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My nephew has a 3rd generation Taco that he's been building out for a little while now. He wanted some protection and also the ability to remove the sliders.
We started with 1/4" x 5" flat bar and a template of the existing (slotted ) holes on the frame as well as the required clearance holes for the frame rivets.
An iron worker was used to punch 1/2" mounting holes. Since my slotted punches were too large, I just punched the three times for any adjustment that might be required later.
Also sheared and punched some nut plate washers with welded capture nuts. 16 in total (eight per side). 1/4"x2" flat bar was used.
Here you can see the nut plates doing what they need to do. These will come in handy with the front transmission cross member as the frame transitions in to a box with limited access. The module hanging down (drivers side) was rescued with two tabs welded to the bottom frame flange. The original hardware was reused since the module bracket has welded mounting studs.
The opposite side.
Photo limit...
Here you can see the four clearance holes (punched 1") for the frame rivets.
With the 5" frame mount adjusted to the bottom of the frame flange the front bracket was made. This two piece was required since the frames profile changed by 1/4" narrowing at the front. This two front side mounting holes were not slotted nor was the lower 1/4"x 3-1/4" (not yet seen). The two side nut plates required a smallish hand/arm to align the nut capture nuts. On the lower transmission cross member, the capture nut was inserted through the lower slot seen. The upper rear slot is where you will use a finger to align the nut plate to the bolt. It's for these reasons why I didn't slot punch those three holes.
With the longer frame bracket secured correctly, I then used 1/4"x 2" flat bar again to create a lower flange. There one rivet and one bolt head that require a clearance hole. Again I used a 1" punch. These holes aren't centered and favor inboard of the frames flange.
With the 2" flat bar clamped a nice corner joint is created. Back welding was done to keep the heat controlled. The plastic box you see (passengers side) is a cover for two large wire harness connectors. The OEM bolts are long enough to pass through the new 1/4" thick plate.
Burning in the drivers side. Remember to disconnect any batteries prior to welding.
A shot of the passengers side with the lower flange burned in. Also the front lower bracket was welded. The lower flange also protects the bottom of the frame and adds considerable rigidness to the mounting bracket.
More to follow...
With both sides mounting brackets complete, It was time to build the main sliders followed by bending the DOM 1.5" tube.
This piece is .188" x 2" x 3" structural tubing and rally is the back bone of the slider. The ends were cut to a 45º and will face downward when installed.
The ends were capped with 1/4" plate.
The DOM was bent using an Ecolina pipe bender. The OD on the DOM is 1.75" This photo shows the main slider on its side only to line up the two sections of the DOM to be welded.
Welding the two pieces of tubing then on to the main slider body. The weld joints on the tubing required hand grinding to create a tight fish mouth fit.
The left and right sliders ready for fitting.
Another shot. Those were burned in at 21.5 V and 360 IPM using .035"
More to follow...
The next step was to determine the location and measure the distance for the stand off's. These would be cut from .188 x 2" x 2" and mate up nicely with the main slider body.
The three stand off's on the linger portion measured 3.000" while the front came in at 3.250" due to the front portion of the frame tapering in slightly.
The sides and bottoms of the standoffs were welded 100%. The top joint would only be accessible with the sliders removed.
Looking forward.
After complete cool down the pieces were removed for final welding.
The top joints burn in the welding is complete.
Any spatter is cleaned off followed by a a couple of wipe downs using lacquer thinner.
This shot shows the lower flange with the relief 1" punched holes for a rivet and a bolt.
The front mounting bracket.
Ready for DTM paint.
These were shot outside as most of my wet paint is.
Using a HVLP gravity gun three medium coats were shot.
The paint laid down nice and evenly.
closer shot.
Heres a shot of 16 plate washer capture nuts.
Ready for install.
Next up, install...
The sliders were installed without any problems. A motorcycle jack was used to raise the sliders into place for bolting.
BTW, we installed that bumper last year. I also did a write up on that process. That bumper is an all aluminum by Victory 4X4.
Front door open.
Rear door open.
Clean and somewhat subdued.
The rig is coming along.
Those sliders will provide jacking points anywhere along the DOM and most certainly along the structural rectangular tubing.
Thanks for looking.
Nice job!
Nice shop too!
Do you ever get any hot berries burn through your tennis shoes when you are welding?
Nice job!
Nice shop too!
Do you ever get any hot berries burn through your tennis shoes when you are welding?
Not when welding over the table. I won't wear tennis then when fully exposed because its gets expensive hahaha.
