2006 Tacoma, tray back, 100K mile re-do

[zolo]

So from the black truck I bought brand new, after 100K miles I decided that after 3 different designs. Id change the color ditch the factory bed and start from scratch. cause that's the way to make it better.
Right?

Tray back, flat bed, whatever you want to call a custom 7' bed on a 06 Tacoma with all the do dads and yada yada's


I will be welding on Saturday, and also maybe drinking beer.
One cannot be done without the other.

P.S. I Love you.............

 

[fatrat]

Great looking Taco! I really wish I still had my 01. Subscribed. opcorn:

 

[Danimal]

Very cool, I'm excited and subscribed. I love you, too.

Dan

 

[Dave Bennett]

:lurk:

 

[Caoboy]

What is going ON the flatbed? You can't just have a flatbed. It has to have something on it, like a boom, or a cannon, or a cannon that goes boom, or maybe a camper.

 

[Rigged]

I have to say that the color matched ARB bumper looks unbelievable on a white Tacoma. I'm envious!

Good luck with your welding. I know I don't have to wish you luck drinking beer. :beer:

 

[HMR]

Please keep the pics coming. I'll be taking notes.

 

[BMThiker]

Nice pinto.

 

[justinhw]

good choice in color

 

[zolo]

What is going ON the flatbed? You can't just have a flatbed. It has to have something on it, like a boom, or a cannon, or a cannon that goes boom, or maybe a camper.

I'm gonna put a bunch of those pin wheel things that spin in the wind and make cool colors......

I thought about a booming cannon but the I said, that would be way to heavy.....

 

[zolo]

Very cool, I'm excited and subscribed. I love you, too.

Dan

Dan... Thanks, Daniel

I have to say that the color matched ARB bumper looks unbelievable on a white Tacoma. I'm envious!

Good luck with your welding. I know I don't have to wish you luck drinking beer. :beer:

I am happy with the out come, I appreciate it.
You know what makes a good welder.......a bad *** grinder....No we will have a Mig and Tig so it should all be very nice.
Beer sometimes needs luck if you want to buy it here in GA on Sunday. That's why we are welding on Saturday.

Please keep the pics coming. I'll be taking notes.

Wait I thought you had the notes?
All my drawing are on bar napkins.

good choice in color

Yes white just regular white, black is cool also
but white its nice AND cool.

 

[zolo]

One big thing we did before any paint stuff was to remove the factory fender flares and weld all the holes up. It turned out very nice.

After we welded the fenders we had to trim the nearly 2" of ARB bumper that used to match up with the flare.
We trimmed and welded a cap on the ARB so it looks like it came like that.

 

[zolo]

So after a full day of TIGing and cutting and measuring and cutting and measuring again, we made a little progress.

Me and my best friend started early and got after it. A short discussion on design and a little build as you go to have the strongest setup without going over board.

With the TIG machine and with my buddy welding we had to grind a total of zero times. I do love the TIG WELDER.

The bed is exactly as wide as my sliders outer edge which makes it a bit less than 6'.
And it is 7' long. We are using the original bed mounting locations.
Ive been looking at as many designs as I can and we are picking and choosing what we like and what will work best.

After the basic bed is finished i plan on building a removable rear section that will be covered for longer trips and for better weather proof storage. For now its all about the basics. Simple and strong, nothing to wild and crazy.

Here are some of the pics from today's work.

 

[TangoBlue]

You have my attention now... nice work!

 

[zolo]

So after another full day of welding and cutting, we have it mounted and the front head bar built.

We have also started on the round tubing that will angle at 45s from the front and rear of the yet to be cut wheel arches. The round tubing will run just under the 4" sides and in the rear. We hope to incorporate a storage box in the rear in between the tail lights. The ones we did today are in the front and they drop lower than the ones that will be bent and made for the rear sections.

I'm glad to be finished with the mounts also. With it solid mounted we have a better idea of where everything needs to go in relation to the truck cab. A little shimming for the correct parallel to the cab and body line and we will be good to go.

All in All it fits well, Is not to heavy. 2 guys can pick it up. But it adds enough weight that if unloaded even with the OME rear springs and with the OME "extra leaf" it seems to ride well. We flexed it..... without having cut the wheel arches yet and the tires clear the bed.
So with another 2" cut out for the arches they will be perfect even when loaded.

After all the welding is finished it goes back to the body shop to be painted to match the truck.

The rear section that I will build for covered storage on long trips will be painted black. So I can get it back on the road and still work on that portion of the project.