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Ryoken's 89 Crew Cab Tubebed build... aka Mutt....
- Thread starter ryoken
- Start date
my kingdom for some alum welding skill/tools... 
actually.. we do have a new alum welder guy for the marina.. obviously I would get charged.. BUT, if I did all the cutting/mockup and all he had to do was weld up the pieces, it might not cost too much..
I could cheat and do painted sheetmetal, but I definitely would prefer the alum...
I think it would look killer with those 3 big ones facing straight back.... I'll have to do a mock up of that to see how severe those recess's would be...
actually.. we do have a new alum welder guy for the marina.. obviously I would get charged.. BUT, if I did all the cutting/mockup and all he had to do was weld up the pieces, it might not cost too much..
I could cheat and do painted sheetmetal, but I definitely would prefer the alum...
I think it would look killer with those 3 big ones facing straight back.... I'll have to do a mock up of that to see how severe those recess's would be...
runamok151
1 ton status
Need a tig welder? got one of this here collecting dust too.
I've run aluminum wire through my little Lincoln 135 mig welder w/out a problem. Just have to stay w/ .035 so it's stiff enough to push out.
I've run aluminum wire through my little Lincoln 135 mig welder w/out a problem. Just have to stay w/ .035 so it's stiff enough to push out.
eh, not sure it's a project I wanna learn on... I really don't wanna go thru the hassle of changing my mig setup around too, new bottle, etc...... actually, now that I think about it, I may be able to get my fuel tank guy to help me out on this.. he's got a 1/2 dozen guys tigging all day..
I'll keep you posted, thanks mucho!
interested in selling the TIG?
ok, here's how it somewhat looks....
it looks like the "deepest" part of the recesses, which is the upper right corner of each light, would be about about 4" or 4.5" deep...
here's a different angle to give you an idea of the panel angle..
so effectively, each recess would be 4 triangular "walls", than a 7" x 7" or so base... so 15 little pieces to weld into little cubicals..
as of now.. I'm totally leaning toward doing those 3 6.5's.. if I plan to do recesses, at some point, I definitely want to do 3, not 5...
I'll keep you posted, thanks mucho!
interested in selling the TIG?ok, here's how it somewhat looks....
it looks like the "deepest" part of the recesses, which is the upper right corner of each light, would be about about 4" or 4.5" deep...
here's a different angle to give you an idea of the panel angle..
so effectively, each recess would be 4 triangular "walls", than a 7" x 7" or so base... so 15 little pieces to weld into little cubicals..
as of now.. I'm totally leaning toward doing those 3 6.5's.. if I plan to do recesses, at some point, I definitely want to do 3, not 5...
runamok151
1 ton status
I think I would like it if the lights were flush mounted. They'd be more visible, which is their main purpose.
sent you a pm about the tig.
sent you a pm about the tig.
it would definitely start out as that flat panel, with the lights surface mounted.. the lights are like 3/4" thick, so it'll only be so flush initially..
surface mount will be easy, 4 screw holes in the corners, and a center for the plug.. that will show me how they look directly from behind, which is what the boys where referring to, LED's being a bit directional...
those bus ones are 30 led's per light tho, so they should be pretty bright...
i'll go from there, if they are plenty visable, I could always cut the holes, and stand them off in the back some to make them flush with a bit of welding..
or if they need to be brighter, or look goofy, I could go for the more involved recessing project..
either way, I see 6 of those in my "not too distant" future...
surface mount will be easy, 4 screw holes in the corners, and a center for the plug.. that will show me how they look directly from behind, which is what the boys where referring to, LED's being a bit directional...
those bus ones are 30 led's per light tho, so they should be pretty bright...
i'll go from there, if they are plenty visable, I could always cut the holes, and stand them off in the back some to make them flush with a bit of welding..
or if they need to be brighter, or look goofy, I could go for the more involved recessing project..
either way, I see 6 of those in my "not too distant" future...
runamok151
1 ton status
you could always put on some '57 caddy tail lights to add a little class.
With your lights flush mount the rest of us will have about 240* worth of viewing angle to see what your doing. Its like a safety upgrade or something. 
Fubeca
1/2 ton status
That is a good point - if they turn out to have good visibility from the back and side you may not have to do the side rear markers/turn signals 
hmmmmm, if they look good that way when I just surface mount em, I think I may know a way to flush mount them in the alum panel without all kinds of alum welding, spacing, bracketry on the back of the panel...
I may be able to just do a steel frame structure from the inside of the upper tube down to the lower tube to mount them to... that would sit 1" behind the surface.. which is what the lights thickness is after rechecking dimensions.. so the lenses would sit flush with the alum..
it could be as simple as 2 vertical pieces of strip steel per light where the mounting holes are... or even 2 parallel ones the length of the 3 lights, with a vertical at each end or similar..
that actually may work even better, cuz it may be trickier to flush mount em in the alum only.. you would probably need to make a removable frame for the back to retain them, bolt to.. cuz you wont be able to pull them out the front..
with a steel frame that they are bolted to, you would have to remove the 4 countersunk allens and remove the alum panel to take the lights out, but I actually think that may be easier, considering the alum fab involved... and you can still access the backside wiring easy peezy all the time...
