Ryoken's 89 Crew Cab Tubebed build... aka Mutt....

[ryoken]

so... in light of the impending pooch, and evaluating how busy my upcoming year is going to be with training and bonding with my new best friend, I've decided THE #1 project priority for Mutt come spring/summer will be the kennel... the fuel tank, dual bats and finishing the service drawers will have to wait...


money-wise isn't too bad hopefully.. pair of wide, tall PRP's is gonna be like $750.. steel, and some alum, bedliner, etc... so all in, should be the 1200 to 1500 range... it'll be more banging out a full floor fab labor issue...

not only do I need to cut the whole floor out and fab the new, mount seats, divider wall, but that also involves making the grates for the back windows, rear door panels, the ramp, etc... want it to be the full functioning kennel by mid july.. want to be able to lock the rig, with the windows down and screens to protect the boy... he should be at a perfect age to really enjoy it and make it his home by the end of the summer, be about 7, 8 months..

maybe get to a console fab too if I can sneak it in.. definitely going to fab it out of alum.......


hopefully I can bang out some of the tank/drawer stuff in aug/sept... I should have the money for it easy enough by that time of the yr.. it'll be more a time thing.. but the fact I'm farming out a bunch of that should help...

 

[runamok151]

Look for an old k9 vehicle for some of your components. Things off a Suburban, Tahoe, Expedition or Exploder might be direct swaps. There are window grates made out of framed expanded steel. The floors will have cooling features. The partitions may have fans built in to help move AC to the back of the truck. It could save you time and money.

 

[ryoken]

Look for an old k9 vehicle for some of your components. Things off a Suburban, Tahoe, Expedition or Exploder might be direct swaps. There are window grates made out of framed expanded steel. The floors will have cooling features. The partitions may have fans built in to help move AC to the back of the truck. It could save you time and money.

thanks..

but honestly, that ain't gonna work for me.. and I'm ok with that... window frames conceivably... rear door panels will just be a panel of smooth alum...

but with full blown custom floor dimensions, I wouldn't even consider something out of another vehicle... it'll just be easier/cheaper to fab it I think... an alum bar divider wall, will actually be a fun part of the project once the floor is done...


tho, thanks for the "air circulation" reminder.. something I should think/incorporate into the design...

I'm gonna do the whole "vertical, jail bar, 1" x 1" alum tube bar wall gig... with a center window at the console for Kai to stick his head thru.... windows, I'm not sure yet.. I still like the idea of bars to guarantee no claw "hang-up"... for the divider wall, I'm thinking I may make a section behind each seat solid alum up to the headrest to prevent him from scratching the piss out of em.. but the divider wall should be an easy peezy, alum bolt-in compared to the actual floor fab... flat stock on the bottom, vertical tubes...



I actually went out and looked at it today.... I was just kinda checking on how wide the ramp can be with stock door openings... that's about 12"... if I increase the door swing, it could be wider.... for as "way cool" as a "gullwing door mod" would be... electric trunk releases with a couple hydro cylinders on each side for assist, I'm concerned, #1 about the stoopid amounts of work I'd have into them.. and #2, clearance next to the rig to actually open them, say ina parking lot where I'm just gonna have Kai jump out...


the rear kennel floor will actually prolly be a fair bit higher than the rocker.. this allows, #1, a good view out the windows for him in a normal stance... #2, it allows plenty of room for ramp storage underneath.. and #3, it may transistion VERY well into a custom trans tunnel, to help allow for the NV4500 and driveline e-brake....









Ryoken - completely over the top researching diets, etc for Kai....... I'm beyond silly in anticipation....







.

 

[TREA18]

Just throwing this out there, but what about him getting to the front passenger? If it were me I'd want him in the shotgun by me.

 

[78K30]

Just throwing this out there, but what about him getting to the front passenger? If it were me I'd want him in the shotgun by me.

I'm the same way, both the dogs go everywhere with me. It's actually hard for me to start my 78 without getting run over by excited dogs.

 

[ryoken]

Just throwing this out there, but what about him getting to the front passenger? If it were me I'd want him in the shotgun by me.

good idea...


keep in mind, the dog will be with me all day, every day, rain/shine, work, stores, etc, he's gonna need a place to live during those times...... the couple areas of concern in my cranium about that are, #1, f*cking up the PRP... #2, Kai getting too used to riding around up front and giving me a hard time about staying in the kennel...


I've strongly considered working a larger door into that "center console window" area for that reason... so in a pinch he can cruise around up front, road trips, etc...... I'm thinking doing the hinged door, even if rarely used, is still a good idea...




ftr, I'm gonna run the same color scheme as the K5... but in wide, ttall DD'ers...

 

[ryoken]

oh, and Kai is paid for... the rest of the cash is sitting here tucked away.. bills are paid thru feb 1st.. so I'm good till the first unenjoyment check gets here in jan... hopefully the surgery falls in line with Kai's schedule... shouldn't be a big issue... gotta go pick him out towards the end of jan.. than pick up around feb 10th.. hopefully i'll have surgery before the end of jan.... no big, i'll make it work..

