Tacoma Spare Tire Carrier Build

[Scuba]

After 33's and a bed bob, I need a better way to store the spare than ratchet straps in the bed..

Materials im using :

2x2x3/16ths angle iron
2x2x.095 Square tube
3/16ths remnant plate
3; 12x1.5 wheel studs; Set of locks to fit those studs.


Here's my best paint rendition of what im shooting for..
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a168/Sycosurfer150/tirecarrier.jpg


Here's where im at now..

Bedside supports rounded off
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a168/Sycosurfer150/DSCN1151.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a168/Sycosurfer150/DSCN1152.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a168/Sycosurfer150/DSCN1155.jpg

Thats where im at now.
Hoping to have it done tomorrow afternoon for paint and mount it up before the John Bull run this sunday..
I wont cry if its not done by then but I deff want to give it a test run..

P.S. Anyone noticed I've been around more..? I quit posting on the evil forum, if you were wondering..



:bling:

[X-Tool Pimp]

Why not run the tire up under the bed kinda like how Marlin did his :headscratch:

[Scuba]

Don't know what tour talking about, searched the marlin board and didn't find anything. Got any links..?

I'm already balls deep into this so this is how it's gonna be done, but I'm curious what your talking about

[corax]

just a suggestion - spread the bars out a bit front to back. Since it looks like you already welded them, maybe put some short diagonals in. When you start hitting rough stuff the tire is gonna want to start bouncing/wobbling front to rear which could bend up/crack the bedsides eventually - if that doesn't much matter to you, then disregard.

[Scuba]

Something to that effect was brought up on another forum, What im going to do is have a piece of angle iron ~~6" longer then the supports that are welded, under the bedrails.

If I find my design needs to be reworked after that I will cut my losses..

[Scuba]

Letting the angle grinder cool down and grabbing a bite to eat..

Here's a couple pics

First, I decided to offset the tire to counter taco lean..

Mock up
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a168/Sycosurfer150/DSCN1156.jpg

Second.. I basically ran out of enough 2x2 to use it as ladder supports, So I'm using the angle iron for that now..

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a168/Sycosurfer150/DSCN1157.jpg

Im hoping to have it mainly finnished by tonight for a test run tomorrow..

[X-Tool Pimp]

Don't know what tour talking about, searched the marlin board and didn't find anything. Got any links..?
I'm already balls deep into this so this is how it's gonna be done, but I'm curious what your talking about

He has a full size 37 (I think) mounted under his bed. I try yo find some picts..

Look good BTW

[slosurfer]

I know you put it on that side to counter some of the "lean" you have, but it just killed your rear view. Offset to the driverside would be better for your rear view. You might have already thought osf that, but I thought I'd say it just in case. :D

I think the angle iron like you have it will work great as ladder supports. :thumbup:


One way to combat the forward to rear rocking you may get, is to basically make the angle iron mounts you have about 2.5 x's longer. This will spread the force out over a larger area along the top of your bedrail. You could also then weld some loops along it for convenient tie downs. Keep up the good work. :thumbup:

[Scuba]

Chris, thanks for the input, 2.5X would be..alot.. lol, its pretty close to my toolbox so I would have to go under it...Waiting to see how this holds up..



Update.
Im tired, im exhausted, im dehydrated, but its done and mounted. (Except for paint)
My paint can died on me half way through spraying, didnt run out, just refused to spray.. :chair:

Here's the pics.

After cutting this out with cutoff wheels on an angle grinder, it really makes me want a torch
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a168/Sycosurfer150/DSCN1158.jpg

Rockin the 3 on 5.5 :flipoff:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a168/Sycosurfer150/DSCN1160.jpg

All welded up, Obviously still rockin the flux core.. My welds are getting slightly better..And I did try to get my brush in there, didnt work too well..
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a168/Sycosurfer150/DSCN1162.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a168/Sycosurfer150/DSCN1164.jpg

The taco lean is very much less existent..
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a168/Sycosurfer150/DSCN1165.jpg

:drink:

[Seanz0rz]

go get yourself a softer bristle wire brush, so you can really get in there.

looks good.

[troyboy162]

very nice! Kimi asked about the bud light.....hahahah

[olharleyman]

Just curious but have you had any issues with the cops? That spare is technically out of the bed and could cause you some issues with the man down the road ,I know you have it mounted to the bed and on a wheel catch but sticking up out of the bed like that seems like a no no in your neck of the woods.

[Scuba]

Troy, I wont have any burr with me today..

HarleyMan, Its only been on for <24 hours, So not yet. I actually didnt really think about any legalities with it..

[slosurfer]

Just curious but have you had any issues with the cops? That spare is technically out of the bed and could cause you some issues with the man down the road ,I know you have it mounted to the bed and on a wheel catch but sticking up out of the bed like that seems like a no no in your neck of the woods.


He lives in the land of desert trucks, that get away with some crazy stuff, so I think he'll be fine. It's no different legally than a rear swingout tire carrier. :headscratch:

[DeathCougar]

Did you weld those bars to the thin sheet metal of the bed of the truck?!

[Scuba]

Did you weld those bars to the thin sheet metal of the bed of the truck?!


