Bed Build Planning

[rickeieio]

It sucks being a responsible adult.  We didn't go for a ride, working on the truck instead.  But, we made progress.  A while back, I mentioned that I was surprised at the level of distortion I got from welding a solid bead across the rear, attaching the "bumper" to the vertical surface.  I tacked it in several places, then laid in 4"-8" beads, alternating from side to side and front to back.  Had almost 3/16" bow in 100".  So, I was putting off installing the top surface/fenders, not knowing how to bring the rear back into square.  Did it today, and it came together nicely.  Welded up a short bead on the outside rear corner and then used a short (24") pry bar to lever the sheet around, bringing the vertical surface with it.  It moved easily enough that Susan did the first side.  All this also brought the vertical gap at the tool boxes into place, within 1/8" over 26".  Pretty good for farmer welding.  BTW, the pallets aren't holding anything now.  I just haven't needed them out of the way yet.

 

[Steve from SoCal]

Looking good, I thought the pallets were some new kind ground effects!

 

Steve

[lappir]

Looking very good. 

 

Almost all of us are "Farm Made" if it weren't for the ingenuity of farmers from around the world many of us would not have anything to eat. 

I too was a responsible adult and mounted my Tool Box yesterday instead of going to the Farmers Market. No photos yet. Have to make sure it survives the trip to the HDT Rally next weekend. 

Rod

[rickeieio]

8 hours ago, Steve from SoCal said:

Looking good, I thought the pallets were some new kind ground effects!

 

Steve

No ground effects needed, as I don't have a Cat.  Well, there's Miss Kitty, the shop cat.

[rickeieio]

1 hour ago, lappir said:

Almost all of us are "Farm Made" if it weren't for the ingenuity of farmers from around the world many of us would not have anything to eat. 

I think most of "farmer ingenuity" comes from being remote.  Most of the time it's quicker to figger out a way to do something with what'cha got, rather than run to town and get the correct stuff.  Now that "town" has moved out to us, and I'm sorta retired, it's a challenge to re-purpose/re-use and clear up some of the stuff the next generation will pitch.

[usbusin]

Quote

and clear up some of the stuff the next generation will pitch

Ain't that the truth!  I keep saying, "they'll just get a 20 yard dumpster and toss it all in"

[rickeieio]

(sigh...)  Saturday I quit early because the welder (Millermatic 200) was not working properly.  Well, not working at all.  So I did a bunch of searching and found some likely issues.  Figured out it was above my pay grade (had proper volts, but no amps) , so found a local repair guy who agreed to fix it.  Dropped it off this morning.  Probably fried contacts in the relay switch.

Doesn't look like I'll have it to the paint shop this week.

[Brad & Jacolyn]

It is about time to head for the HDT rally. I'm sure we could get some work done for you. Maybe make it a hands on seminar.

[rickeieio]

Thanks for the offer Brad, but there's no paint, wiring harness, tool boxes are only hanging by a thread, etc.

Found a local guy who works on welders.  He diagnosed the problem as the olde pharte pulling on the gun to gain a few inches rather than rolling the welder closer to the work.  Well, sorta.  I had snagged the lead on an edge left by shearing the steel and pulled the contacts loose inside the gun.  Got it back on Tuesday, so only lost three days......

Yesterday, I was finishing mounting the rear tool boxes/pass through and noticed that one side, the toolbox stuck out from the bed 3/4" and the other side was flush.  Should be 3/8" on each side.  Took the boxes back out but had to leave for a birthday bash for my bride, so haven't identified where I fu....miscalculated.

I called an industrial epoxy shop near me and told them what I have.  They said to sand blast all parts and prime, $800.   I think I struck gold.

[rickeieio]

How is it that I can plant corn in a field 8,000' long and you can sight down perfect rows, but I can't even mark the center line on the back of the truck correctly?  I was off by a little under 3/8".  So my choices were to pull the toolbox assembly and move the mounts, or cut the rear of the bed and fix it.  One grinding wheel v. a dozen.........

Now everything looks spot on, even though I know where the flaw lies.  At the end of tomorrow, I'll be back to where I thought I was Tuesday..........

[rickeieio]

Making progress.  All toolboxes are hung, but more holes/bolts needed.  I learned another lesson yesterday.  Even after you think you've just de-burred a hole, don't use your bare fingers to brush the shavings away.  Drew blood on three fingers at once.  I said bad words.

Put my Shop Princess to work too:

It's all coming together.

[noteven]

rick - my dooley runs off the shelf stainless steel fenders in the wheel openings of the body. But I travel some grabbel roads on occasion. 

Keeps the stones, salty slush, and blow outs somewhat contained. 

