Any good welders in Austin

[The Phoenician]

Hello everyone. I know I'm not a member in the local chapter, but I plan on joining once I'm back home and settled. I bought Big Red a while back from Edwin and I am in the process of adding to that awesome rig. One of my near term projects is a rear tire carrier and fuel can carrier. I have a Kaymar bumper with no spindles. I'm wondering if there's a local guy everyone goes to for weld jobs. I want it to be a sturdy weld because it will have to carry a 37 inch tire. I'm broken off a tire carrier before off of a Humvee, and I can tell you its not pretty. I've attached a picture of the rear of the truck. Please let me know if you think it's doable or I should just get another bumper. Thanks.
Mike

 

[davegonz]

It might be doable, but I don't know what you have to work with under the flimsy aluminum tread plate on top of that Kaymar bumper.

Also, the cost of two spindles (about $90 each from 4x4 Labs) and latch(es) (about $80-90 each), plus the cost of raw material is probably going to be about $300-350. Then you have to add the cost of getting it all put together ($100-300 or so). So, around $400-650 to get it all done?

I haven't priced 60-series bumpers lately, but you might want to see what the cost difference would be between modding your existing one or buying a new one (sell the old one to help fund purchase).

 

[davegonz]

Some bumper prices:

Slee: $1745 (single swing out) Slee - Toyota 60 Series Land Cruiser Rear Bumper
HFS: $1170 (dual swing-out option) HFS Rear Bumpers | Hardline Fabrication Systems
MAF 4+: $1600 (dual swing-out) 4+PLUS 60 Series Tow Bumper, Tire and Jerry Can Carrier

You should ask Cam at KrawlTex to see what he would charge to mod your existing one or build you a new one from scratch.

 

[The Phoenician]

Thanks Dave.
I got a guy in Canada who made my sliders he's at Cruisin Off Road - Armour for Land Cruisers . He makes good stuff for Land cruisers actually, mine were the first sliders he made for the 60s. Was thinking of asking him to make me a rear bumper if this was going to be a pain. I'm trying to not spend too much right now until after Edwin is done with the conversion. But I'm gonna need a spare tire for the long trips. Thinking of the double swing outs from man-a-free or cruisinoffroad ones since they will come with quarter panel protection.

 

[The Phoenician]

Just saw how close KrawlTEX is to me. Might go that route and keep my money in the local economy.

 

[davegonz]

Cool. That means you're close to me. I'm off of Anderson Mill/620.

Yeah, Cruisin makes some good stuff, but shipping prices suck!

 

[The Phoenician]

I used to live close to there, now near DELL. I might move back towards that area in a few years we'll see. Right now all my focus is on the conversion and upgrades.