New From Va.

[hillbillytoy]

Hello all! I am new to the site and just wanted to ask for some advice. I have a 1987 Toyota pick-up SR5 single cab, short bed, with a 22-RE that I have equipped with a bunch of goodies.

I recently pulled the bed off to do some frame work ( I ripped the front of the rear spring hanger on the passenger side from the frame, jumping stumps and muddin' in the woods. Good times ) in the process of removing the bed I ripped it all to pieces, not that I didn't know what I was doing, but the previous owner had bondo'd the snot out of it!

So I began looking for ways to fix my problem, I decided to custom build a tube-frame flatbed out of Sq40 stainless, kinda like the one all-pro offroad has, but in my own way, its coming along great, except I noticed the spring on the passenger side of the truck is sagging about an inch lower than the driver side.

I know the spring hanger is in the right place, my thought was that all those years of the gas tank being on that side of the truck has caused the spring to sag.

I'm pondering whether I should put the tank back in its stock location or if I should go ahead and fabricate some mounts to put it in the center of the frame rails right behind the cab, to even out the weight for the future, the truck has a 3" body lift under the cab with 33X13.50-15 swamper LTB's. I plan a straight front axle swap with 6" all-pro springs in the near future so I don't want to replace the stocks until then, I also don't want the new springs to do the same thing, any input would be great!

[bowshtr]

Wow, thats an expensive way to go with your tube bed. Stainless?? I guess if you got the money and the welding skills it would be pretty nice to have.

Personally if i were to make a flat bed type bed i would mount the fuel tank behind the cab or put in a fuel cell and get rid of the stock tank. I think i would also try to incorporate some sort of tool box into the bed. Maybe recessed down in the bed.

A 3 inch body lift and all-poo 6" springs is gonna be one hell of a tall truck. Im runnin full width dana's along with 3 inch body and 5 inch trail-gear springs and my shit is wayy tall but being full width i can get away with a lil extra lift.

[hillbillytoy]

Yeah stainless is $$$$ but my dad is a welder/pipe fitter and he got ahold of some scrap 2" and 1.5", so all we had to do was get some 90's and cut them to what ever angel we needed, and I now know how to tig pretty damn good and trust me I'm not made of money just doing what I can with what I got

I like the idea of a fuel cell, but can I get one that will work with my stock in-tank pump? or how would I go about doing that? I would like one that holds about 20 gallons

[94cnytoy]

"he got ahold of some scrap 2" and 1.5", so all we had to do was get some 90's and cut them to what ever angel we needed"

Sorry, never heard of doing anything but residential plumbing that way.
No bender?

Stew

[hillbillytoy]

when I said "I'm not made of money just doing what I can with what I got" I wasn't lying, hey it will work till I get a hydraulic bender. It would have made it alot easier, but I'm just gonna be optimistic and say... ummm... at least it gives me a chance to perfect my tig skills. lol

[hillbillytoy]

[hillbillytoy]

It was cheaper than buying a fiberglass bed. It will do for now. It's not close to being finished, I just wanted to give you an idea. What do you think?

[94cnytoy]

"what do you think?"

Hell, if the job comes out tight enough, get tricky and use the frame for an air tank.
Besides, can't beat free training on stainless.
What spec stainless anyway?

Stew

[bowshtr]

You need to add some gussets and some triangulation to strengthen it up some. But hell you got a great start and a great idea! Keep it rollin! I cant to see when shes all done!!!!!

I got bored and couldnt sleep so i played around with paint some to give you maybe an idea or two and maybe someone else here that knows more about tube and cage work can either rip me or add to the ideas. Again they are ideas...and done at 11 at night on paint.



I love the bucket. Looks like something i would do. But there is a simple addition to what you got for strength etc. There could be some more but i didnt want to overdo simple.



Here is something that would be much harder to do without a bender but can be done. Since you are making something that is attacted to the frame that will aid in saftey incase of a roll over, you might want to do it half right even tho you said you are limited. I dont know how much materials you have but you can definately add to what you got!!!!

[hillbillytoy]

The section running from frame rail to frame rail vertically with the cab is made of 2", as is the piece that is running horizontally down the frame rails

the pipe running from the top of the vertical to the back of the horizontal is made of 1.5" stainless

I'm working on the side fenders now, that will be 6" higher than the center portion of the frame rail, which will give me about 8.5" from the top of my tire to the bottom of the pipe on the outside of the fenders

All of the stainless I'm using is schedule 40 which I think is about 0.25" wall, my dad knows more about it than I do, he's been a welder for like 30 years, so if you have anymore questions feel free to ask me, I might just have to ask him b4 I can get back to you
Thanks!

[bowshtr]

I dont know much about the differences with pipe and tubing, but just remember your working with pipe. Not structural tubing. Tinsel strengths might be a lot different. But...still, i think your doing a great job no matter what materials your using. I think its awsome seeing this thing made from stainless pipe. When do you think you might have her all finished up? One other thing i was wondering, do you plan on painting it or leaving the exposed bare stainless?

[hillbillytoy]

this is the pipe I'm using and the link where I found it

"316L stainless steel is a highly corrosion resistant austenitic alloy that is second only to 304 stainless steel in importance. 316L stainless steel is commonly used in heavy gauge welded components, as it offers higher creep, stress-to-rupture and tensile strength at elevated temperatures".

www.iqsdirectory.com/stainless-steel/

I prob will not get the bed completed for a few weeks ( I'm saving money for some 3/16" aluminum diamond plate ) but I'm going to be taking pictures throughout the project, I'll be posting them on here as I go.

I'm going to leave the stainless showing, just have to put some elbow grease into the finished product after all of the welding is done( that reminds me I need to buy a buffer)

do you know of any good stainless polishes?

Later!