure he will chime in tonight.

 

i say they'll be just fine (just grind off the spots where the weld dropped out). and if thats your first attempt at an overhead weld good job! i've done weld test with potential hires that couldn't do it that well.

and just for info we always used this formula for welding two different thickness materials.

T= Tx 1.75T

T is the thinnest material being welded.

so 3/16 is the thinnest material 3/16= .188

so basically to be "proper" it would be:

for .188=.188x (1.75).188 or .188=.188x.329 fillet (.188" fillet on the 3/16" and .329" on the 1/4")

anyways it's not too critical on stuff this thin. we would mainly use the formula on thicksteel that required a ton of passes

 

Plating

Yea that would be one of my very first upside down welds. I guess that make me look good hahaha.
I cut out part of my crossmember to put the frame sides in:

I will add some new metal with a 2" pipe to run airlines, wires or whatever through the crossmember:

And I did some more work on the rear part:


I'm buying a new box for it tomorrow. $800 for a rust free box. From the Toyota dealer it is $875 per bedside.

 

Rust free box

800 dollars and a 2 hour round trip later:



I am not liking the idea of cutting holes for the notches. I might tear into my new box and raise the bed floor. And use spacers to lift the bed up until I want to bd the cab.

 

loving the welds!
looks like your MIG knows how to properly handle the frame.
damn cheapo MIG of my friends is kinda... weak lol

 

Starting to look like something

Well, today I did a few more things. It sure has been hot lately. I put my tailgate on to see how it looks. And that black plastic thing in the bed is from an atv rear container dealy thing a ma jig.

My air tank's position:

I made these mounts for it today:

 

major holes



Any suggestions on what to do with this area?

 

replacement panel from donor cab?

or some sheetmetal and hammer dolly

or cut it off and just door the truck

 

Dang man its coming along pretty good. So at this rate you should be down by the end of the week. Keep it up man

 

waiting 4

So right now I am waiting for a GM style high output alternator from LCE. And my 20inch x 7.5 wide MSR 087 rims. And a set of CanDo Specialties tubular a arms with ball joints.

 

gas tank

I made some mounts to raise my gas tank above the rails.



I had to trim a lil of the cab above the front of the gas tank:


I bought some air line. Today I am going to finish drilling the holes for the airbags to mount.

 

lookin real good!

 

today

Today I used my MIG as a torch to enlarge my holes that I drilled. They weren`t straight of course lol. I set it to weld 5 sixteenth and it melted right through
So then I got my bags in, hooked up some airline and did an air up test. Then I threw the box on temporarily to see how it looks. It looks cool.

 

man i've been in a few situations at work where i had to use the stick welder as a torch. never pretty, but saved my ass

it looks good with the bed. from what i can see in the second pic the notch cover looks awesome! did you drill the sheet?

 

bangin on sheetmetal

Today I began to make a roll pan. All I have for tools are: a rubber mallet, some clamps and a metal table edge.
That notch cover is an exhaust shroud from a tugboat

 

looks good. i like that tugboat cover on there. its different.