I have to agree totally! No problem on compiling ours together. I love that idea. I wish mine was as complete as yours is. Plus, I really like that molding you got. I'll probably do the same thing too now that I've seen it. It makes for a very clean look.

Hey, by the way, how did you do your bends in that sheet metal? I'd love to save myself a bunch of money and do it myself, but I'm afraid it would be too hard.

Chris

P.S. I went wheeling last night and today, which included towing my wife's motorcycle, and my bumper didn't fall off, so I thought at was positive. I did use the bumper some though and it helpd up just fine. I can't wait to get it completed.

 

To make the bends, use a cut-off wheel in a 4 1/2" grinder, It's a 1/8 thick blade that you cut a groove where you want the bend to go. Then simply fold it by hand to the angle you want and run a bead of weld in the slot. Grind it down flush afterwards. As for the rounded corners, a body hammer and dolly.

 

Which side of the bend are you grinding? Inside or outside? What do you mean by body hammer and dolly?

Chris

 

You grind the outside of the bend, if you ground the inside and then bent, there would be nothing to fill.

A body hammer has kind of a horn shaped head and the actual contact surface is a large flat circle. This is used with a dolly or an anvil. A dolly is a piece of metal, they come in different shapes but the one he would use here would have a nice curve on it. They normally have a little part that sticks out that you can use to hold in your hand. Basically you stick the dolly behind the metal and hammer the metal around it.

Hammer and dolly is the most basic of body working tools. This method has been around forever.

 

Does anyone know what that plastic oval piece, near the tire, is?

I was taking some measurements last night and found it under my rear bumper with some sort of plastic/rubber flap at the top. I couldn't find anything in my FSM that described its purpose. Thanks.

 

It releases cabin pressure when you close the door(s). Watch it flap out when you close the hatch with all the other doors closed and the widnows rolled up. I didn't know what it was either when I took off my bumper...but now I do!

 

if i remember right, its a vent to allow pressure changes when you open or shut the doors, or somethin like that.

 

mines black cause I painted it

I had mud come in from my Bass in mud holes

 

Thanks, that solves the mystery. I wonder if I can replace the flap with a piece of wire screen from something like a screendoor and paint the plastic oval silver to match the body. My bumper plans won't cover that piece, I'll have tubes wrapping around the sides and up near the tail lights.

 

It's a flap so that air goes out but not in. I'm sure you could modify it, but then you risk dust and water getting into the cab. Perhaps you could move it on the inside and then create a wire mesh cover or something?

 

How hard is this going to be for me. I'm decent with a grinder, and I found today that the shop I was going to have make my side pieces is going to charge me $150, so that's out for sure. I thought that was way too much considering I'm having to buy the material too. What do you guys think? I want to save as much money as possible, but I don't want it to take 50 hours either.

Chris

 

Do you have a 4 1/2" grinder? if so go here to get cut-off wheels: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=45430

Bending is quite easy after the cut is made and is much easier than trying to get someone to bend it, besides costing too much.

 

I have a 4" and 4.5" grinder. Those wheels are really cheap from Harbor. You had mentioned using a 1/8" wheel and the ones you linked to are 1/16". Which one is it? Any pointers on how you kept it from bouncing off of the metal and maintaining the straight line on the sheet metal?

Chris

 

My mistake, they are 1/16 and not 1/8..... to cut a straight line just use a thin marker and scribe the line then follow it with light pressure. I have no problems holding it, and cutting straight.

 

I'll do it! I can't wait to get this thing done, that's for sure. I'm going to buy the plate today if I can get a truck to pick it up. Thanks a lot for the advice yet again!

Chris

 

Well tonight I successfully cut and bent the passenger side piece, and it's looking pretty good. I think there might have been a slight glitch in my plans, but I hope it's nothing I can't easily solve in the daylight and some more time tomorrow night.

Thanks to BruceTS, I found that the easiest way to cut and bend metal is with these 1/16" metal cutting wheels. It's a piece of cake, but not the safest thing in the world.

Tomorrow, I hope to cut the main tube, and adjust the side piece to fit properly. If it looks good I hope to get the other side done tomorrow night, and weld everything together on Wednesday.

Wish me luck!

Chris

 

Good Luck

 

Well, other than some touch up welding and grinding, my passenger side wing is completed. This has been such a slow project when working on it here and there a couple of hours a week. But, I really like the look, and it's strong as hell. Pics will be coming soon.

I've got to get some of that molding that BruceTS used to cover some of my gap.

Chris

 

Hey Bruce,

I just searched on the last 4 pages of this thread hoping to find the part number and place to buy the molding that you bought for yours, but I couldn't find it. Could you please tell me where you got that stuff, because my gap is very similar to yours, and I'd love to hide it like you did.

Chris

 

Here's the latest pics of the passenger side wing:

This one shows the vertical gap I have, which is needed to keep the bumper from hitting the limited fender flares. It's about 5/8":




Here's you'll notice the horizontal gap, which is 1" from the inner part of the lip on the body or about 1/2" from the outer lip of the body. This way whether it takes a big hit from the side or from the bottom, I'll clear my body with no trouble at all.


Here you'll notice the angle I chose to go with, and that was 45 degrees. The top vertical side is exactly 2" in height also.


Here's another nice shot to show the vertical gap that I have. You'll notice that the front portion is a tad lower than the rear portion, but nothing a little heating and pressure won't fix.


Here's a poor picture of what we did to support the front of the wing. We used what leftovers I had from my sliders, which is 1/4" thick 1.5" by 1.5" square tubing. We grinded a slit in the tubing that slides over the bottom lip of the wing, and is then angled down towards the frame rail, where the most forward bolt is used to attach both the c-channel and the side wing.




Here's what we came up with for the part near the hatch. I decided to use some more 3/16" sheet to cap off the end and make the angle as close to the angle of the door and the inside of the body, so whether it was open or closed, it looked pretty decent.


I don't know if this a good picture, but here's what it looks like with the hatch open. You'll notice that the angle is parallel with the body under there. In addition, the piece actually encompasses the main tube and is welded to the bottom lip of the wing to make an extremely overbuilt corner.


That's it for now. The next step is the driver's side wing, and then I've got an idea to finish it off that my wife is saying I have to do, but we'll see what happens. What do you guys think so far?

Chris