Krypto's Camping/Expedition Build

[Kryptoroxx]

Got my sound deadener in. Very high quality stuff!! I got their b stock on sale so some of you guys that are bigger audiophiles than me might want to give second skin audio a look. I got roughly 80 Sq ft for 240 shipped. They only have specials every now and then but I believe I would pay full price now that I've seen what they consider discount. Also it's made it the USA so another plus. Here are pics of the box. Sadly install will have to wait till another payday so I can get the expanded metal for the top rack.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

A little progress on my tow shackle mounts. I just ordered 2 to make sure they were correct. I will order the other 2 pieces soon so I can finish. Gotta stop by and get the right size dom tubing this time. Good news is though I have a 2' cheater pipe lol.

So a little extra info. The cutter told me he didn't have a lot of 3/16" in stock and asked if I minded he make them out of 1/4" for the same price. I wasn't sure if the bolt would fit through but I figured for 16 bucks shipped it was worth the gamble. Bolts fit fine and I'm rather pleased with the way it welded up. The horrible looking beads were from welding about an inch and then going to the other side. Starts and stops and making it all look like one is really hard! It's a solid weld though. I am looking to get into a co2 tank so I can use solid core wire. I just have a ton of wire left on the flux spool lol.

 

[MTD]

I can say that though because all I have is a flux core welder too haha.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

Yeah I welded the outside of both pieces before going to the inside......kinda hard to weld with that much wire hanging out lol.....but it got done.

I love this little hobart 140. For being a small machine it throws some heat!

 

[Brilliant]

[MENTION=24804]legokcen[/MENTION] used to make shackle mounts.

Do you have a torch to help with the 1/4" on the 110 machine?

 

[legokcen]

I still make the mounts.

Trackdecal.com - Road Course Decals and Motorsports Graphics

Bottom of the page.

I would be careful of the welds. They will be the weakest point. Think of how much weight they'll be trying to pull if you're pulling a vehicle.

 

[legokcen]

3/4" Shackles are rated for 9500 lbs. That's a hell of a lot of weight. Honestly, you need to be careful that welds will hold what you need them to, if you want them functional.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

I still make the mounts.

Trackdecal.com - Road Course Decals and Motorsports Graphics

Bottom of the page.

I would be careful of the welds. They will be the weakest point. Think of how much weight they'll be trying to pull if you're pulling a vehicle.

I appreciate the warning and I have seen what happens when you yank on something less than adequate. As a day job I drive 10x10 trucks. On the back is a 60k straight pull hydraulic winch that gets used for everything and anything. I have snapped, bent, and otherwise mangled all kinds of lift points lol. Usually while trying to make inoperable equipment operate during a mission lol.

I was actually just going to order your mounts till I talked to a buddy of mine who builds prerunners for a living. From his perspective the design you have is just fine and strong but you can approach it from a different angle using plate steel and boxing it frame in while getting the same results. Just to get a second opinion I hit up [MENTION=93512]MojaveMadMan[/MENTION] about it.

Now I am not finished either. The tube still has to be welded into the shackle which is .250 and the plate sticking up will be slowly welded and then hammered around the curve to nearly box the design in. After that I have to drill the holes for the anchor bolts. After that I am confident you could yank on it and it will not fail before you are bending the frame.

 

[T4Tools]

You're trucks looking good. Actually you sound like me. Ocd, random ideas all the time and building things yourself. Reading about your welding reminded me of a few things that helped me. When someone shared it with me, i had an aha moment and couldnt believe the difference. If you can weld without wind, shielding gas is definitely going to make life easier.

When welding with Flux core, it helps to drag the wire through the weld, rather than push like with co2. It allows you to have an arc on the part of the puddle with the least slag build up.


When I weld thick plate using a mig, I put a gap between the two pieces to get better penetration. Something that works well is making a spot weld on one piece where they are going to touch. Then you can set the next piece on it giving you a gap to run your bead.

And the best thing my Dad ever taught me regarding welding. Don't watch the arc, watch the puddle.

Btw, I really like the design of your roof rack.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

You're trucks looking good. Actually you sound like me. Ocd, random ideas all the time and building things yourself. Reading about your welding reminded me of a few things that helped me. When someone shared it with me, i had an aha moment and couldnt believe the difference. If you can weld without wind, shielding gas is definitely going to make life easier.

When welding with Flux core, it helps to drag the wire through the weld, rather than push like with co2. It allows you to have an arc on the part of the puddle with the least slag build up.


When I weld thick plate using a mig, I put a gap between the two pieces to get better penetration. Something that works well is making a spot weld on one piece where they are going to touch. Then you can set the next piece on it giving you a gap to run your bead.

And the best thing my Dad ever taught me regarding welding. Don't watch the arc, watch the puddle.

Btw, I really like the design of your roof rack.

Thanks for the tips! I will try the welding tip on my next project. It's a little late for the tow shackles but I was able to reach inside the bracket pretty well. I feel confident they will work as designed.

Hopefully the wife will be generous and let me get a tube bender lol.

Thanks on the top rack! Soon it will get expanded metal on top and the interior is coming out too. Gotta get it all done before it gets too hot here in the desert.

 

[scrapper]

nice build, its good to see guys who " go their own" and make their own stuff. i even like how you have made a lot of your own tooling. i wish i was not so stubborn or OCD or such a perfectionist... i probably could of saved myself thousands of dollars if i had done more of my mods from scratch like that. keep up the good work!

