The die is cast: DIY weld rear bumper and tire carrier (True North Fabricatiions)

[Bob98SR5]

Fabrication Steps 9, 10, 11, and 12

The outer latch assembly was pretty easy. This was the one that I drilled yesterday to make it a driver's side tire carrier mount. So the work consisted of bolting in the nuts to the one part and then tack weld the other to it. Optional (but I did it) was to tack weld the nuts to the outer plate and then weld the inner part to the outer plate.

Next up was the latch parts which took some time to figure out how to do it properly given that there were two things that needed to be done simultaneously: align the horizontal tube and tack it to the DOM hinge tube and attach the tack the horizontal tube to the latch. The instructions also called to insert a supplied piece of plastic to the top of the bumper deck, align the horizontal tube and tack it, and then tack the latch part to the tube...lots of shit going on and the weight of the horizontal tube made the tube slip and then I'd have to realign, measure, level, etc. So after about 20-30 minutes of going through this, I ended up aligning as best as possible but then making to tiny tack spots on the latch assembly TO the bumper. I stress that they were teeeny tiny tacks. and it worked because it enabled me to focus on leveling the horiz bar and then tacking it onto the DOM vert hinge tube.

Once I tacked all of this, I assembled the latch to the latch assembly. The pic I took is only 1/2 of the latch part.

[Bob98SR5]

Fabrication step 13 and 14

The last thing I had time to do was to tack on the tire backing plate to the tire carrier tube. Just make sure the orientation is of the plate is correct. The square hole should not be angled. The bottom of the square hole should be parallel w/ the ground. The guide says to use "heavy tacks". And by now, if you're not a master at tacking, you're not paying attention lol. So after aligning the parts and flipping the tube and tire plate, I tacked the hell out of all of it. I let the metal cool down and then I stitch welded the back some more. Step 14 calls for welding in the vertical braces which is pretty easy but make sure the inner square hole is not impeded by the vert pieces. Use light tacks and use magnetic triangles to get everything aligned.

The last step completed for the day was to fully weld one piece of tube steel (1/4" thick) to the previous step.

My welds are getting better, but only on parts that are set up perfectly on the table lol

[Seanz0rz]

Looking great!

I have never used this, but the reviews are pretty good:
https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-in...z-aerosol.html

[4x4mike]

There are also products like this https://www.amazon.com/Fluid-Lubrica...3GRH5E6MET2DBY

Be careful though if you weld around them after spraying. I'm not sure what kind of awful smokes off of products like these after they get hot.

[Bob98SR5]

Mike,

Yeah, I'd definitely wait until everything was welded and all welds had a seam sealer. Then I'd drill holes in strategic places, spray in, then spot weld the holes + flap disc.

[Kryptoroxx]

Man you've been busy! Looks great too. Very nice tacking.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[Bob98SR5]

The last bit of work on the bumper was drilling out a hole for my backup camera (even more valuable now that there's a tire blocking your view) and tacking in the rear shackle hangers. I ran into some difficulty drilling the hole because the weld in the middle/centerline was impossible to drill through. So I had to painstakingly take down the weld. Only then did my circular bit go through. Welding the bumper shackle hangers was a piece of cake because they literally fell in like a puzzle piece, thereby making the tacks and later welding easy as all heck. After doing that, I spent a good 2-3 days taking all kinds of cup brushes to the metal to scuff up the surface. I used a few cans of brake cleaner to aid in getting off any scuffing dust along with wiping down all surfaces with acetone and a ton of paper towels.

[Bob98SR5]

Since I had to drive my 4Runner to my wife's shows and it was exposed to the elements (including snow for 2 days in Nov), the bumper started to surface rust in many places esp at the weldgs. To be sure, I used my POR15 kit to acid etch (their Metal Prep product) and then use POR-15 on all the interior side of the bumper where the welds were. For the rest of the interior side of the bumper like the big support tubes and flat surfaces, I just sprayed with a semi-gloss black primer paint from Ace

[Bob98SR5]

On the exterior side I used primer and paint. But on the exterior side I used what Sean H recommended: bed liner paint. It's awesome, lemme tell you. It's almost like popcorn ceiling too as it covers up a lot of pin holes and imperfections. So far the staying hold of the paint has been really impressive.

[Bob98SR5]

Mounting the bumper this time around (3rd) was easier now that I had done it twice before. The hardest part about mounting the bumper by yourself is how the bumper gets hung up on the passenger side because of the exhaust and the exhaust hangers. Sometimes that rubber buffer thing gets in the way or is hard to pull off. Just take your time. Oh and pro tip: place a microfiber towel over the ends when pushing in the bumper. If it tilts backwards, then at least there won't be metal to metal scratching potential. Ask me how I know.

So this was the most gratifying part: putting on the tire carrier. Fitting it in took some effort because it is fairly heavy now, but aligning things took a little finagling but got done. Last step was to take this thick, but pliable. All that needed to be done was to align the plastic properly (I used blue tape) and then use a heat gun to make it pliable. Once pliable and to shape, just peel the adhesive film off the back and apply the plastic piece. Clamp the tire carrier on it nice and tight so it sets. I didn't mess with it til the next morning and I'm glad I did.