Krypto's Camping/Expedition Build

[Kryptoroxx]

I'm very strongly considering doing this for my extremely sad lookin sunfire red pearl truck. How much was the factory tint, did you just get it from the dealer?

I purchased my tint from the bumper store on amazon. Price was about 90 bucks for enough tint to do 2 gallons. I didn't even try the dealer but I don't have a dealer near me at all.

Flux is fine for most things if you are willing to clean up the mess, it makes a big mess and generally flux welds aren't as pretty as gas welds! It's also nice when welding outside where a gas shield would blow away.

Cool thanks for the tip! My welds look horrible anyway so flux couldn't hurt anyway lol.

I do however weld outside though almost all the time so maybe it will help.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

I have the Hobart Handler 140 welder also. I've been very happy with it. I have only used flux core with mine, but it works fine. Like said above, there is some cleanup needed, but I heard you get better penetration with the flux core, which is important.

I've built bumpers, skidplates, roof rack, etc with mine. It is a good little welder. Can't wait to see what you build with yours.

Cool! I love your build man. Great fab work. I have thought about your plans but what I would love to have is a design for a winch plate that has been tested lol. I would hate to build a good looking bumper and then rip it off when I needed it to work.

 

[Bandit Runner]

Cool! I love your build man. Great fab work. I have thought about your plans but what I would love to have is a design for a winch plate that has been tested lol. I would hate to build a good looking bumper and then rip it off when I needed it to work.

I get what you are saying, but I can assure you the the winch plate design is very robust. Winch plate and all mounting brackets are made from 1/4" steel, and are tied together via multiple connection points. 10 bolts (all 1/2" diameter) secure the mounting brackets to the truck's frame. If you make quality welds on the bumper, I believe the truck frame would rip apart before the bumper would fail.

FWIW: I have sold my bumper plans to almost 20 customers so far, many of them running winches. I've never heard of one complaint.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

I get what you are saying, but I can assure you the the winch plate design is very robust. Winch plate and all mounting brackets are made from 1/4" steel, and are tied together via multiple connection points. 10 bolts (all 1/2" diameter) secure the mounting brackets to the truck's frame. If you make quality welds on the bumper, I believe the truck frame would rip apart before the bumper would fail.

FWIW: I have sold my bumper plans to almost 20 customers so far, many of them running winches. I've never heard of one complaint.

Oh I don't doubt your plans at all. I just have ideas for my bumper to try and keep it light and strong. I have the 4 banger so I'm lacking a few ponies lol!

I just don't want to skimp too much on the winch plate and destroy either the winch or the truck.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Subscribed. Cool thread man.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

This is an exciting build! Can't wait to see more on the roll bar. I put one in my 4Runner and painted it Imperial Jade Mica to match the truck. Gives it a kind of stock look. So far I have a shovel mounted to it. I'm going to add a shelf, axe, and high lift mount to it soon.

I'm getting there lol. I highly doubt it will happen this weekend but perhaps next weekend. Since I have my welder and I picked up all the steel I need to build my welding table and then I put together a sketch for a welder cart made from scrap. The steel came to 80 bucks after 12ft of 2x2x.120 and another 7ft of 1x2x.060. That wasn't too bad though for out in the desert like I am. I have the rest of what I need in scrap. Hopefully I can weld it all up Saturday and Sunday leaving the rest of the holiday season to work on the shelf.

I still need a little bit o steel but it shouldn't be much. I need 2 pieces of 1x1/8 plate to weld to the sides of my shelf that are 30" long. I think I saw something like that at the metal shop but it's kinda small. At least the guys that work there are friendly and helpful. For anyone who gets stuck out in the 29 area like I have it's Vagabond Welding Supply. Decent prices on just about everything.

 

[richmeyer]

I like where this thread is going. Keep at it! And of course, thank you for your service.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

*Late night update*

Got most of the steel cut and started figuring out how I'm going to build a cart out of scrap. The table I am welding Sunday with a friend. He can weld lots better than I and I need some help if I am going to get it completely level. I was trying to figure out if there was a way I could make it adjustable without shims.....like a hydraulic setup. Eh I can figure that out later.

I received my copy of solidworks in the mail too. Very excited to start learning it. CAD really makes all the difference in the world for making stuff.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

Another late night update (well at least for me I'm up past my bedtime lol)

Got a lot of work done and yet not a lot of work done. I put together most of the cart which is a good thing but what I was working hardest on was my technique. I find it difficult to take my time during a weld although when I forced myself to do it my welds came out noticeably better....but they still need work. I won't be happy till I'm stacking dimes though.


So building something out of scrap when your scrap pile is tiny....harder than I thought.

Why is my overhead better than my horizontal? I dunno. I hope consistency will come with time.

