Advice Sought on Adding Roll Bar Support Brackets (1 Viewer)

[Green Bean]

We have a 1970 40 series with a later model roll bar. The tub didn't come with any roll bar support in the rear fender wells. I have ordered a bracket kit but have some questions regarding the installation.
Here is a picture of the bracket kit that I ordered from Land Cruiser Heaven

Basically, I need some expert advice. First, I hope to be able to do this from underneath the vehicle with the rear wheels removed without removing the tub from the frame. (I know that it would be so much easier with the tub off, but that simply isn't in the cards). The first problem I see is that I will need to remove these support plates in order to make room for welding in the new brackets. There are 4 of them. I assume they are spot welded to the underside of the fender well. What would be the best way to get these out while causing as little carnage as possible?

Next question, would it be better to drill holes into the flange portion of the new brackets and plug weld to the fender well with my mig welder rather than weld along the edge?

Last question, the fender wells are sprayed with a bed liner product which I will need to remove to fit and weld the new brackets. What is the preferred method for bedliner removal? I was thinking #60 flap disc on a 4" grinder with removal limited to the areas that I will be welding. I'm planning on using Eastwood weld-through primer and going back over the completed installation with black bedliner to match.

What say the experts?

 

[Homey15]

Use a Blair cutter to cut the spotwelds on the braces you need to remove.

https://www.amazon.com/Blair-11082-Cutter-Set/dp/B000ETZFJI/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?crid=3JC7JJNEYSSP9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vnQaYTvTXEONa9l4o5HWF-dr5UFLUfG8geoxSXy3aS9wQJdJkO5mhQglNVN6287mW_fy9W8jF4wzMDAY6OJ1N0mnZUBvQiheZs1IsXEUjOwDb0hEN9ox-WjMcCX56TySUZ43J2yZCOqhdnst5FfJjcFBWq-KPmcBNRYEspjeGhzwswAj1eisqn-lM4QjAFtEEG-gBeG8C3wkeNYl504wAg.1G-yAOTVYz487uThrO42PyB5t62fISTs2v5Xaw74c4g&dib_tag=se&keywords=blair+cutter&qid=1721696455&sprefix=blair+cutter%2Caps%2C1054&sr=8-8

That kit is a 3/8 inch cutter which is plenty big for this but I can only find smaller bits individually and not as a kit with the arbor. Center punch the spotweld and cut it with the Blair cutter, it'll only cut the brace and not punch clear through your tub if you're slow and careful about it. Pry the edge of the brace with a screwdriver when you're deep enough you think you're through the brace layer. Sometimes you can see the cutter break into a very thin layer of rust once it makes it through the top layer of sheet metal. Once the bracket is loose you'll be able to easily grind off the remnants of the spotwelds. I'd definitely pre drill the support brackets and plug weld to the tub versus laying a bead at the edge, it's a much cleaner install. I'd scrape the bedliner if at all possible, high speed grinding/sanding can sort of melt it and cause a smeary mess which will contaminate your weld surface and cause you problems welding the supports in. I'd make sure to strip back far enough to give yourself a buffer between any bedliner you intend to keep and any areas that you'll be welding. some liners are pretty flammable...

 

[stoshzack]

Good advice above. I just did all this to my ‘70.

I actually removed the spot weld from the top side Much easier for me to drill out from the top than the bottom. Filled and ground(?) holes when done. Keep the plates you remove. You will need them if you mount the later short jump seats.

I recommend this to punch holes for spot welding the new brackets in.

https://www.harborfreight.com/pneumatic-professional-punch-and-flange-tool-58620.html

Also, do some research on mimicking a spot weld using a mig. You want to turn the feed and amps up to get a flattened weld.

Good luck!

 

[peesalot]

I like to scrape with chisel first, the 60 grit flapper should make quick work of cleaning it up, if you dont scrape first it tends to plug up the flapper.

 

[Pitter Patter]

I’ve been all over a similar project lately.

Aren’t those brackets supports for the rear seats? If so, you need those. Not sure of your planned roll bar spacing or if you have wide or narrow seats. Point being, don’t remove those if you can leave them in place. If you have to remove them then use the above mentioned or similar spot weld remover.

I found an angle grinder with a twisted wire wheel to be the trick for removing undercoating. Just use a light touch so you don’t gouge the sheet metal.

As for the support brackets. Figure out your spacing and location then trim accordingly and I recommend drilling some holes and plug welding them in place. I happened to use real steel panels and that’s how I did mine.

Get some weld through primer and paint the surfaces on the wheel wells and on the brackets before welding in place. It’s better than nothing for rust prevention.

 

[bikersmurf]

I'd go with Metaltech frame tie ins...

 

[Green Bean]

Thank you for al of the great advice and recommendations. Sounds like a great excuse to go out and buy a few new obscure tools.

 

[charliemeyer007]

Better to buy a tool than to be one!

 

[Green Bean]

Update: The retrofit project to add roll bar support brackets to our early 40 series is complete. I ended up using the brackets from CCOT.

I had to remove some existing captured-nut support plates that were occupying the same space as the new brackets. As pointed out above, I believe that these originally were for jump seat mounting. However, I believe that at some point, different jump seats were installed in our rig, so the original mounting holes are different and the captured nuts weren’t even being used. It is impressive how beefy Toyota made those support plates.

The spot weld cutter did a good job on cutting out the spot welds: (Side note; I'm deeply envious of folks that have access to a lift and don't have to work while laying flat on their back looking up into a debris field.)

I primed the new brackets with Eastwood weldable primer; mocked-up and marked the roll bar mounting holes:

Drilled, and installed. Finished result: