Topic: 86 Xtra Cab Exo Project, front bumper done too

[pumkin toy]

Doing this cage for a friend.  I still have a few more pieces to put in on the main part of the cage before welding.  I am also building a front bumper w/winch mount.  Tubes will run under the front fenders and connect to the front bumper.

[pumkin toy [OP]]

Here's some progress from today

[Rocksurfer]

Nice work, I like the frenching it into the fender. Oh and did you happen to tell your friend that he was putting this cage on a little bit too late?

[874runnertoys]

Nice love the way its truing out 

[Nimyad]

Very nice. Wish you were around to help me build an exo, I always end up screwing up bends so I haven't built one yet.

[pumkin toy [OP]]

Very nice. Wish you were around to help me build an exo, I always end up screwing up bends so I haven't built one yet.

yeah exo's are a pain to build.  Ive done alot of them and they still dont get any easier!  It sucks building with restrictions.  I did a full cage on a fj-40 and it was so much easier because I didnt have to build around the body

Nice work, I like the frenching it into the fender. Oh and did you happen to tell your friend that he was putting this cage on a little bit too late?

Thanks  and SHE knows its a bit late to be putting it on as far as body damage goes. At least she hasnt put it on its roof yet!  now she doesnt have to worry

Nice love the way its truing out 

thanks man!

[pumkin toy [OP]]

Well guys I think I'm done with this stage of the build on Karin's ride.  Got the cage all welded up.  Also got the front bumper built.  There are some areas that I would like to add to eventually.  I want to put in some plate gussets here and there and also add some plate to the front bumper under the winch, but this is all I'm doing for now.  Its time to start working on my wife's 4runner!

Enjoy the pics











A few pics of it with the new winch thats going on my wifes 4runner

[pumkin toy [OP]]

[BUDDERS]

I have always wondered if it was possible to put the lower windshield bar through the windsheild wiper contraption compartment so it is hidden too.  I wonder if anyone has checked to see if there is room in there for a 1 3/4" tube?

[pumkin toy [OP]]

I was actually going to do that on my 4runner that I had.  I could have made it work, but I think I would have had to remove the windshield wipers.

[Sparkplug]

If you mess up a bend. Do you cut and turn it and reweld?  What's your thoughts on doing that?  Great work as always.

[twistedtoy92]

What kind of bender are you using pumkintoy? Jd2?

[pumkin toy [OP]]

If you mess up a bend. Do you cut and turn it and reweld?  What's your thoughts on doing that?  Great work as always.

 Somtimes I do have to cut and splice something just because its faster and easier than re-doing an entire piece that may already have multiple bends in it.  My thoughts are that splicing is fine if you do it properly.  always sleeve the inside of the tube with another piece of tube.  Before you put the two halves back together with the sleeve inside, make sure you drill a few holes through each half of the tube so you can plug weld the tube to your inner sleeve.  If you do not sleeve it and you just butt-weld it back together, chances are pretty high that it will just snap at the weld when you roll over or run into something with the bumper.

[pumkin toy [OP]]

What kind of bender are you using pumkintoy? Jd2?

yes sir,  jd2 model 32 with a pneumatic over hydraulic ram.  Its a great machine for the price.  Bends very smooth and has extremely minimal distotion on high degree bends

[Sparkplug]

Are the spots its sanded clean the spotd where you cut and rewelded? That piece coming from the rear hoop, all the way down the fender, is a pretty crazy bend.

Abouts how long do you make your inner sleeve?

Sorry to hijack your thread, but its obvious your handy with a bender. I have the exact same one also

[pumkin toy [OP]]

Are the spots its sanded clean the spotd where you cut and rewelded? That piece coming from the rear hoop, all the way down the fender, is a pretty crazy bend.

Abouts how long do you make your inner sleeve?

Sorry to hijack your thread, but its obvious your handy with a bender. I have the exact same one also

yes I did splice that tube right there.  and the issue with that one is that I screwed up my measurement and the part ended up too long so I had to cut and splice to shorten it.  typically I make my sleeve about 5" long and I drill at least two 1/2" holes in each half of the part that I am splicing back together.  I also place the holes in 90 degree incriments around the tube and about an 1 1/2" distance apart so that when its all welded back together there will be a spot weld every 90 degrees all the way around the inner sleeve.  Hopefully that all makes sence!  haha kinda hard to explain.  It would be alot easier if I just had a pic of how I do it

[Sparkplug]

Makes sense, and seems like a good way of doing it. Thanks for the tip

[pumkin toy [OP]]

no problem!

[junya92toy]

Somtimes I do have to cut and splice something just because its faster and easier than re-doing an entire piece that may already have multiple bends in it.  My thoughts are that splicing is fine if you do it properly.  always sleeve the inside of the tube with another piece of tube.  Before you put the two halves back together with the sleeve inside, make sure you drill a few holes through each half of the tube so you can plug weld the tube to your inner sleeve.  If you do not sleeve it and you just butt-weld it back together, chances are pretty high that it will just snap at the weld when you roll over or run into something with the bumper.

If its prepared right, it wont snap, with no inner tube. Just bevel to a knife edge and weld it.

[pumkin toy [OP]]

If its prepared right, it wont snap, with no inner tube. Just bevel to a knife edge and weld it.

yes you can assume that will be good enough, but if its already cut in half, why not sleeve it and make it plenty strong so you dont have to worry abut it

[junya92toy]

Extra material needed, more cost to find the right tube, and if you dont prepare that right, its still going to fail. You might as well do it right, and not need the inner sleeve. With a bevel that should be done in both cases it will be a good weld. with a sleeve you have extra welding to be done costing more in time, welding supplies and sanding to finish

[pumkin toy [OP]]

Extra material needed, more cost to find the right tube, and if you dont prepare that right, its still going to fail. You might as well do it right, and not need the inner sleeve. With a bevel that should be done in both cases it will be a good weld. with a sleeve you have extra welding to be done costing more in time, welding supplies and sanding to finish

take your comments to someone elses thread.  every time someone posts something about welding or any steel work at all you are there right away to post some annoying .  no matter how anyone else does it, YOUR way is always better and always right!

[junya92toy]

Wow someone is a little sensitive. Im just pointing out other ways to do things. usually a better way. 
I do make valid points about time, cost, extra material and cost needed. When its really not.

[pumkin toy [OP]]

Wow someone is a little sensitive. Im just pointing out other ways to do things. usually a better way. 
I do make valid points about time, cost, extra material and cost needed. When its really not.

i'm far from sensitive and all for learning new and better ways to do things.  But I have seen your posts all over this forum and its always some type of smart remark about how the way you do it is always the only right way to do it.  I graduated from wyotech's chassis fab class and they tought us that the proper way to splice a tube is with a sleeve and plug welds.  I have many random length or "scrap" pieces of smaller tube lying around my garage that fit nicely inside the tube that i use for building cages and bumpers. so naturally If I have to splice something I make sure its done plenty strong by putting an insert inside.  it really doesnt take much more time and sanding a couple plug welds isnt going to make a difference in sanding disk waste.  I guarantee that if you could perform a stress test on a spliced tube with a sleeve vs a spliced tube without, the sleeved tube will be stronger.  If I was building some furniture project or a handrailing or something like that I wouldnt waste time using an insert. But if overall strength and safety are a concern, then its worth a few minutes of my time to add a sleeve

[junya92toy]

Well with a properly beveled joint, it wont fail at the weld. Because you get 100% pen, and the filler metal is stronger then the base metal .
Want me to post up a picture of all the different classes I finished at welding college, or 5 or 6 certs I have in structural and bridge ? Thats in stick, mig, submerged act, stainless, aluminum

[twistedtoy92]

I'd take an inner sleeve at a joint over a beveled joint anyday, and yes, the smartass comments are extremely annoying....
Nice work pumkin, you truly do some outstanding work! 

BTW, which die do you use in your bender?

[pumkin toy [OP]]

Well with a properly beveled joint, it wont fail at the weld. Because you get 100% pen, and the filler metal is stronger then the base metal .
Want me to post up a picture of all the different classes I finished at welding college, or 5 or 6 certs I have in structural and bridge ? Thats in stick, mig, submerged act, stainless, aluminum

dont talk to me anymore, this isnt structural steel and bridge building

[pumkin toy [OP]]

I'd take an inner sleeve at a joint over a beveled joint anyday, and yes, the smartass comments are extremely annoying....
Nice work pumkin, you truly do some outstanding work! 

BTW, which die do you use in your bender?

thank you I appreciate it!  so far I have been using 1 1/4" pipe size tube (which is 1.66 OD and .143 wall thickness) on all of my cage and bumper work, so I use an 1 1/4" pipe size die with a 5.5" radius

[junya92toy]

dont talk to me anymore, this isnt structural steel and bridge building

I can talk all I want, because I give advice on good solid welding procedures. If you want  to do shitty welds, so be it. But anytime you want to do a full pen weld, you need to bevel, inner sleeve or no inner sleeve.
I know for a fact, that a bevel, with no sleeve is just as strong or stronger then the base metal.  You need to get that weld to go through the full thickness of the metal on a spice.

[Rocksurfer]

Everyone is correct, just different ways of achieving the same results. Now lets move along, nothing  else to see here.... except for an awesome cage build.