2014.11.16 - UPDATE! - THE LONGEST FISHMOUTH...!!!
More weekend progress toward establishing a strong upper strut mount for the rear struts....
Step 1: Establish a support for a double-shear connection.
I figured that adding a second parallel tube would probably be a nice way to get to the "other" side of the strut to support it, and since it wouldn't end up any wider than the wheeltub, it really wasn't costing me any space for the back seat either. I put a bend on the rear part of it so that it wouldn't encroach unnecessarily on the bed space. I clamped 3 lengths of angle iron to the existing bedrail tubes so that I could just lay the new tube on there and didn't have to fight it from twisting and falling out of position all the time. I also helped to insure that the end result would be dead-on perfect in it's alignment with everything else.
As you may have noticed, even though I used BendTech software to plan the bend, it didn't exactly work out right. I had to play a bunch of games a both ends (with extra filler tube) to extend the tube, and to increase the spacing between it and the original bedrail tube. Getting that rear fishmouth to fit perfectly took a LOT of time and fiddling. In typical fashion, the first bar took HOURS to complete... so I made up a paper wrapper for the fishmouth and was able to transfer it to the final part, and also was able to turn it "inside out" and use the mirror image template for the drivers side too.
Total time to complete the driver's side tube was less than 30 minutes from start to finish....!
The rear tapers on the inside tubes had a very important extra feature: They allowed a bit of extra room for the seatback to fit. The rear seat is about 50" wide, and I'm only at about 48.5" between the wheeltubs currently....so the seat didn't actually fit as far forward as I wanted in this photo. Utimately, the seat will have to be stripped down completely so that I can cut about 2 - 3" from the center of the frame, weld it all back together...then have it reupholstered. Once it's done, I doubt anyone would even notice it's been messed-with.
So... that took care of getting a nice upper mount. Which allowed me to move on to
Step 2: Support the strut so it doesn't flex and bend those horizontal bedrail tubes!
In a bit of serendipity, I discovered that by following the angled profile of the factory wheeltub (which is exactly 45* by the way) and putting just a slight gap between the tub and the tubing.... I could land a support tube into the corner of the rock slider structure underneath the truck and also end up in a perfect spot directly underneath the upper strut area.
A simple 45* fishmouth on one end and a 45* flat cut on the other was all it took to knock it out. Both sides were completed in about an hour. My luck was so good that it scared me.... so I decided to stop there (at about 11:30PM last night) and just take a few more photos before cleaning up and getting some sleep.
Here's a great shot giving a sense of how the rear passenger will see things.
I really like the double parallel-tube layout. It's just BEGGING for a top plate in the armrest area with a few holes cut for some cupholders! LOL. The trapezoidal area underneath and in the forward areas makes a great spot for a subwoofer enclosure and looks to have about 2.5 cu ft. of space, which should be PLENTY for almost any speaker I decide to use there.
Here's a pure side-profile of the end-of-the-night progress.
It looks like I could add another diagonal bar on the trailing edge of those wheeltubs pretty easily and tie them into the C-pillar support. (That would be Step 3) I'm hopeful that will be enough structure to support the weight of the truck and the upper strut mount. If not, I'll either have to go above the bedrail and do some additional tie-ins to the top of the cage or go down into the factory framerails.... which means I will lose my 48" wide bed floor and future dreams of hauling plywood and drywall...
-G
More weekend progress toward establishing a strong upper strut mount for the rear struts....
Step 1: Establish a support for a double-shear connection.
I figured that adding a second parallel tube would probably be a nice way to get to the "other" side of the strut to support it, and since it wouldn't end up any wider than the wheeltub, it really wasn't costing me any space for the back seat either. I put a bend on the rear part of it so that it wouldn't encroach unnecessarily on the bed space. I clamped 3 lengths of angle iron to the existing bedrail tubes so that I could just lay the new tube on there and didn't have to fight it from twisting and falling out of position all the time. I also helped to insure that the end result would be dead-on perfect in it's alignment with everything else.
As you may have noticed, even though I used BendTech software to plan the bend, it didn't exactly work out right. I had to play a bunch of games a both ends (with extra filler tube) to extend the tube, and to increase the spacing between it and the original bedrail tube. Getting that rear fishmouth to fit perfectly took a LOT of time and fiddling. In typical fashion, the first bar took HOURS to complete... so I made up a paper wrapper for the fishmouth and was able to transfer it to the final part, and also was able to turn it "inside out" and use the mirror image template for the drivers side too.
Total time to complete the driver's side tube was less than 30 minutes from start to finish....!
The rear tapers on the inside tubes had a very important extra feature: They allowed a bit of extra room for the seatback to fit. The rear seat is about 50" wide, and I'm only at about 48.5" between the wheeltubs currently....so the seat didn't actually fit as far forward as I wanted in this photo. Utimately, the seat will have to be stripped down completely so that I can cut about 2 - 3" from the center of the frame, weld it all back together...then have it reupholstered. Once it's done, I doubt anyone would even notice it's been messed-with.
So... that took care of getting a nice upper mount. Which allowed me to move on to
Step 2: Support the strut so it doesn't flex and bend those horizontal bedrail tubes!
In a bit of serendipity, I discovered that by following the angled profile of the factory wheeltub (which is exactly 45* by the way) and putting just a slight gap between the tub and the tubing.... I could land a support tube into the corner of the rock slider structure underneath the truck and also end up in a perfect spot directly underneath the upper strut area.
A simple 45* fishmouth on one end and a 45* flat cut on the other was all it took to knock it out. Both sides were completed in about an hour. My luck was so good that it scared me.... so I decided to stop there (at about 11:30PM last night) and just take a few more photos before cleaning up and getting some sleep.
Here's a great shot giving a sense of how the rear passenger will see things.
I really like the double parallel-tube layout. It's just BEGGING for a top plate in the armrest area with a few holes cut for some cupholders! LOL. The trapezoidal area underneath and in the forward areas makes a great spot for a subwoofer enclosure and looks to have about 2.5 cu ft. of space, which should be PLENTY for almost any speaker I decide to use there.
Here's a pure side-profile of the end-of-the-night progress.
It looks like I could add another diagonal bar on the trailing edge of those wheeltubs pretty easily and tie them into the C-pillar support. (That would be Step 3) I'm hopeful that will be enough structure to support the weight of the truck and the upper strut mount. If not, I'll either have to go above the bedrail and do some additional tie-ins to the top of the cage or go down into the factory framerails.... which means I will lose my 48" wide bed floor and future dreams of hauling plywood and drywall...
-G
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I'm trying REALLY hard to walk the line between aesthetics and "tube farm"...... A cage can always be made safer by adding "just one more" triangulated tube, but I'm starting to get anxiety about building what ends up looking like a "race cage" inside of a classically-restomodded 1st Gen. That's just not the look I want to end up with.....
