A pair of 74's...

[ESHALLBETTER]

If I may Steve...

The flanges on the part are too tall versus the relitively narrow width of the bracket. If you tried to bend across the whole part, the flanges would hit the dies of the press brake and you could not bend the part. You use a narrower set of top dies that would fit in between the two "peaks" of the bracket, then just put a laser cut line in the end so the whole part bends up nice.

I hope that makes some sense!

[Becks_Bronco]

Ahhh that makes sense.

[ChaseTruck754]

yup - simple limitation of equipment and a poor man's (me!) solution!

Thanks Erik for the explanation & doing the hard part of that job!

[ChaseTruck754]

*edit* - not to steal any credit - Erik came up with the solution and I said yes. Much cheaper than paying for different press brake dies to make 1 part.

[ESHALLBETTER]

Goodies should be there today! I put insurance on it so if it does not show let me know right away. The post office usually tries a little harder when the package is insured! The clearancing all looks good man, I can't believe you have the patience to TIG all that!

[ChaseTruck754]

Thanks man! No notice yet on a new box arrival, but I can't get back to the shop til Saturday anyway. As it is I'm sure I'll find myself playing with the new stuff vs. changing the oil in the tacoma like I SHOULD be doing. Oh well.

Oh and I had to run to the shop on lunch to check out some parts for a potential sale, so I spent a little time standing at the brake getting rolling on the battery trays!

[Becks_Bronco]

Gonna be dimple died for an extra 10hp each right?

[ChaseTruck754]

Yup. You can see which ones are getting dimpled by reading my chicken scratch on the paper next to the part. The dimples are a design feature though. Will make more sense as to how as I progress on them.

[ChaseTruck754]

not much but here's a slight update. Been doing a little welding here & there on lunch breaks & before work. A bit on the battery trays and then starting to get my pitman arm together. Should be some real progress pics by tomorrow...

[ESHALLBETTER]

Love seeing progress man! Keep truckin'!

[ChaseTruck754]

well then - how about 1 more quick one...
Ran to the shop on lunch to get these 25's dismounted to sell & spent a little time working with the pitman arm.

Should be a lot more progress tonight hopefully!

[ChaseTruck754]

Ok - as promised here's another decent update after a LATE night in the shop

When I got back to the shop last night I tacked the pitman & did 1 last cycle to make sure all was still good.



I then threw some beads on the thing and got a call from a buddy. I spent some time standing at the press while on the phone so I wouldn't waste any valuable shop time. This is what came out of that...



Here is the stock battery tray which will explain why the holes didn't seem in a regular pattern on the box above.



Note washer looking plates in a couple holes on the 1st pic - these will be welded to the bottom of the tray & hit the factory mounting holes. The middle hole is the drain. The 2 auxiliary flared holes actually have a blank plate (no bolt hole) in them to rest on the inner fender.

I was going back and forth on whether or not to dimple the 4 outer/corner hole. I hadn't planned to originally but we all know I love dimples...

So here's where I left off on those. More goodness to come!




Phone call was done so back to the pitman for a lot of welding...




Pitman is currently downstairs letting it's second coat of paint dry.


While the pitman cooled off I looked a bit more at exhaust again. I've got a bunch of bends and pieces here but I need to fit some flex it and it's not quite working the way I want it yet.




It was LATE at this point but I got one last thing done before I left - I drilled & tapped my fuel plate for the custom sender I ordered.



Hopefully I'll get back in there for a few hours this weekend but no guarantees as of now.

[ESHALLBETTER]

It's all looking awesome man. Great attention to detail, can't wait to see this thing running. I hope you have been keeping notes, I think I want one next.

[ChaseTruck754]

Thanks. All cad files & templates are saved, etc. but I really don't think I'll do much with some of it. These battery boxes though - I may be hitting you up for some quotes on cutting them again. Had a few buddies see them & ask about making more.

[Becks_Bronco]

If you make an option to just have the lower tray, i might even be interested. MY battery tray is junk

[ChaseTruck754]

It can be done. Bolt holes would be in different spots though. Would you be doing the bending dimpling and welding or would I? Also stainless or mild steel?

[Becks_Bronco]

Mild steel, it would probably get powder coated. I would prefer it bent, dimpled, and welded by you. I just don't have the tools or knowledge.

[ChaseTruck754]

Any idea on how you would attach it? Should I just put the dimples in a regular + type pattern and have a couple of the washers done to weld to the bottom so you can use them for bolts to bolt through the inner fender or something?

[ChaseTruck754]

Had to run to the shop on lunch to sell some shocks so I did just a little bit of welding. Here's a bit more of the battery setup.

[ChaseTruck754]

Not much but a bit more on the exhaust.

I've spent the vast majority of my free time this past week moving (we bought a house if you hadn't seen that elsewhere here) so I haven't been able to get into the shop at all. I got up early this morning to sneak an hour in before work & then ran up there on lunch for a little bit too. This is what came of it...

I got the aluminizing sand blasted off the pipe and got the things tacked. Looks like it might work!




It's close - but not too close




Flex pipe goes here now because there wasn't enough length for the "flat" run from the turbo elbow to the 90* turn down



Flew pipe comes out here & this pipe will turn it back & under the cab.



The pipe above can be seen here at the let. I'm doing a Z shaped pipe to get it over & in the skinny section of the cab support here. It'll then run straight back past that box looking thing (that's the step/foothold for the rear door access) and then turn 90* and exit before the rear wheel.



Oh, and I almost forgot - the tire is at full bump (or darn close) in the pics - so unless I step up to 37's, which I don't plan on - I've got the space needed for clearance.

Should be "easy" from here on out - right? I guess not now since I just jinxed myself...