Alee891's Radiant Red Build & BS

Daaammnnn! Id say thats pretty good welds for being so long since you have welded lol.

 

Are those welded on? or is that just a bunch of chewing gum holding those on?


















there...mandatory shit talking for photos of your welding done haha


They won't fall off, looks fine to me. Higher heat coulda helped i think. But they will do the job just fine

 

Chewing gum

 

What is the coating on the inner fender well? It looks to be kind of thick.

 

That turned out great, Austin!

How was the plate fit? Any tweaking, or did you just throw them up there and burn them in?

 

I'm not certain what the coating is exactly (previous owner had it installed). It's a thick rubberized material of some sort and was installed on the front and back of the vehicle. The previous owner also had a rubberized coating installed on the rear of the frame... but only out the outer portion. Cleaning it off for the plates took a bit of time and caked up a handful of flap discs.

Thanks, Jason. The plates fit up perfectly. I had to cut a notch in the rear end of the drivers side plate in order to sit flush around a stud that was welded to the frame (I believe it was for the factory bumper ), otherwise we just placed them on and started welding.

 

Good to know! I need to go see how much they run. You don't have a link handy, do you?

 

Cheap:
http://frontrangeoffroadfab.com/tacoma-frame-plates/

 

Awesome. Thanks!

 

Frame plates look good man! I can't decide if I want to do this yet or not. Was thinking about just boxing it instead and setup new shock mounts/u bolt flip at the same time.

 

Exactly what I'm thinking. Maybe pull the bed and just knock it all out like @Squeaky Penguin did.

 

Thanks bud.
If I had the time, tools and funds I would do that! Won't be getting around to a complete rear overhaul for another year or so. Factoring a box kit, new shocks, ubolt flip, possibly new springs - adds up pretty quick. Frame plates were needed before wheeling started, especially now that I have so much weight hanging off the back end.

 

Those look better than my CBI plates too. Mine end at the bed mount and those go all the way to the shackle hanger.

Just don't try to half-ass it the first time. Getting rid of my old shock setup and stuff has cost me a ton of time on this project.

 

It most definitely does. Ideally I want a new pack in the rear before RT and I'm debating on going full setup rear or just a quick and dirty approach. Either way I won't be able to afford good shocks (probably go the 5125 billy route) but it would be nice to not need to pay for u-bolts twice.

 

That was the hardest portion to weld (with the bed on). We don't speak of those welds

 

Did you attend Brett's School for Kids Who Can't Weld Good?

 

I graduated with honors!!

 

Roger that.

I'm going to try to be smart about it. I'm definitely gonna cycle my main leaf ahead of time and nail down where the crossmember and the lowers want to be. I'll probably mock up my shocks too just to be damn sure.

If I get my Kings on the rear here pretty soon I'll have some 5125s that I won't need.

Yours if you want 'em.

 

So you're doing the relocate w/ your Kings?

 

Yep.

10" smoothies with CDC. I'm hoping to get them as vertical as possible in both planes, which is another reason for the BL I did.