Tacoma Spare Tire Carrier Build

[DHC6twinotter]

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

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..

Better than what? You mean they were worse? 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.

[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..