Not much Tacoma left.. 4500 koh build

Think I got the last of the tubes in the rear and the rear bumper done. The interwebs told me the bumpstops would rip out of the frame so ran two tubes down that the bump can will weld to the back of.

Few other gusset tubes and some side pieces around the tire to give it a more complete look and a rear bumper. A 37 should sit just inside of it. It’s kicked up about 8*

 

And Seats showed up. Got that gator

 

Welded out the rear of the truck the best I could. I’m hoping when the body comes off I can roll it on the sides to do the bottoms instead of laying on my back. Got everything capped and got the radius tube gussets I want in on the back and front and got the ones for in the cab cut but I’ll wait till I weld all that out. And then milled the wilwood calipers ears to center the rotor.

this bolt got cut shorter after the picture

 

Did you ever see the on u-tube about the guy that used two engine stands to make a rotisserie?

 

I’ve seen a few different ones. I have two engine stands so maybe if I can make one with two plates bolted to the stands and some tube tacd from plates to the front and rear bumper I’ll do it. I imagine the car will be pretty heavy for that though and don’t want to spend a ton of time trying to make something

 

OP,
I’m sure you know that you need to weld solid 1/4” to 1/2” round or square to the very leading edge and trailing end of the bumpers? I actually seen one builder who machined off 1/2” to 3/4” square so that the leading edge was a sharper point.

To others members can you figure out why off road racers do this?

 

I kept the bumper simple incase it gets smashed in. Not sure how aggressive these guys are but I may get some of the split tube stuff from ruffstuff to weld on for the rear and front bumper and bottom of the sliders

 

From what I've seen, when they come upon a slower car they honk a loud horn a couple of times then give a bump if they don't move over.
Have not seen much harder hits but tempers do flare from time to time.

 

Yeah we will see if they’re that nice. I also built it planning on people pushing in the rocks to help get up stuff if hung up.

 

radiator mount

 

Well I will answer my question.
The first time I saw this I asked why the points on the front and rear bumpers.
The gentleman who answered was the co-driver and he said that will kink the bumpers of the
competitors vehicle rather than have yours folded in. He said the driver will give the drivers of other vehicles a warning and a chance to let us pass. But if they don’t move over we do like NASCAR and give them the bumper!l

 

Not sure I follow what you mean by points. Almost all the offroad racing organizations don’t allow any kind of points/spikes etc on the front/rear bumpers and sides for safety reasons and to prevent cars from getting hooked together/cause unnecessary damage. I’d be pretty pissed if I nurfed someone and took a tire or cooler out cause they didn’t want to move and had points to cause damage.

 

Sorry but you are misunderstanding what I’m trying to say. It’s an harder sharper points than just a round tube so when they hit or get hit the tube bumper will not fold in. The point will kink the other vehicles round tube bumper. It’s a design that helps protect there bumpers.
It’s not a round spike or point out but runs the length of the tube / bumper. Maybe it’s been outlawed now I don’t know but the last time I saw a trophy truck up close these front, lets call them braces were welded across the length of the tube / bumper. How’s the saying go? Rubbing Is Racing?
I will see if I can find a close picture of this and come back and post it. Again the first time I saw this I asked the co-driver why and he explained real quickly it’s there to protect our bumpers and not the “competitors”. That’s the word he used. Again maybe it’s been outlawed now.

*Edit*
Well it looks like the practice has been banned or outlawed now.

. Rounded Edges: All bumpers and nerf bars must have rounded edges…

. Score specifies: A minimum of 1.5 inches in diameter with a minimum thickness of 0.095 inches.

Again what I was trying to explain was what I saw back in the day. It was designed to add strength to your bumper and to cause your opponents bumper/s to bend I presume / understand… Now again I wasn’t trying to start anything it was something I saw back in the day. You know history when you are history…

 

Been practicing tig welding. Torch angle is the main thing I feel I have issue with which is causing me to have issues with the filler rod and moving to slow. Had lots of good suggestions and no shame in posting. Decent progress for just 3-4 hours of practice.

First picture is some of the first one. Second set of coupons are after some suggestions. 3rd set is 3/16 to .120 wall tubing. I struggled with that and the heat and filler.

 

Finished welding the radiator mount. There’s two neighbor hood kids that asked to learn to weld and fabricate so they’ve come over a few days. Told them I’d save the wing for them to practice welding on since it’ll get ground smooth and blended. Finished the rear bumpstops and some other welding including the strike pad for the bumps. They are a little narrow so I’ll add another piece.