Closed - Internal Stiffeners

Definitely IN and good to pay a deposit, as needed. Just let me know what you want for deposit and will send. Thanks!

 

Appreciate you checking in!

The part would've been needed for next month's brackets but this new brake will take care of those now

Almost forgot to let the other person know I'm good now

 

Your name was included earlier, but bumped you to the other list

 

Put me down for a deposit if it helps you cover initial inventory. I know steel ain't that cheap, even if you buy it locally.

 

You already have it covered if you are putting in four holes (circled in photo below). Those holes allow the part in the upper right corner to be mounted horizontal or vertical, you just have to measure out where to drill through the bedside per the 4WP directions accordingly.

 

See page 5.

 

In for the F-bomb bottle opener parts only

 

My job here is done.

 

So, just got done tidying up the shop a bit.

Need to head out and grab myself some well-earned Taco Bell

I'll post pictures and updates after I get some food in me but let's just say, that took quite a bit of adjusting to get everything lined up in a manner that would help facilitate for an easy install

There were plenty of adjustments made, including another bracket that requires bending that wasn't originally mentioned.

And to add, HUGE thanks to @Sand_In_My_Taco

He didn't only stick around for hours to lend me his truck, he was a big hand in being my second set of eyes for measuring and mounting stuff up as well as drilling into his truck

This community is absolutely awesome

 

Anytime!

 

Being that we got right to work on the truck, we didn't get many pictures *during* so I snapped a few at the last half hour of work.

To start, tail light removal is simple as it's held by 2x 10mm bolts.

I was being quite gentle with the tail light, but you really need to give it a hard yank to get the two locating pins out that hold it in place so just an FYI if you've never pulled them out.

Followed by removing said bulbs out of the housing.

The first small hiccup we ran into was the slightest bend here underneath/backside of the bed.



Not as visible to see in this picture but here is the angle needed to fit flush against the inside.



The L bracket itself though, fits just fine although I may enlarge the big opening there by 1/16".

The inner bracket with a 90 degree bend is the one we toyed with most, and rather than toying with 3/16" material (expensive), I opted to add spacers to make up for the actual thickness needed.

I was supposed to just "tack" these





Now, this is important to know for everyone watching.

We decided to use 4WP instructions for measuring 2" from the leading edge for our hole.

One common thing I've read is how people were having to drill large holes, using a step bit even, for lining up the holes to match the brackets.

This is how we measured 2" from the leading edge - keep in mind this is the DRIVER SIDE so the right edge is where 0 starts (towards the cab).



Another thing to note for those watching.

To measure up from the bottom of the bed, you need to ensure you are measuring from the metal.

It is also very important to measure from the lower portion.

There is a slight "hump" closer towards the tailgate, and it drops as you move forward towards the cab.

For the center of the bottom hole, we measured 10 3/16" from the bottom up from the green.



Best way to do this is put up your rule, mark a line, then draw a line straight across as shown here.

You will see it measures at 10 3/16" for the center of the bottom hole.



I assume it's these small details that have given other members issues.

Lastly, look at the exterior bracket with the opening for a tie down below.

Placing the exterior bracket against the bed tells us how large of an opening we can really start with as about a quarter of that opening is covered by the bed itself.



Wouldn't have been able to do this without @Sand_In_My_Taco truck being here, and especially with his help in getting things done. Was a 3 hour drive just to come to my house so he wanted to ensure I took all the time I needed to make this work for everyone.

Just glad to now have a "master" mocked up set.

To aid in getting these done though, I did invest some of my own money for one of these.



Poor UPS guy.

I went out immediately with a dolly and he just grunted as he put down the 100lb box

Was 103 degrees outside and I definitely didn't want him walking it up to my garage so I wanted to help any way I could.

 

Sooo…. Can I stop by and you install it? Maybe Monday or Tuesday afternoon? I just left Montana and I’m visiting my in-laws in Idaho. I’m also visiting a buddy in Portland tomorrow for the evening. I’ll gladly double-back and drive through. Funny enough, I used to be a Marine Recruiter in Bakersfield a few years ago.

 

Ha Semper Fi brother!

I'll have to put in some work tomorrow to get a few parts cut out of 3/16"

Going to pace myself first to get the first set or two made, and compare them to the master set.

After which I can better gauge how long it'll take me to create repeatable results and amp up production - I'm still just a one man shop!

 

With the brake here, it's relieving to know that I wouldn't have to add much to the bracket being bent.

In order for the piece to be fully supported, I simply need to extend the tab on one end by 5/16" to fit the bottom die.



And also, another member chimed in about keeping it low profile and adding tie downs themselves.

I bought the very set linked in this thread and they just arrived; can confirm the hole size is a perfect match.





So, you don't need to buy them from me but I'll have 4 on hand (enough for 2 sets) in case anyone wanted to go that route instead.

 

Side tracking in my own thread

Just had to try out the brake real quick so I grabbed one of those 16 gauge test pieces and bent it in half.

Have to say, 16 gauge with a relief cut is pretty damn easy to bend so I was pleasantly surprised at how much tighter the bend radius is when using actual press brake tooling.

Here's the mocked up piece, with relief cut.



Here's a solid piece, bent on the brake.



And the two stacked.

You can see the smaller bend radius easily on the bottom piece.



The "silver" coloring is the metal being stretched as it's bent.

Excited to produce tighter bends on 3/16" than I'm used to when I owned my full swag kit.

 

The bend on the bracket is the only wildcard IMO.

Fortunately we *should* have eliminated everything that could have popped up.

These should be good to go...

You will need to finalize how the "external" part of the support looks, extra functionality, etc.

A bottle opener there would be pretty sweet.

 

After we realized how much room we actually have to work with, in keeping things aesthetically pleasing, it almost makes more sense to incorporate a bottle opener at the edge (towards the cab) as two other members pointed out here in the group.

I should add, I've got some 2" x 3" rectangular tubing.

Might have to cut a piece down and use it as a "mock up" truck bed for mounting the exterior part to and playing with overhang and such.

 

Keep doing good work, brother!! Just thought I'd throw out that I could be there in a few days. No worries if that doesn't work out. Either way, ready and willing to support the cause.

 

Do appreciate that very much though!

Like I had mentioned to someone else via PM, I won't be taking any deposits at all until all items A through Z are figured out on my end.

I love what I do, and I don't want to make it a "job" I won't enjoy so I like to pace myself with these things.

First batch made will indeed be for those that place deposits though.

Last steps before final production are -

1. Setting up and cutting 3/16" based on the revised parts (they've gone through 3 more revisions now after the above DWG has been posted), essentially making a single complete set which includes bending necessary parts and welding on the hardware

2. Sending them out to @Sand_In_My_Taco for them to be installed for final fitment check

He's handy and more than capable as a DIYer so if there are any adjustments needed, he'll do what he can on his end and get back to me so I can apply those fixes to the final product (if any).

I will be posting pictures and progress in this thread though so you'll all see it happen as I go.

 

I’m in for deposit.