New Trail Rig Build (86 Xtra Cab Flatbed) Lots of Pics!

[amgraham]

(I figured I'd go ahead and post this build thread up here too)

I've been trying to find a rig to build to get my dad out on the trails with me. He doesn't like to drive a manual so that made it difficult but we finally found a 1986 Xtra Cab with the limited edition "lightweight bed". Here's what it looked like when bought:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01402.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01403.jpg
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http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01406.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01407.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01408.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01409.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01410.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01411.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01412.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01413.jpg

We got it cheap because of the rust plus it had a dead battery, a miss in the motor, and a blown rad. hose. It's a one owner truck though and I drove it home stopping once to add water. After a tune up with all NGK stuff and a new rad hose it runs pretty good (I still need to adjust the valves though).

[amgraham]

It didn't take me long to decide that it wasn't worth messing with this bed so out came the sawzall and torch:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01414.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01415.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01416.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01417.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01418.jpg

There it sat for a few weeks while I got some other projects out of the way. I cut up the old bed and also got rid of that old light bar the front bumper ends and brackets. Took all that stuff to the metal recyclers (got $23 for it :D ). Also, I'm thinking about selling my 88 DD so I swapped my Taco wheels and 31s off of that with the stockers that were on the red truck. Here's what it looked like Friday:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01882.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01883.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01884.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01885.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01886.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01887.jpg

[amgraham]

I had been hedging on getting a sandblaster to clean all the rust scale off the frame and see what was left. Friday I finally got one of those cheap Harbor Freight deals and about 150lb of media and had at it. Fortunately everything is pretty solid with the exception of the spare tire crossmember. After I got it cleaned up and started priming I decided to fab up the new "bumper" so I could go ahead and eliminate that crossmember and paint everything.

Cleaned up and fabbing up the bumper with receiver and shackle mounts:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01888.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01889.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01890.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01891.jpg

Welded in the bumper, cut out the old rotted crossmember, and bobbed the frame 4.5":

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01892.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01893.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01894.jpg

All painted up and purty:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01895.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01896.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01897.jpg


Next is the flatbed build. I'll hopefully be able to start on that this week.

[amgraham]

I think I have enough steel laying around to build the bed frame. I've got some expanded metal at my grandfather's in Bristol that I'm picking up next weekend that I'll use for the bottom and sides. I'll be sure to update with any progress.

[BillM]

lloks good.

[Bluegill]

Nice! ;-)

[TNjeeper97]

That's gonna be great. I don't know why but I love a flatbed truck.

[amgraham]

I had a little time to mess with the truck Friday before it rained. I wish I had been able to get more done but oh well.. I ran it up on the wall to check the flex (or lack thereof). Then I was able to cut my crossbars and mounts for the bed and wired up the taillights to see if they worked (I realized I'm going to have to run separate turnsignals because these taillights feed back through the turn signal circuit.. No biggie.). Anyway, here's a few pics:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01906.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01907.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01908.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01909.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01910.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC01911.jpg

[Want2Wheel]

I think that you have to run a converter for the tail lights for everything to work.

[amgraham]

I think that you have to run a converter for the tail lights for everything to work.

Do you have any more info on this? I think it'll work ok if I run separate turn signals as the brake and parking lights function fine but if there's something I could wire in to just use these that would be great. Thanks!

[Want2Wheel]

I will look at the one sthat I have and let you know what it is. The thing that you have to do is make your truck think that it has a trailer with lights. You can get the converter anywhere. You wire it in where your tail lights were, and hook the other lights to the other end. Rob

[amgraham]

Well, I made a lot of progress this weekend. My bandsaw is super slow so I wired and installed other stuff while things were cutting. I installed a JVC CD deck, CB, aux. fuse box and circuit breaker. Also, I got a converter for the tailights and they work fine now. I got the better part of the structure of the bed built but am running low on steel. Hopefully I have enough to finish the railings and let it ride so we can wheel this truck this weekend. We'll see as I work on it a little more over the next couple days. Anyway, everyone loves pics...

