Well it all started on a beautiful
Louisiana summer day...
My buddy Jeff and I where standing in his back yard talking about
chopping up our rigs and doing this and that when all of a sudden....
Jeff said, "Pull your rig in the back and lets see how we can do it."
So we took off the rear hatch and popped out the glass just to get a
look at it mind you...
Well, once the tailgate was off and the glass out (which was much
harder than expected) I stood back and looked at it and said....
" What are we waiting for?"
So we broke out the sawzalls and went nuts.
This is the first picture we took.
It was a little late but all we really did was pop a chalk line across
the roof and cut along the body lines at the D pillar. Then I cut the
glass out of the rear hatch and we cut along the body
line on it too. Here it is - just stuck in place where it was while I
decided what to do next.
I trimmed a little more off the roof line and I ran to Academy Sports
for a tarp. This is how it looked when I went home that night.
Needless to say, doorless and backless left something to be desired. So
I bought a 3X6 piece of 14 gauge steel and started measuring and
marking.
The dotted lines on the side are for scoring to fold over so that it
will wrap around and can be welded on. While I was out getting steel, I
stopped by a bone yard and picked up this Toyota sliding glass window.
I traced it out on the piece of steel and cut it out as well. Then I
took the steel and put it in place.
I used a piece of 1x1x 3/16 angle to support the steel while I was
tacking it in place and decided to leave it there. So I welded it to
the body on both sides as well as welding the plate to it.
This is the end of day 2.
After some finish welding and grinding and such it was quickly taking
shape.
Then a little paint.
I drilled right through the tailgate and put some bolts on to mount my
hi-lift jack to.
Well, the first time I went offroad, I broke a brake light and realized
that the tailgate had to go. It was not strong enough to make it
functional plus I decided I didn't want the spare on the roof.
I don't have any photos of this being made but, I just started with a
piece of sheet metal and traced out the tire then cut it out. I then
welded a piece of pipe inside the body rails to support the back of the
tire. The hi-lift jack was attached to that bar.
Time passed and I decided that I wanted to close the back off. So I
went to work again. I started by standing the tires up straight and
taking the pipe out.
Then I welded a crossmember in the 1x1x 3/16 angle...again.
Here you can see the new spare tire mount and the sheet metal taking
shape on the sides, as well as the piece of treated plywood I used to
fill from the angle to the sheet metal of the tire rack.
The inside is taking shape - I have welded more of the 3/16 steel to
the floor under the platform that you can see here. Then I covered the
whole thing with 1/2" treated plywood. I made the platform to mount
another seat right in the middle.
Here is the back wall that I built. You can see I use an ammo can for
tools and I have a VIAIR 325 compressor mounted that fills the tank in
the back.
Well here it is pretty much finished. The deck lids open so I have
access to the back and the air chuck comes straight off the tank.
You can see that it is very solid. No problems at all. That is full
flex on the back axle. There is a hole under my tire and I am on a
stump on the diver's side.
Stay tuned for the next installment where I will put the new seat in
the back and rhino line the whole interior....
Carl
