Truck repair and upgrades

[T8erhead]

After I got my first taste of off road racing last December, I began getting active on Bonneville Off-road Racing's forum.  I was hoping to man a checkpoint or pick up trash after races or anything really to get closer to the action.  This spring I was offered a co-driver spot in a basically stock 1983 Toyota 4x4 pickup.  We are running in the sportsman class.  Our season opener was disappointing as we only made it about 5 miles in before we had a fuel system issue that ended our race.  Our second attempt was much better but still left us wanting to finish a race.

The first minor problem came about 7 miles in.  The bedside supports began breaking so we had to remove the panels, which were flapping in the breeze.  After about 100 miles a shock hoop broke loose from the frame, ending our day.  I have to say I was not entirely surprised after seeing the welding job that was done using a Harbor Freight flux welder.  He has since given away his machine.  Fortunately the roll cage was professionally TIG'd from 1.75 chromoly.  Had it not been I would never had got in the passenger seat.

This is not a thread to bash on the guy who owns the truck, so leave all that BS at the door.    It is a thread to show wanna-be builders the importance of proper welding and design, and also get input on new modifications and repair from some people with more knowledge and experience with this stuff.  I am a little hesitant to show some of the pics because I expect some to talk shit, so again-I know some of it is not pretty, or even safe.  I am open to comments, and input, but leave the trash talking out of this thread. 

I know there are others out there with similar skill levels as the original builder, and even bigger dreams.  This is a reality check for them and hopefully it will inspire them to practice their welding skills before diving into a project that they are not ready for. 

[T8erhead]

Here you can see the 2 circles where the shock hoop was attached.  The  ratchet strap was our improvised engine mount, which was broken prior to the race, but welded back together.  You can see only one small spot where there was decent penetration, which is where the hole is. 



I don't have a pic of the bottom of the hoop, but you can get an idea of the quality of the welding in this pic-

[T8erhead]

And the hoop on the other side-

[fabr]

Great examples of wads of bubble gum. Good point about being at least a good welder before you trust your life with it otherwise have someone else do it.. Welds don't have to be pretty . Just solid,sound full penetration. Those have no good qualities at all,as you show.

[T8erhead]

Yeah I know what you mean Fabr.  I spent more time grinding the frame clean than it took me to lift the engine, remove, build and replace the new motor mounts.  It will be better before the next race. 

Enough of the bad for a while, on to the upgrades.  First, the new motor mounts.  I pulled the old ones and used some 2" x .25 wall square tubing to replace the OEM rubber bushings.  After a little flat black these went in without issue. 

[T8erhead]

The roll cage was sufficient to pass tech, but I felt like some more bracing would be a good thing.  I added an A in the windshield, and also a tube across the dash. 

[T8erhead]

My plan is to tie the new shock hoops through the firewall into the lower legs of the A, then add a V overhead to tie into the main diagonal braces on the back of roll cage. 

I have a question though.  I am building a new bumper for the front, but I am not sure whether to only attach it to the frame rails, or would it be better to also tie into the new shock hoops I am building?  I will be adding a good bit of bracing to everything, but I don't want a hard hit on the front to mess up the suspension.

I'll be checking back for input but I am leaving for Sturgis tomorrow so I won't get any work done until I get back.

[fabr]

IMO, the bumper should be sacrificial and not tied into any critical structure.

[T8erhead]

That is kind of what I was thinking.  I'll just bolt it to the factory frame rails, that way it can be replaced if needed.  Thanks!

[Islander]

By the look of the cab, that cage (or another!) has been put to use before!!  I love the grass roots racing that this truck represents, although I 100% agree on the welds. 

[T8erhead]

Islander you are correct.  It was a daily driver until 10 or so years ago.  A rollover almost sent it ot the junkyard but the owner had better plans for it.  I am glad he did too.  I enjoy this experience I am having with it for now but I'll be running my own buggy ASAP.  I have some updates to my R16 build log, though I've mostly just been putting cash away for it.  That is my #1 most limiting factor. 

Bonneville Off-Road Racing truly has a class for everyone.  If not they will fit you in.  They let a guy in a 1100 cc Joyner run in the mod UTV class, and there is talk of letting a MC powered mini run with them next race. 

It is not a very big organization yet but if you want to get out and go fast in the desert, it is great.  Tons of fun and great people. 

[Islander]

too bad I'm WAY to far away to run it, it sounds like a blast.  We only have offroad racing for trucks once a year, and as far as I know, nothing for buggies at all.  And to top it off, it's for 4wd only, and I'm building a 2wd pre-runner style S10, so I'm going to be limited to running in our shale pit and some abandoned dirt roads.

[fabr]

The roll cage was sufficient to pass tech, but I felt like some more bracing would be a good thing.  I added an A in the windshield, and also a tube across the dash. 

Your pic of the windshield shows a very clear pic of the coped tube ends. Asking for opinions here. I always grind off quite a bit more off of the long ends of the cope. I grind it perpendicular to the point where the long end of the cope is almost full wall thickness in that area. I feel that makes a stronger joint than welding in the thin area hoping to reach the thicker area of the tube. Don't know if that makes any sense or not but if not I'll snap a couple pics tomorrow maybe. 

[fabr]

Islander you are correct.  It was a daily driver until 10 or so years ago.  A rollover almost sent it ot the junkyard but the owner had better plans for it.  I am glad he did too.  I enjoy this experience I am having with it for now but I'll be running my own buggy ASAP.  I have some updates to my R16 build log, though I've mostly just been putting cash away for it.  That is my #1 most limiting factor. 

Bonneville Off-Road Racing truly has a class for everyone.  If not they will fit you in.  They let a guy in a 1100 cc Joyner run in the mod UTV class, and there is talk of letting a MC powered mini run with them next race. 

It is not a very big organization yet but if you want to get out and go fast in the desert, it is great.  Tons of fun and great people. 

Got a link to them? I'm wanting to do the desert thing WAAAAYYYYY more than duning.

[T8erhead]

Well I'm back from Sturgis.  3,292 miles door to door.  This time I didn't have to take the bike back to Daytona Beach.  It is now officially mine, title and all.  It was my dad's 2002 FLSTFI, but he only put 500 miles on it.  After it's 4th trip to Utah, it has just over 20,000.   

Here's a link to Bonneville OR-

http://www.borracing.org/

Our next race was supposed to be the 28th of Aug in Ely NV, but it was canceled due to low committed turnout level.  Looks like the next race will be in Wendover, NV.  Wendover is a lot closer than Ely NV so we should get plenty of entries to be able to run.  End of September or first of October.  I am not sure what the MDR accident will do the organization in the near future.  It won't be good for sure.

I was able to spend some time in the shop last night working out the plan for the upgrades.  I have a couple things to build this week for others, but this weekend I should make some real progress.  I'll update with pics.

Thanks for the heads up on the copes.  They are sanded back a bit but I could go a little more.  I actually thought about it while checking out the Scotchman machine tent in Sturgis.  They had a bunch of sweet metal working machines including a press type cope notcher.  It was only set up for 90 degree intersections but the guy said it could be setup for different angles.  It would be great for mass production stuff but for all the different angles 1 car might need would probably make tooling setup a nightmare.  And at $13K+ it's not for the home builder.