 

[AJs72K5]

I vote shotgun too. He shouldn't mess up the seats any more than your a$$ would...other than fur. My experience is that he shouldn't fuss about going back and forth to the kennel when needed.

It's easy to get giddy over a new pup

 

[78K30]

I guess I should've figured your seats are a bit nicer than mine! Even the seats in my 06 are just the stock ones and being a farm truck I don't mind. I'll be awaiting more puppy pictures for sure! You've got every reason to be excited for his arrival, I like dogs more than most people

 

[ryoken]

actually, I think a vertically sliding bar door between the seats will work better than hinged... like a lion cage...

my only concern now is what this does to any center console I was gonna do... I'd be fine with no center console at all, leaving a nice path for Kai to cruise between the seats to go in/out of the kennel, except I'm gonna actually need SOME storage for myself... the glovebox alone wont cut it.......

hmmmm, maybe I can do some low profile type deal incorporated into the floor build, that he could actually walk over when it's closed....

 

[ryoken]

constempating chopping the floor out of Mutt tomorrow...

 

[Bigblue7-2]

constempating chopping the floor out of Mutt tomorrow...

U have a few short weeks of fab time before the stork arrives. I'd hate to see you waste training time over fab!!

Doo it.

 

[ryoken]

U have a few short weeks of fab time before the stork arrives. I'd hate to see you waste training time over fab!!

Doo it.

well, these are the ramblings of my madman brain during the long ride home from mom's house..




kinda pissed that I didn't tear into it weeks ago.. but, I love driving it.... and who knew the weather was gonna be this great... also, I love driving it.... didn't know my schedule... me love driving it.... etc...


here's my thought... weather looks good for at least a couple weeks.... my EMG is the 6th... pretty certain the soonest I'll be in surgery is like the 20th... dog wont come till feb 10th.. so after that, wouldn't be touching it for a few months...


BUT, if I can get a head start on it now, and get a good portion of the floor fabbed in over the next 3 to 4 weeks, I'll be WAY ahead of the game come may/june when I figured I'd get going on the project... if I can get the floor fabbed, and get the seats mounted by the end of jan, I could actually be driving it around again, with Kai, come march 15 when I go back to work... than I can finish up the details like the wall, ramp, etc at the beginning of the summer...


BUT... I didn't account for $750 in my pre feb budget for seats, than the steel... but I may have a way around that... I can afford to go down to Fazzio and get the floor steel.... and I can do the mock up for the seat mounting, and even temporarily use the hi-backs from the K5 for a few months till I can afford the DD'ers..... the mounting and size will be the same as the DD'ers, just the side bolstering is much higher..


I'm just gonna have at least 3 weeks here where I'm doing nothing.... I can bang out a bunch fab work in that 150 or so hr's...

once the pooch get's here, I'm gonna be much more limited... even in the middle of the summer, long fab sessions will be frequently interrupted for puppy duty, might as well bang a bunch of it out now.... I have the black rig to drive around for any time that Mutt is down...

















I'll have to sit and look at tomorrow morn with some coffee and decide if I wanna go for it... but don't be surprised if come 5 pm I'm posting pics like this...

 

[78K30]

I'll have to sit and look at tomorrow morn with some coffee and decide if I wanna go for it... but don't be surprised if come 5 pm I'm posting pics like this...

. I say make it happen! But it's not me doing the work either

 

[ryoken]

JUMP!!!! JUMP!!!! JUMP!!!!!

 

[78K30]

If it makes you feel any better you won't be he only one fabbing tomorrow! I put in a full 8 hours in on the truck today and hopefully that many more tomorrow

 

[ryoken]

sweet....


oh, and add the front bumper build to that fuel tank, dual bat, etc list of projects getting bumped down the list... kennel or bust....

 

[ryoken]

so.. per usual, things are never straight forward... this floor job is definitely more challenging than the K5......

who'd a ever thunk I'd be chopping out a rust free floor.....








the center mounts are a bit challenging.. even with the post, on that angled bit... under that dimpled area..

hi-back....

one of the challenging aspect is, a good bit of all those high bumps are for frame clearance... I'm actually thinking I'm gonna do a generally high up flat floor, everywhere except the front footwell areas... carry the kennel floor right up the trans tunnel.. couple inches lower in the seat mount area, than basically stock height in the foot well area.... it'd certainly leave a TON of space underneath for driveline, etc....


still not committed to cutting it out now.. gonna work up a drawing and material list now..... go from there...

 

[ryoken]

got a design...... sick......

gonna wait till I get a steel price Monday morn before cutting it out...

 

[dhcomp]

Is there a reason to cut out the front half? Rear totally makes sense with the kennel. Just curious.

Truck looks great!