Nice job on the modification. I got a baby Miller myself but I don't do much welding. Not much to weld so hard to learn lol. I could get scrap metal but I rather be building something than playing with scrap lol
Thanks. A baby Miller is better than no Miller
. When I buy metal I always get extra. You'll always fine a use for it. 1/8 or 3/16 makes for good coupons to practice on. Cutting them into 2x6 pieces is good for practing all your joints, however, I agree, it does get a bit boring after a while. Fabrication is always much more enjoyable. The actual welding is only 20% of it. The rest is measuring, cutting, grinding, checking, eyeballing ect.
you would be suprized how much the sliders will bend up if actually used with full wait of truck.. i think the 1.25 from door should be decent. tundras are heavy.. your adding a tone of leverage with the kickouts like you have them, so i would just make sure you gusset them properly.. which by the looks of your work you will have no problems doing that
Cant wait to test them out and see. Most of my research showed around 1/4 pinch weld gap and 3/4 to 1 for door, but seems a bit tight for me. I decided to play it safe. I actually cut my mounts on the band saw after eyeballing the angles for 10 minutes. When I mocked it up, I was pretty happy with the angle, gaps and everything else. That and I amanged to get both my cuts to sit flush on what I wanted them to, and I knew if I changed it, it would never happen again. Hahah. I added some triangular gussets tonight. 1/4 steel about inch high and 5 inches long. Should help spread the load up vertically.
Sweet build thread. Wish I had the space and tools you have. I have some SERIOUS garage/tool envy!!!!!! Thanks for taking the time to detail the build steps on your truck. Its fun to see the fab work involved. I never find time to take pictures. My build thread sucks compared to yours.
Thanks! Its been a bit of a interesting journey getting all this metal fab stuff. I got my first welder this spring, a Hobart Handler 140. That was soon replaced (re: two weeks) with a Miller 211, which with 220V was night and day, and I picked up a Miller 375 Plasma for a pretty solid deal. Fast forward two months, and I could not pass up a deal. So I traded the 211/375 in for a 252 with Spoolgun/Dual Cart Runner Kit and a Hypertherm Powermax 45. Its been a pretty agressive upward dirrection, but, as I tell my fiance. I am done. Maybe a better TIG some day..... but I'll live with my Syncrowave 200 for now. I should probably spend less $ on kit and take a class or two.
Certainly not the best build thread or the most money, but with my fiance in school and her time busy with studying, I wanted to take this time to spend building things that keeps me around the house but busy. So, rear bumper, sliders and this December I'll be doing the front bumper. After that, I'll have to spend $$ on some pre-made stuff to give my self more projects to do!
Glad you enjoy it!