1st Gen. Lunch Table - General Discussion

Don’t fall sleep!

 

I forgot to mention I have a 4hr paid training class in the morning too.

 

This has to be my toughest build to date. I've been working on this thing every day for a week now - and it's not like it's a rocket ship. I did spend a lot of time working out warp and also the attachment points. Those hard tops don't come out of the mold perfectly straight. It's gonna rain so I got some paint on the areas I need to and covered it. Here it is with 6 of 36 bolts actually tight, and 18 with no nuts on them. There is still a ton to do other than tighten/attach bolts...

 

*Looks good from my house-
also; Good enough for who it's for
or, Good enough for the girls we go out with
or, Not only good, but good enough
or, Well, that's what they paid for. If they wanted a good job, then they'd pay me good wages
or, It's not good, and it's not enough, but it's good enough.

Lookin good slick!
When you cut the tubing, if you leave 1 side an inch long, then you can fold it over to cap the end, and weld to seal it closed. Just an alternative to welding plates on the tubing ends to cap them. Not trying to critique your wonderful work, just throwin out an idea that you may find helpful.. I assume you'll still be adding mounting holes (possibly blind inserts?) for 'stuff' and maybe a couple tie hooks? Curious what all you've got planned for this....
One last Q; I see you're focused on the strength of this thing, and it seems to be similar to what you had, but it wasn't strong enough for your comfort level, or did it start to fail? I know you carry some weight with the full size spare and beefy jack up there.
ahh shit,..... just remembered you got a second spare goin up there... nevermind.... carry on

 

How were you planning to access stuff in the bed behind the rear view window with a load on top? I wasn't following to hear your solution or did you give up on that?

 

He uses his Little Bo Peep tool

 

Probably building my H4 mini projector housings today.

Yeah, from puns comes punishment.

Looks good! @RUSTYNUTS idea for capping is great. You know they make weld-thru primer right? I've never tried the stuff so can't speak to it, but ... https://por15.com/products/weld-thru-primer

There are probably other brands on the market. CRC makes some at half the price.

 

You can weld through zinc? I thought that was a no-no since it produces toxic fumes. Sort of like welding through galvanized metal. I’m still a noob at it so that’s why I ask.

 

The only way to access stuff in the bed is by opening the tailgate. I cut relief in the top about a year ago. I tied a tray tray up there with the top still opening, but it’s not close to the strength I need.

 

Is the bed cover strong enough to hold everything, or did you have to run bolts through that, and into the bed rails?

It looks great. Honestly looks like something a professional would make.

 

I did not know about the primer, I’ll have to look that up. I have end caps to push into all those holes. I did think about drilling holes in the uprights before I welded them to the lower rails for wire run but when I saw how long this was taking me, I ditched that idea. I think for this next trip I’m just gonna run the wires with zip ties, but hide them where it’s easy..

 

The bed cover is not even close to strong enough. I tried it with a much lighter set up a while back and got rid of it right away. I used to have 8 1/4 inch stainless bolts going through the bed cap now I have 12 three eights inch grade 8 bolts all with backing plates. Thanks brother.

 

My buddy and I always say that, lol

 

Can we see photos of the support structure underneath, @alb1k ?

The crossbars will sit flush? Or have some overlap?

 

I'll get in there for some pics, once the rain stops and I can take the cover down. I don't know what you mean by overlap, I will be putting the frontrunner tray back on, so I guess the answer is - on the same plane? That tray only runs from the front to the third cross bar. I could make the tray longer with silly expensive parts from frontrunner, but my second spare would hang over the back of that - it already will hang over the back of the rear crossbar if they are in a line. I'm making this up as I go...

 

I mean, the smoke generated from welding is technically toxic, and it's not unheard of for raw steel to be dipped in zinc solution as a preservative, so ... you tell me?

Like I said, I have a can or two of the stuff, but never found a need to use it. I sold off my Lincoln 175 and Everlast 40D back in 2016, still got the rattle cans, which are probably bad at this point.

 

The weldable primer is a newer'ish product. Only really makes sense to use on neverending projects, or ones done in phases. Surface rust on a fresh weld is really simple to remove for the first month or two.

It's even funnier when that "who" is yourself, eh?

 

yup

 

This part is where I was curious:



I specifically got these b/c I liked the curved edges for loading stuff up high without catching an edge and dinging something, hopefully we get some SUP's for river fun this summer:


I'm guessing based on what I see above that the intent is to have the crossbars match the width of the bed so they will sit on top and extend out to give an external tiedown for center mounted loads? Which makes a lot of sense, though a hoop or cleat on the tower could suffice for that too.

Your loading height is much more accessible than the roof of my shell so likely no real concern of dinging a board or watercraft, plus that's not your intended use for this rig and you've got the entire bed for precious cargo.

 

I ran them wide because I attach lights out there, and possibly other stuff. and my tray is a tad narrow, so fills it out a bit.

 

Yeah, but we're talking "metal fume fever" which is REALLY bad. My instructor says it can produce mustard gas, but I don't know if I believed him on that. He told me for galvanized metal you need a respirator mask and it should be done with a welding rod for good penetration. But like I said, I'm a noob at welding. Not sure what to believe.

 

Aluminum is worse, but I'm only going by what I was told by one of Dad's old friends, and he never wore masks or respirators (he's dead, heart fail).

But then again, I was also told early in my career, handling PCBs will kill you, if the lead doesn't, the other chemicals on it would. And that smoke from soldering, especially fluxed solder wire, would give you cancer.

What's valid? I dunno. I never wore a mask when working with steel. I never used weld-thru primer. I got plenty of sunburns, plenty of slag burns, but never lung stuff.

 

Linking this over here @VA Husker

Adjusting bones and joints is valid medical procedure. "Cracking" is not a valid medical procedure, it can (and does, to plenty of unfortunate people every year) result in paralysis even when done by a "trained professional", whatever the hell that means.

You can push a bone into place with minimal force or pressure if you know how to find it. I've had it done by a Native American dude who was visiting the Florida School of Massage in Gainesville, he reset several bones in my feet once. Incredible. It took him about 5 minutes and fixed about 15 years of skateboarding injury, and never once did he crack a bone, nor would he call it "Chiropractic".

"Good on ya", you found someone who saved you some pain and suffering. I know nothing about your person. I don't know what they do. But the umbrella of "chiropractic" is quackery for the majority of what lives under it.

PS - @KNABORES was just kidding. I know better

 

Well, just drink a lot of milk after you weld if you want to play it safe.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXijb9FGTbE​

 

Dammit. Jesus took my wheels.

​

 

Maybe that's just a really elaborate anti-theft system.

 

Welding galvanized can cause metal fume fever due to the zinc
Welding metals that are wet with solvent can generate phosgene gas

 

Phosgene gas also happens when braising with freon still left in lines, shits rough!