A repeat customer came to me with a brand new Tundra 4x4. He wanted a very specific rocker panel protection. He doesn't do anything to aggressive off road but he does tow a trailer with a Polaris 4 seater razor. That said he insisted the protection be bolted, flush as possible and strong enough to support the rig if used as a jack point if needed.
After getting the rig up on the lift, I came up with a bolt on bracket design. I also decided to three per side and only where the frame had cross members ensuring zero flex on the frame. Speaking of frame, Toyota has really stepped up their game. The frame appeared to be powder coated and very robust.
The brackets all made from 1/4" material with welded capture nuts eliminating the need for a backup wrench.
The holes where as close to the inside leg of the angle as possible.
The nuts where tacked on hot.
Stared on the actual "sliders" as these young bucks call it these days. Back in my day we called them nerf bars
.
I used 2" sch. 40 and but back the ends to a 45º.
Used the iron worker notcher to noble away at the 1/4" end caps and finished them on the disc sander.
Ran four cover welds using the frame brackets to rotate the pipe. My version of a positioner
Then blended that "ugly weld". I learned a long time ago, guys that don't know anything about fabrication don't like or appreciate exposed welds.
Used two HF floor jacks stands to support the pipe and mock up entire setup. Everything was tacked and designed on the fly as I went. A second set of bracket pieced where cut as I went for the drivers side. Only enough paint was removed to ensure a sound weld on the frame. The battery negative cable was also removed to prevent any BS later. This rig is way to computerized to not take 2 minutes to remove the - cable. The ground cable on the welder was also kept next to each bracket welded.
The set up really allowed me to fine tune the pipe into position. The inexpensive floor jack stands have a decent adjustable acme thread for fine adjusting.
The main frame brackets where tacked and the rest od the 1/4" flat strap was cut notched and taperer cut using the iron worker.
The said flat strap formed a "T" for a flex free bracket. Overall length is 5".
Notice the little notch at the pinch weld.
Once everything was verified, I welded the frame brackets vertical up and anything I could access in-place.
After complete cool down, the entire enchilada was removed to weld areas that I could not access.
Skip welding was used to prevent any distortion.
Here is a shot of the frame mount with the slider removed.
A close up of the welded 7/16" capture nuts.
Re-bolted to ensure fit. Like I stated prior, the customer wanted a tucked in clean look.
Rinse and repeat for the drivers side. Used smaller 90º magnets (HF) to hold the lower brackets in-place.
Both bars where taken to get sand blasted and powder coated satin black. They should be done in 7-10 days.
The frame was then masked off and repainted for corrosion control. Not really needed in AZ but the right thing to do non the less.
Used Zero-Rust.
All done!
Thanks for looking.
Turn and Burn!
Paco