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02050.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02051.jpg
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http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02060.jpg

[amgraham]

Woah.. I never did post the semi-finished pics.. Here's the rest of the updates:

Finished the main structure of the bed:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02061.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02062.jpg

Needed a floor to get inspected so wood was the easiest for now. Made that, installed LED taillights, tag lights, CB antenna and have left it like that for awhile:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02310.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02309.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02308.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02307.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02306.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02305.jpg

[amgraham]

Dad and I decided that I should add another bar to make the bed a little deeper and more useful. So, that was my project today. I think it turned out rather nice:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02595.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02596.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02598.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02599.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02600.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02601.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02602.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02603.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02604.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02605.jpg
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http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02610.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02611.jpg

Once I can figure out a good way to cleanly cut the wheelwells and such out this will be going in to replace the wood and the sides will be lined with expanded metal:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02612.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/amgraham83/1986%20Toyota%20Pickup/DSC02613.jpg

[Marty G]

that bed looks nice real nice :smokin:

[Mud&Rox]

lookin great man...keep the pics a rollin :headbang:

[Jeep07]

Wow did you find a good deal on 2"x0.25 wall sq tubbing? You might need to upgrade to a 14 bolt axle to support the extra weight of that bed. :lol: J/k with ya man. Looks good and it sure is solid.

I do have 1 question though, with that bed do you have room for a bigger tire?

[Hadfield4WD]

Looking good. You've been busy.

How to cut the steel. Measure the size you want, score the sheet steel (cut about half way) bend until the desired angle is reached. Stitch weld and add end caps, or do the end cap the same way and you will have all one piece wheel wells.

[amgraham]

Wow did you find a good deal on 2"x0.25 wall sq tubbing? You might need to upgrade to a 14 bolt axle to support the extra weight of that bed. :lol: J/k with ya man. Looks good and it sure is solid.

I do have 1 question though, with that bed do you have room for a bigger tire?

Haha.. I don't order any steel anymore. I am a slave to what they have on the drop rack. They had about a dozen sticks 10 feet long of the 2x3/16 wall tubing and I bought it all. I think I have a few scrap pieces left a foot or 2 long... And still no sliders for my 4Runner (which is what I bought the tubing for to start with :roll: ). Oh well, it'll happen one of these days. But, yeah, it's gonna be heavy but this truck has turned out to be more of a street pounder so a heavy bed makes it ride better.

And, yes, I designed it to be able to stuff a 33 (although I don't think this truck is going to get bigger than 31s). If dad ever sells the truck I'll probably keep the bed to use on something else.. Also, that's the good thing about this.. If I find out I can't run big enough tires in the future I can always chop it and redesign.

[amgraham]

Looking good. You've been busy.

How to cut the steel. Measure the size you want, score the sheet steel (cut about half way) bend until the desired angle is reached. Stitch weld and add end caps, or do the end cap the same way and you will have all one piece wheel wells.

That's a good idea. I'll have to play around with that. I like the idea of not having to cut out the whole wheelwells and I do have an oxy/acet to make it easier to bend (it just makes sloppy cuts though).

Thanks!

[Dino1967]

nice :!:

[fred]

That is a NICE looking bed you got there. I bet it is quite heave but the weight is well worth it. Thats a HD bed that will WAY outlast the life of the truck

[sparkn89]

good work man.

[amgraham]

Thanks guys.. My plasma cutter came in last week but I haven't even had time to set it up. Once I get it going I'll install the diamond plate and expanded metal around the sides.

[Jeep07]

Thanks guys.. My plasma cutter came in last week but I haven't even had time to set it up. Once I get it going I'll install the diamond plate and expanded metal around the sides.

What kind of plasma did you buy?

[amgraham]

Thanks guys.. My plasma cutter came in last week but I haven't even had time to set it up. Once I get it going I'll install the diamond plate and expanded metal around the sides.

What kind of plasma did you buy?

I got that cheap Parker 40 amp that everyone's talking about on Pirate. We'll see how long it lasts.. I'm normally not one to buy cheap tools but I just can't afford to spring for a "real" one being a college student and all right now. Hopefully it'll get me through for awhile then I can sell it and get a more substantial one..

For my future research, which ones do you recommend?

[Jeep07]

At least you got the parker, those guys are pretty reliable. I've had 3 of the cheap o 40's and they didn't last at all. The 3rd one still works but I didn't trust it, so I said forget it. Thermal Dynamics and Hypertherm are the best but also cost $. However I completely trust my Thermal Dynamics unit. Its a work horse and loves to cut..

[BillM]

I can attest to Wes' cutter gittin it. I love that machine. :D