DO YOU DO YOUR OWN FAB? LETS SEE YOUR CAGES/BUMPERS/SUSPENSION,ETC...

Theres no "by the book" way to build an offroad truck or prerunner. the beaty is in the creativity.

i wanna see what designs and ideas other people are coming up with to better their trucks offroad ability. I love looking at other peoples work and getting ideas for my own. hopefully this is a pretty fun post

i do all my own fabricating and mods, heres what i got so far on my 2000 tacoma, extended cab, v6, 4x4, 5speed.

im going to be finishing the bed cage this weekend and will deffinetly take plenty of close up pics of the design. i pretty much barely have the basic skeleton up right now, so im going to be putting in some serious shop time this weekend

 

can you take more pics of the rear bumper like without the spares in there. i want to resess my dual spares as much as possible and want to see how you have done it

 

Here is the bumper me and my dad made.

 

Oh the things I could make with a brake press...

 

if i am understanding correctly; you want your spares to sit lower into the bed of the truck?

i cut the whole bottom of the bed out so not only would my spares sit lower, but i needed access to the frame so i could weld the tubing for the cage to it. eventually the whole bed will be gone and there will just be a bunch of tubing, fuel cell, 2 spares, and some fiberglass fenders back there

 

Well more or less how far in the are. I know i have to cut the bed and all. I want the tires to be close to flush to the tailgate

 

you and your dad built that from scratch? looks clean man. nice straight even and semetrical. good job

 

ok i understand now. i actually removed the tow package from my truck, and used those bolt holes for the tow package to mount my bumper to the frame using 1/8" C-channel steel. so that determined the height the bottom part of my bumper. the angle of the top bar(bent bumper tube) was based off of where it had to be to meet the spares. when i get home i will give you a detailed list of all the dimensions. glad you like though

 

Thanks. We mocked it up with some cardboard and duck tape first. I was even surprise how straight it came out.

 

ran out of steel, didnt get nearly as much done as i wanted to yesterday because the steel warehouses are closed on the weekends here in vegas. but atleast im halfway done with this bed cage. now i need to find a deal on a fuel cell

 

I made a skid plate and rear shock mounts. Working on a rear bumper..

 

that skid is fresh! i need to build one as well. what kind of sheet metal did you use(how thick)? also i want to relocate my rear shocks too, atleast until i decide to do long travel coilovers and build a trailing arm. do you have any tips or is there anything i should watch out for when i go to remount my rear shocks?

 

finally mounted the the two bars that run vertical behind the cab, but ran out of steel so i wasnt able to mount a crossmember connecting the two pillars at the top of the cage or create the X to support the whole structure so im off to the steel yard after work today. next weekend, ill have the bed area of the cage done. also just finished the rear bumper, probably going to move that license plate though..

heres a picture of my girl leaning on my truck when it was stock 2 months ago

also i welded everything with my 125 amp mig welder with no gas. just stait FCAW (flux core arc welded) everything with .030 flux wire. gona go over all the welds with the wire wheel to knock all the spatter off

 

I'll contribute. I built my half doors, skids, and bed rack. Here are a few pics.





I don't have any good pictures of all the skids installed but here is the bash plate, which was the hardest to make.



And here is the bed rack.

 

awesome work man those doors are bad ass. i wouldnt mind a pair to sport on my ride during the summer time after i finish the cage.

looks like this thread is working out, im getting bad ass new ideas already

 

Skid is 3/16" plate with 3/16" 1"X2" tube.

Make sure you have at least 2-2.5" of travel with the suspension fully stuffed and full droop. If you want I can email you pictures with the measurements I used.

 

yea i think im in the neighborhood of about 10" in the front, not sure about the back tho.. this may sound like a dum question, but what does the travel have to do with the skids?

 

nice work man i can tell youre well equipped with tools and know-how. What leaf springs are you running in the back?

and are you going to cage the inside of your truck too?

by the way, that trailer is f*ckin awesome matching rims too, makes it look super sick. but the license plate my friend is the icing on the cake hahaha .