I concur. I have always envied guys who can do that.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

I concur. I have always envied guys who can do that.

I appreciate the support man! Takes a lot longer to build but I feel better about it in the end. I was hoping to get the other cut pieces of the tow shackle mount by this weekend but it didn't happen.

I did however manage to go get the sheet of expanded metal. 60 bucks but I think it will be a worthwhile addition to the top rack. First I have to find out where the whistle is coming from though.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

So a bit more progress on a couple different projects. I have a slowly growing pile of parts that might eventually end up in a tbu and rear disc conversion, york 210 oba, and some other odds and ends but $$ is what it is and I'm not going to stop saving for retirement because I want a loaded truck lol.

Anyway my mini rant is over. Progress....

I found the howling area of my roof rack. I guessed right the first time luckily so I will be adding a box of sorts to the front of my roof rack hopefully stopping the noise. Now I need some sheet metal lol.

I was able to fit the shackle brace today and finish up one of the tow shackles. I was hoping to have the other sides this weekend but that gives me something to do next weekend lol.

All finished grinding and ready for drilling. The rest will wait till next weekend. This thing is stout though. I am going to add a flat "bash" plate where it looks thin and then blend it in. I'm pretty happy so far.

 

[Bandit Runner]

Sorry, but I have to ask - When you had the plates cut out for the shackle mounts, why didn't you just have them cut out of 1" thick material and save yourself all that welding?

No offense, and I'm sure they will turn out great, but I don't see the advantage of the way you are doing it.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

Sorry, but I have to ask - When you had the plates cut out for the shackle mounts, why didn't you just have them cut out of 1" thick material and save yourself all that welding?

No offense, and I'm sure they will turn out great, but I don't see the advantage of the way you are doing it.

None taken at all. It's a valid point. I could have had ready made parts shipped in about a week or so and it would have been done and over with.

Laser won't slice through 1" stock. To do 1" a water jet is preferred. I contacted nearly a dozen companies with the capabilities but zero responded back.

I also like welding lol. The more tangible reason though is cost. I made my two brackets for about half the price and I would be shocked to find mine didn't hold up to a lot of abuse. My time is free to me. I don't have a lot to do up in the desert and I would rather get more familiar with solidworks than drink beer or watch TV like a lot of guys do up here.

I designed it to minimize the height and instead of bracing added on later it's built into the sweeping design which adds strength. The bolt heads sit on the corners of the vertices which is another added gusset. If you look at the side profile the leading wall is a reverse slope putting more material to counteract pulling stresses and consequently putting less stress on the bolts themselves and more transferring into the frame.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

Here we go! Want to give them a Lil tug but the shackles fit a little tight. Trying to figure out how to widen them just a tad before so there a hair of play.

Wierd how one came out with a slightly different angle.....the bash plate is an extra layer anyway. I figure they are gonna take a few hits right there.

They hang down about 2 cm farther than the radiator so I am fairly happy with the fit. They maximize ground clearance and approach while providing a hook up without weighing a ton.

Going to paint them soon with some hammer paint from rustoleum. Soon the interior comes out for a good cleaning and the application of 80 something sqft of sound deadening as well as finishing the top rack off. Going to add a wiring conduit through the roof while I'm at it since I know lights are going up there.

 

[Jedrattle]

Nice work!

As a self taught fabber, I would like to pass on a few little tips. Please don't take it as bashing. I learned by doing. I just want to pass on what I've learned. Get yourself some flapper wheels for your grinder. I also have a bigger grinder with a sanding disc set up. With these 2 and a lot of practice, some of your pieces will come out looking almost like they were machined.


Look at the bumper on this.....

The guy that built that...welded plates together, ground down the welds with a 50grit sanding disc, folded by a DA sander. It's amazing! I have started to follow suit and it makes things look a million times better! I hope that helps and keep on it!

 

[Kryptoroxx]

Nice work!

As a self taught fabber, I would like to pass on a few little tips. Please don't take it as bashing. I learned by doing. I just want to pass on what I've learned. Get yourself some flapper wheels for your grinder. I also have a bigger grinder with a sanding disc set up. With these 2 and a lot of practice, some of your pieces will come out looking almost like they were machined.


Look at the bumper on this.....

The guy that built that...welded plates together, ground down the welds with a 50grit sanding disc, folded by a DA sander. It's amazing! I have started to follow suit and it makes things look a million times better! I hope that helps and keep on it!

No offense taken! I have some finishing work to do on them so I will pick up a flapper wheel and give it a go. I always appreciate tips and tricks.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

Finally some trail time!!

This was a great trip! Rattlesnake starts off pretty slow on the fun factor but ended up being a worthy trail. The scenery was amazing as it transitioned from the desert to mountain.

Burns canyon road is pretty much that. A road. Jacoby trail was very short but exciting in places. After those though we were both out of time and split from there. Natalia was giggling a lot and every time I checked on her she was knocked out. The kiddo seat got bounced a few times so I'm sure she got her excitement in. Marc took a lot more pics and video than I but here's my stuff.

Rattlesnake Canyon

This was the only time we used a spotter the whole trail lol.

Burns canyon

Jacoby Canyon

 

[Kryptoroxx]

The other guy got a few more pics of my truck and I also managed to piece my truck back together and finish the tow shackles.

All painted

I even gave her a bath today lol.