No I did not, It is bolted to the bed rails..

[Scuba]

It did really well on the trail yesterday, didnt give me any rattling or anything and didnt seem to cause any stress on the bed rails.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a168/Sycosurfer150/DSCN1175.jpg

Although amid some voiced concerns of sturdiness of the bedrails, Im going to switch it up a bit..

Im just going to add 6" of angle iron on each side of the brackets that are there and then triangulate them into the main ladder frame..

Like so
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a168/Sycosurfer150/tirecarrier-1.jpg


That will come later this week..

[freejake3]

That might not help the bedrails as much as gussets from the bedrail to the bottom of the bed so things don't start to spread on you. My bed started to widen from the top so I added a gusset (similar to a bookshelf bracket) running from the inside near the tailgate. I've got it plated inside the tail-light housing as well as below the bed. Let me know if you want pics. Cool design on the tire-carrier:)

[Scuba]

I'm having a really hard time visualizing what your saying Jake, pics would be great..

[X-Tool Pimp]

I'm having a really hard time visualizing what your saying Jake, pics would be great..


X2

[DHC6twinotter]

Scuba, nice tire carrier! I like the idea of adding the gussets like you pictured. :thumbup:

I think Jake is saying he ran a gusset from the top of the bedside to the bottom of the bed. This keeps the bedsides perpendicular to the bed, and it keeps the bedsides from leaning out or spreading. I think.

[slosurfer]

Wait, how is it going to spread apart if the carrier is bolted across? Doesn't it in effect act as a huge brace that won't allow the bed to spread?

[Scuba]

Thats what im thinking Chris.. Although before anything bad happens I wanna make sure its good.

BTW.
Im ditching the idea pictured in my last drawing, Im going to go down to the bed floor. The front 2 side(s) will sit on the wheel wells and the rear will most likely go down to the floor..
Idk when im going to get to that, most likely before pismo..
But I want to finish up the remaining work on the bed bob before I start messing with this thing again..

[waskillywabbit]

All welded up, Obviously still rockin the flux core.. My welds are getting slightly better..And I did try to get my brush in there, didnt work too well..
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a168/Sycosurfer150/DSCN1162.jpg

:drink:


Better than what? You mean they were worse? :flipoff: Go find someone local who can weld to teach you some pointers or go get a video. Perhaps you can find one online. Flux core should penetrate that metal no problem and it should be melted together smoothly, not clumped up all boogery. Boogery welds don't hold cause they have no penetration.

:guitar:

[2ndGen]

i have to agree with wabbit, these weld beads are kinda problematic. i'm not a certified welder but here is what i would do.

a.) crank it up, use what ever the highest settings you have on that 110 machine, both voltage and wire speed.
b.) wear a regular pair of work gloves, dump the thick arc welding gloves. this way you have a better feel of the gun.
c.) hold your gun with both hands, one on the trigger another on the neck. control your "stick out". the further the wire sticks out, the colder your arc is. on your welder, it should not be more than 3/8".
d.) slow the hell down. start your bead lile making a tack weld, stay on the first puddle for a second then start to move using drag. the reason is the work piece is still cold. don't do any thing fancy, use stop and go action instead of weaving.
e.) don't weld more than 2 inches at a time, give yourself plenty of chances to pratice patience. have a wire brush or wire wheel handy, clean out the slugs every time you stop, there's nothing called "too clean".



hope it helped.

[Scuba]

i have to agree with wabbit, these weld beads are kinda problematic. i'm not a certified welder but here is what i would do.

a.) crank it up, use what ever the highest settings you have on that 110 machine, both voltage and wire speed. It was on the highest V. and about half way up on the speed scale

b.) wear a regular pair of work gloves, dump the thick arc welding gloves. this way you have a better feel of the gun. Ill look into that

c.) hold your gun with both hands, one on the trigger another on the neck. <-- I do do that control your "stick out". the further the wire sticks out, the colder your arc is. on your welder, it should not be more than 3/8". Still working on this
d.) slow the hell down. start your bead lile making a tack weld, stay on the first puddle for a second then start to move using drag. the reason is the work piece is still cold. don't do any thing fancy, use stop and go action instead of weaving. Stop and go, Got it
e.) don't weld more than 2 inches at a time, give yourself plenty of chances to pratice patience. have a wire brush or wire wheel handy, clean out the slugs every time you stop, there's nothing called "too clean". Ill keep that in mind

hope it helped.


Replies in red
Thank you for the advice, Im sure it will help.

[freejake3]

Been in Borrego Springs working. I guess the rack system would in effect prevent the spreading of the bed. Duh! I'll try and post some pics anyway for those interested.............

[2ndGen]

take a look here about wire speed, there is a video with a scale on top, watch it closely, it shows what's too slow, good and too fast.
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/wire-speed.htm

your wire speed controls the current, higer the speed, deeper the penetration. since yours is an 110 machine, start with the highest speed then dail down till you find the sweet spot. also, you can just reference the chart in side the wire door.

[Scuba]

Sweet thank you for that, I watched a reallly good informative video on youtube the other night, Im in the mentality that I need to research some things on welding techniques so ill be doing that..