[rickeieio]

Ya, the cardboard likely won't hold up well.  It'll need two or three plies of duct tape.

So, speaking of duct tape. I went to grab it for this project and found it poked full of holes, all going in the same direction.  And, only one side of the roll was affected.  So, I spent some time looking and pondering, and finally digging.  Yup, someone had shot it with some #8.  I think grandson got a new trap gun, likely laid the tape by the target when we was checking his pattern.  Have you ever tried to unroll duct tape that's been shot and has an ounce of lead imbedded in it?

[Brad & Jacolyn]

Found you again Rick. I still think you should have come to the rally and we would have helped. What could possibly have gone wrong with that plan?🤣. We miss you out here.

Brad

[noteven]

18 hours ago, rickeieio said:

Ya, the cardboard likely won't hold up well.  It'll need two or three plies of duct tape.

So, speaking of duct tape. I went to grab it for this project and found it poked full of holes, all going in the same direction.  And, only one side of the roll was affected.  So, I spent some time looking and pondering, and finally digging.  Yup, someone had shot it with some #8.  I think grandson got a new trap gun, likely laid the tape by the target when we was checking his pattern.  Have you ever tried to unroll duct tape that's been shot and has an ounce of lead imbedded in it?

ahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa

[rickeieio]

No progress lately, as we took some time off to go ride our scooters in Tenn/NC.  Ever heard of the Cherohalla Skyway?  My front tire is toast......:-) Then we went to northern GA for a reunion of Susan's siblings.  Four days with the outlaws.  Much eating and lie swapping.

However, today I got back in the swing of things.  

Wow.  The angle of the camera makes that 1/16" out of square seem like a lot....

Other side:

The clamped piece will be bolted to both the rear fender and the car tire rail.  It's removable so that the bed can be taken apart in sections for truck service.

Meanwhile, we're adding on to the shop for camper storage.  24' x 60'.

 

[wlp]

"It's removable so that the bed can be taken apart in sections for truck service."

I second that idea... it is such a time saver when the bed is finished and you have to do something under the truck!  

 

 

Edited November 4, 2021 by wlp

[Sculptor]

Missed this one, looks great Rick.

I must add that I got a kick out of the duct tape screen you made.

Edited November 5, 2021 by Sculptor

[rickeieio]

Not much progress this week.  One step forward and.....  I had a bright idea that backfired.  Spent way too much time taking a shortcut that bit me, so now I'm back to drilling out holes and welding in nuts.  Why not tap them?  Because ol' tight wad only use 1/8" material in low stress areas.  Saved a few pennies to make hours of work.   Dumb, dumb, dumb.

So, for the past 3 days, plus tomorrow, here's the view outside my work space:

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Nice to see your retirement is going well...

 

[Sculptor]

2 hours ago, rickeieio said:

I had a bright idea that backfired.  Spent way too much time taking a shortcut that bit me, so now I'm back to drilling out holes and welding in nuts. 

I wonder if "nut-serts" would have worked?  You would have had to drill a bigger hole than your bolts.

[rickeieio]

David,  the nice thing about retirement is, I can say "no".  This was on my Mom's land, next to my shop, so very convenient.  Notice one of those powerplants I mentioned in the background....

Kevin, I've not had good luck with "nut-serts".  The failure rate is unacceptable.  I'm drilling a much larger hole then welding the nut inside.  Running a tap through to make sure it's clean.

I tried to be clever and make up strips with the nuts welded in, but they didn't line up perfectly.  If I'd enlarged the holes enough to make them work, I would have had exposed hole showing by the bolt head.  Not a good look.

One more day playing in the field, then back to the bed build.  Roughly 25 more nuts to weld in, then tear it all apart and haul it to the painter.

[rickeieio]

It's been a few days, and progress has been made.  I checked on the price of "nut-serts_ and decided $0.75 each was too high.  More drilling and welding nuts in place.....

So, here's my patterns for the side sheets:

And the results

And a little remembrance of JW Morgan, who used to haunt this forum, and taught me a good bit about welding:

JW liked his moonshine, and that jar was some of his stock.

[lappir]

17 hours ago, rickeieio said:

It's been a few days, and progress has been made.  I checked on the price of "nut-serts_ and decided $0.75 each was too high.  More drilling and welding nuts in place.....

So, here's my patterns for the side sheets:

And the results

And a little remembrance of JW Morgan, who used to haunt this forum, and taught me a good bit about welding:

JW liked his moonshine, and that jar was some of his stock.

Wonder who JW is Haunting now? 

 

Rod

[Phil D]

5 hours ago, lappir said:

Wonder who JW is Haunting now?

JW seems to be doing well for himself.  He's now in the heavy haul trucking business in the Permian Basin oilfields.