General DIY Fabrication Questions/Tips/Advice Discussion.

[HoneyBadger]

In the off-road world there are many people who take a DIY approach to building their rigs. I applaud this as it garners a better love and appreciation for one's rig and upgrades and a better appreciation for the work that goes into building a really good off-road rig.

I'm starting this thread to be a spot for general DIY questions and answers. Mostly for welding/fabrication questions. But our club consists of many members who have experience in other DIY subjects. So if I or @Squishy! can't answer your question, I'm sure there are more than a few other knowledgeable folks on here that can put forward valuable information.

I can't build your stuff for you, but if I can help answer your questions through my years of experience building truck armor, then I'd be glad to help in that way.

So if you're setting out on a custom bumper and/or slider build or some other random custom creation or repair project for your truck and you'd like advise or answers to a "do/do not" question, by all means, post it up here. There are no stupid questions.

Could an Admin please pin this to the top?

 

[HoneyBadger]

The first thing I'd like to throw out there is on the subject of swingout tire carrier hinges.

Over the years I've built quite a few swingout tire carriers. And the number one problem I've seen happen to them is that the hinge pins break off.
I've had personal experience with this on my own truck as well.
A single shear pin is prone to degradation and eventual failure due to constant vibrations. Often times we like to pack as much stuff onto our swingout arms as possible. This is usually a decent amount of weight. That weight will shake and vibrate back and forth on that one connection point until the metal fatigues and it eventually snaps off. Usually at the most inopportune moments and resulting in possible damage to your vehicle or other people's vehicles.
Pictured below is an example of a common single shear hinge pin.

I would strongly advise against using this style hinge in a setup where it is the only hinge for the arm. If you have a scenario where you have additional armor on the side of your truck and you can use two of these hinges in tandem, stacked vertically on top of one another, that is a much stronger and reliable setup with these hinges. And honestly, the only way that I would ever use them.

I would instead recommend the use of a double shear hinge such as the one pictured below. This hinge is offered by 4xInnovations. It is my go-to hinge for any tire swingout build. Yes, it is a little more expensive. But how many times would you like to build your swing out assembly?
It can be used in a couple different ways. You can mount it on the back to the face of a bumper or you can mount it on top of a bumper by making a hole to accommodate the bolt and nut protruding through the top plate of your bumper. When using it in this manner, I would always make support gussets for the hinge and also weld the nut onto the bumper so as to not have to worry about losing it when I take the bolt out. It also comes with a locking pin and a stainless steel slide plate for the pin to slide on so you don't mess up your paint.
Again, I have found this hinge to be VASTLY superior to the single shear style hinges and it is the only one I use now.

This is a link to this hinge. HERE

 

[HoneyBadger]

Here's a little tip for those of you who may be building a bumper for your truck.

Whether you're using a kit from a company like Coastal Off-Road or making your own from scratch, make sure you put a washer in between the frame and the frame mount pieces before you start mocking everything else up. This will allow for a gap and better clearance after fully welding everything together. Believe it or not, metal does warp and expand and shrink with different temperatures. So if you just bolt your frame mount pieces straight to the frame and then weld on all your other parts, two things are going to happen. One, it's going to be a real pain to get it off the truck to do the final burn. And two, once you do the final burn and paint or powder coat it, it's never going back on the frame. It will have shrunk just enough to now be incompatible with your frame that you just built in on. So throw a washer or two of extra space in there right off the bat to be able to actually get the bumper to go back on once you're all done with it.

 

[IoN6]

Here's a little tip for those of you who may be building a bumper for your truck.

Whether you're using a kit from a company like Coastal Off-Road or making your own from scratch, make sure you put a washer in between the frame and the frame mount pieces before you start mocking everything else up. This will allow for a gap and better clearance after fully welding everything together. Believe it or not, metal does warp and expand and shrink with different temperatures. So if you just bolt your frame mount pieces straight to the frame and then weld on all your other parts, two things are going to happen. One, it's going to be a real pain to get it off the truck to do the final burn. And two, once you do the final burn and paint or powder coat it, it's never going back on the frame. It will have shrunk just enough to now be incompatible with your frame that you just built in on. So throw a washer or two of extra space in there right off the bat to be able to actually get the bumper to go back on once you're all done with it.

Not that these do anything better than a free-ish washer but they do come in different thickness. https://www.mcmaster.com/products/shims/slotted-shims-7/