2001 Double Cab Build

[zmotojason]

TangoBlue - your rear rack was definitely the inspiration for the rack I built. I used your design but didn't realized your truck wasn't a double cab until I went to mount it. Fortunately the shovel and axe fit between the wheel wells.

I finished plating the spindle into the bumper and covered it in Rustoleum spray in bedliner. I had a couple of 4th of July brews and thought it would be a good idea to climb the rock on the corner of my property in Crown King, AZ. Tonight I'm going to start in on the tire rack. I purchased some slip fit tubing from McMaster Carr and will attemp to add small receivers to the rack to allow for customized mounting for gas cans, propane, CO2, etc.

 

[Willman]

Nice fab work!

That swing out came out very cool. Never seem that one before as far as a mounting point.

Keep up the great work

 

[zmotojason]

I'd like to know everybody's opinion on prerunner style bumpers vs. a bull bar.

I can buy an ARB bull bar for $797 and know they are well built and functional. On the other hand, I could fab up a tube bumper and plate in bewteen the tubing as needed. It would require buying a $300 1 3/4" die and material would probably run about $150-200. The bumper would have provisions for mounting a winch.

I was thinking of something like this but with some plates welded into the openings between the tubes.



Or maybe something that's even a little more desert.

 

[Mrknowitall]

I could fab up a tube bumper and plate in bewteen the tubing as needed. It would require buying a $300 1 3/4" die and material would probably run about $150-200. The bumper would have provisions for mounting a winch.

I think you should absolutely go that route for several reasons:
*Its still less money, even after you POR15 and bedliner the thing like the rear.
*Anyone with a credit card can have an ARB
*You get to balance clearance and protection to your needs and build in things the ARB doesn't offer
*I want to try this for the next bumper and I'd like to see it done.

 

[zmotojason]

Finally some progress on the tire carrier.

The main piece of square tubing was cut and mini-receivers were added so that gas cans, propane tank, CO2, etc. can be installed and removed when not needed. I originally had the receivers running parallel to the ground but decided they would allow the attached things to hang to low. To fix this, the bearing carrier was removed and rotated 90* on the square tubing.



Next tire carrier mount was welded in and I decided it was too low, so it was removed and raised another 5 inches.

Before:


After:


I bent up some 1" tubing to create some structure and to brace the tire mount.



Next on the list is to add a gusset to the tire mount, cap off the open ends on a couple of the pieces of square tubing, add a spring loaded ball lock to hold the carrier open to allow access into the back of the truck, fab up the gas can mounts and then send it all off to get it painted/ coated.

 

[austintaco]

Great job! I like the versatility of the carrier. That is something that I am trying to do with mine.
My carrier started off similar to yours. It was an all Pro rear bumper and then I added everything to it. I don't have welding skills, so I had a fab shop, Krawltex, do the work. This is what we came up with, copied from my build thread:
The bumper started out life as a stock All Pro rear bumper with the fill plates and the All pro receiver hitch. I liked the idea that the hitch is tow rated, but it does hang down lower than the bumper. Now that the tire is on the carrier, I could have a receiver fabbed up that I could access through the license plate, but for what I do, its not needed.
I don't weld, but I am trying to learn. That means that I have a welder sitting in my garage, waiting for me to start experimenting. For this project, I had Krawltex in north Austin do the work.
Cam, the owner, has done some amazing work on my other truck as well as the tundra coils on the Tacoma. I bought the tire carrier arm on here from Brushhogger. Here's a link to the classified:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/78493-Swingaway-tire-carrier-for-rear-bumper?highlight=tire

The spindle and latch are from 4x4 Labs. The spindle was the biggest one that Cam knew of, and people seem to like them. It's probably overkill, but I would rather overbuild than underbuild.

We also installed that catch pin to hold it open, and as an additional safety if the latch happened to fail. With the design of the bumper, and the arc of the corner tubing, we were only able to put one additional "open" pin hole. If I do leave it open, when camping or working on something, I use a ratchet strap as an additional safety.

Here's the latch. It's made by De Sta Co, and though I purchased it from Luke at 4x4labs, I think you can find them at Grainger supply and Fastenal. It's rated for up to 4000lbs. Once again, overkill, but it's stout and that's what I like. We were going to go with a screw in type system, but that would have gotten old real fast.

Here's another shot of the carrier with the cans and the bike rack:

The can carrier is not quite centered. That will probably be my first welding project. One of the legs needs to be slightly higher. Oh well. I'm trying to decide how I want to carry propane. I bought an attachment to carry a 20lb bottle and put that at the back corner of the bed. We don't sleep with it in the truck, and there are enough gaps in the tailgate that the propane should vent out, if there was a leak.
Going forward, I might buy a lite weight propane tank and carry that in the basket with firewood, attach one gas can carrier to the front of the basket, and store water at the front of the cab with a manual pump.

 

[zmotojason]

Nice spare tire carrier @austintaco. The spindle I used came from A to Z Fabrication and is good to 1000 lbs. The toggle clamp came from McMaster Carr and has a working load limit of 2000lbs. I used 2" square receiver steel for the main structure and 1" HREW tubing for the bracing. This thing is really beafy and shouldn't go anywhere!

I picked up my propane tank and a CO2 tank mounting bracket from Amazon. It was way to pricey, but was the perfect size for what I was needing. I toyed with the idea of building fuel can mounts until I came across these units from Amazon. At $25 each, it was much easier to buy them. I still need to create some bases that will allow the cans/ propane tank to attached via the receivers. Perhaps I'll find the time this weekend, but I'm not counting on it.

 

[zmotojason]

Been stuck doing a bunch of house chores and haven't had any time to work on the truck. I did score some new wheels over the weeked. My fiance needed tires on her 4Runner, so I gave her my wheels and picked up a set of steelies from a salvage yard for $45 each. I love the look of Toyota steelies!

 

[Dark Shark]

I like you build so far....!
I need to make a build thread lol

 

[TEJASYOTA]

Impressive fabing skills!
Question on your sliders - did you add any triangular gussets at the mounting plates? I could not see it in the pics.
As for the tire gate... you may want to split the gate into two pieces (one hinge for the tire) and (one for fuel tanks, etc.).
My rear bumper from CBI - utilizes one hinge and I have been thinking of changing it in the future.

 

[zmotojason]

Tejasyota

Love your truck!

I considered splitting the tire gate into two pieces, but I decided to go with a single piece since an aluminum shelf will be mounted on the backside to hold a gas grill. I also planned on gusseting the sliders, but never got around to it. I wasn't terribly concerned since the square tubing and angle iron frame mounts are 1/4" and I was able to put in a ton of weld at really high heat. I've dropped the truck off a rock and onto the sliders and there was zero flex.

We're in the middle of a home remodel, so my funds and time are really tight and the Tacoma has to sit as-is for a while.