I may be able to just do a steel frame structure from the inside of the upper tube down to the lower tube to mount them to... that would sit 1" behind the surface.. which is what the lights thickness is after rechecking dimensions.. so the lenses would sit flush with the alum..
it could be as simple as 2 vertical pieces of strip steel per light where the mounting holes are... or even 2 parallel ones the length of the 3 lights, with a vertical at each end or similar..
that actually may work even better, cuz it may be trickier to flush mount em in the alum only.. you would probably need to make a removable frame for the back to retain them, bolt to.. cuz you wont be able to pull them out the front..
with a steel frame that they are bolted to, you would have to remove the 4 countersunk allens and remove the alum panel to take the lights out, but I actually think that may be easier, considering the alum fab involved... and you can still access the backside wiring easy peezy all the time...
maybe something like this.. out of some 1" x 1" x 1/8 angle for rigidity.....
nah, it's cool... my idiocy brought it up, so it's "on topic"
alrighty.......
feel like I'm back painting cement mixer frames again!
time/material consuming.... went thru a 1/2 gal of primer getting it all coated in jet mode on my back...
still a whole bunch of panel mount tabs (probably about 42 to 46), box mounts (24) and support bars to weld in, but I'm glad I got it overall coated now...
I recognize that buff primer
IMO those lights are going to be way to big. Its going to look to school bus like.
I would lean the direction of the longer skinnier ones that are on trailers. I think they would look good and are better sized.
One of those lights is bigger then the factory rear ones and you are putting three. Plus all the work to recess them seems like a lot of work for a very big light.
Find something that flush mounts and save the hours building it.
Some LED strips with some kind of reflector something would look rather subtle.
I would lean the direction of the longer skinnier ones that are on trailers. I think they would look good and are better sized.
One of those lights is bigger then the factory rear ones and you are putting three. Plus all the work to recess them seems like a lot of work for a very big light.
Find something that flush mounts and save the hours building it.
Some LED strips with some kind of reflector something would look rather subtle.
I like the big squares...and I like them just plain mounted to the black metal...this is a really big rig and I like the big rig look...looks more rugged to me.
it isn't so much of a big rig/schoolbus look that I like about em, it's that cartoon, excessive, larger than life appearance it helps that I've talked about previously...
I mean sheesh, look at that thing, it ain't your run of the mill, put together with square stock and plate flatbed ya see running around.. it's supposed to be excessive..
that said, that's tomorrow's agenda... now that I have that gray panel in there and plenty of orange and red paper, I'm gonna mock up all kinds of different configs that we talked about today.. to take a peak at a bunch..
I have nothing going on till I get the alum next week or so, so taking a couple days now to mess with it is good... supposed to be pretty warm tomorrow too, good day to hang in the LAB™ and cut out paper dolls....
I mean sheesh, look at that thing, it ain't your run of the mill, put together with square stock and plate flatbed ya see running around.. it's supposed to be excessive..
that said, that's tomorrow's agenda... now that I have that gray panel in there and plenty of orange and red paper, I'm gonna mock up all kinds of different configs that we talked about today.. to take a peak at a bunch..
I have nothing going on till I get the alum next week or so, so taking a couple days now to mess with it is good... supposed to be pretty warm tomorrow too, good day to hang in the LAB™ and cut out paper dolls....
hmmmmmmmmmmm, they all look kinda cool........... 
I'm kinda digging the first one, 6" ovals... keep in mind, the first 2 would have a say, 3/8 border of black rubber around them, as they are the flush grommet styles...
I'm kinda digging the first one, 6" ovals... keep in mind, the first 2 would have a say, 3/8 border of black rubber around them, as they are the flush grommet styles...
I like either the top or the bottom one. The first one looks real good.
But now that I look again....I like the middle one too....
When it comes to lights, I tend to like to see a lot of lens
But now that I look again....I like the middle one too....
When it comes to lights, I tend to like to see a lot of lens
Slapperbar
Retired Navy NDT Examiner
I like the second and then the first. Making the brake lights sequential would be killer and a good attention getter.
well, I do too in this app... but #2 may be a bit tight and busy.. they are the 5" rectangles..
when I went down this morn, I was guessing that was the one I was really gonna like... but you have to keep them spaced pretty close, and will get much tighter looking when you factor in the grommet's.. plus it starts getting tight to the rounded corner...
still it looks good there.. they are 24 LED's per light...
amber and reds $20 a piece... reverse $31 a piece...
total price $231
#1 6" ovals... I really like this one, didn't think I was going to... with the grommet's, they would probably space well, and not be stoopid crowded...
these priced out as... the reds and ambers are $20 and 56 LED's
where as the damn reverse lights are 10 LED, and $30 a piece..
for a total price $260....
the known #3.. which will be by far the most amount of work to flush.. by far... are $250 for the 6....
tho #1 is the most money, I'm kinda leaning toward that look at this point... they seem to space well, top to bottom and side to side...
#2 is still a possibility, just wanna make new paperdolls that incorporate the black grommets and see how tight it really is...
when I went down this morn, I was guessing that was the one I was really gonna like... but you have to keep them spaced pretty close, and will get much tighter looking when you factor in the grommet's.. plus it starts getting tight to the rounded corner...
still it looks good there.. they are 24 LED's per light...
amber and reds $20 a piece... reverse $31 a piece...
total price $231
#1 6" ovals... I really like this one, didn't think I was going to... with the grommet's, they would probably space well, and not be stoopid crowded...
these priced out as... the reds and ambers are $20 and 56 LED's
where as the damn reverse lights are 10 LED, and $30 a piece..
for a total price $260....
the known #3.. which will be by far the most amount of work to flush.. by far... are $250 for the 6....
tho #1 is the most money, I'm kinda leaning toward that look at this point... they seem to space well, top to bottom and side to side...
#2 is still a possibility, just wanna make new paperdolls that incorporate the black grommets and see how tight it really is...
runamok151
1 ton status
I like the first one but make it 2 amber, 2 red, 2 white. You can never have enough light when you're backing up.
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