Getting better

This is where I got to tonight. Still need to add the casters, bottle holder, mig gun holster, and a hook so I can store the ground wire and wire feed. I'm adding a shelf above it if I can as well but that can come at a later time if need be. I'm happy I got this far. After I get done with all that I will make the ugly welds look pretty and paint it. I actually am pleased with the design and it does hold the little 140 however I got out of square and level with the single beam support design. I'm out by less than 1/8" but it still bugs me.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

Another update that has nothing to do with the 4runner. I have mostly finished the table. I am adding some drawers to it and a shelf. I might go with different casters since the table is 39". It should be fine with most of my projects for welding not being very tall. Anyway here's the pic of it. It's surprisingly square and level (it's my second project and 4th time welding) so I'm pretty pleased.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

This update has setting to do with the 4runner. Every time I go to kh metals I always find everything I need at a great price. I'm finishing 5 projects for 200 bucks in metal. Man I love welding lol.

Just finished this to assist with the cuts on my top rack. Simple but it's effective and square. Lining up 12 ft sticks of square tube will be a bigger problem than making straight cuts at least.

 

[Dezert4Runner]

I got one of these for the same purpose. Also got a Harbor freight angle grinder on sale for $10 after coupon to dedicate to it, that way I can use my Makita for grinding/ flap disk duties. Sadly, haven't had the chance to use it...yet.

Portable Generators, Pressure Washers, Power Tools, Welders | Northern Tool + Equipment

You're table's looking good! That may be my first project here shortly since a pre-fab'd table is hundreds of dollars. What guage is the top and where did you get the drawer?

 

[owyheerat]

Ingenious!!!

[/QUOTE]

This is an awesome idea. I like your build and all your mods.

Durwin

 

[Kryptoroxx]

[MENTION=68460]Dezert4Runner[/MENTION] [MENTION=102168]owyheerat[/MENTION]

Thanks!

Honestly the top is thin at 1/4" (I found this out after it was built) but that's what I had so I used it. I would love to get my hands on 1/2" or 1" but $$$$$$!!!

The drawer I cut out of a cheap cabinet lol. The rest of the cabinet is going in another project.

I should start the outer frame this weekend provided I feel better. I've got this nagging cold going on.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

Wow I never thought a roof rack could be so tedious. There has to be a few that were thinking to themselves "he's gonna hate life with all of those angles". Anyway the outer frame is done but I have to bust two welds tomorrow for it to lay flat. Luckily those were the only two affected by the heat.

I wish my welding table would have been a lot bigger today and completely flat. That would have helped a lot but so would 100k cash so as I digress....on to the pics!

 

[Kryptoroxx]

More work got done today. Lots more!

 

[derpiful]

Two questions:

How much do you think it's going to cost total for the roof rack? Looking into doing something similar.

How are you going to mount it? From what I've seen in the previous posts, you're building spacers/mounts, but do those bolt on or what?


Other than that, I love all of your projects!

 

[Kryptoroxx]

Two questions:

How much do you think it's going to cost total for the roof rack? Looking into doing something similar.

How are you going to mount it? From what I've seen in the previous posts, you're building spacers/mounts, but do those bolt on or what?


Other than that, I love all of your projects!

Right now I'm in for 75 bucks in steel and I had to get another spool of wire so that's 50 (10lbs). Pretty sure I won't need any more steel but I'm concerned about how narrow the rack is when I get my rocket box up there. I might have to widen it by 3 or 4 inches but that's the limit. After I test it out I might consider some expanded metal however that stuff isn't cheap...or light.


As for mounting right now I am planning on channel steel 1.5x.75x.12. The rear will bolt into the stock rail locations and the front will be sitting loose on rubber feet but I might stick them on with vhb tape. Hopefully I don't have to come up with plan b or c.

 

[Kyogie]

More work got done today. Lots more!

Love this build and projects! Keep up the good work man. Also love to see someone getting into welding for personal projects. Biggest regret about shutting down my garage and moving into a new space without one is the lack of welding space. I've thought about doing it in the backyard and building a structure...but it just doesn't seem to work out without endangering the house or neighbors. Keep it up.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

[MENTION=117016]Kyogie[/MENTION] thanks!! I enjoy almost every minute of it. I like taking my ideas and making them a reality. Also, much to the disbelief of my wife, my family will eventually get to enjoy the trips....all 4 of us.

Small update as I kind of hit a snag of sorts. I need to reinforce the roof before I mount this sucker. I suppose I don't have to....but to do it right I will. So currently I have the headliner dropped and I will be installing 3/16x1" flat bar on the underside of the roof to help distribute the weight more evenly. This also changes my mounting plan to bolting all the feet on the rack. Should be quite interesting to see how it all works out. Luckily I think a p I piece of steel like that costs around 20 bucks. Toss in another 10 for hardware and that is the added cost.

A picture of what chaos looks like lol