My supar-sekrit racing project REVEALED!! (or, how I mess up with a welder v.1)

[Tex Arcana]

Welp, I began my tire carrier project today. What that is, is a T-bar that mounts in the hitch receiver, so I can carry the slicks without trying to jam 'em into the bed. This'll be very necessary when I heat-cycle them.

Damned garage is a mess, spent the first two hours trying to find sh!t that always seems to disappear on me, no matter what I do or where I put it. Effin' pisses me off.

Anyway, after pitching a hissy fit over lost crap, I finally got my head together and started putting this thing together.

A nice pic of the raw material (I really need to fix that leak):
http://i1.tinypic.com/oj4i1i.jpg

So I start with my lovely homemade welding table. A nice sheet of 1/4" diamond plate, laid upside down:
http://i1.tinypic.com/okaglc.jpg

Had to chock the wheels, so I cut up one of those extension floor sheaths:
http://i1.tinypic.com/okah02.jpg

The upright, 2x2 steel tube, 11ga wall thickness, notched for the cross tube:
http://i1.tinypic.com/okail5.jpg

The cross tube, 2" i.d. Scedule 40 pipe; damned thick wall:
http://i1.tinypic.com/okajcz.jpg

Test fitting the upright; it's sitting on a WalMart special hitch mount:
http://i1.tinypic.com/okalx2.jpg

Another view:
http://i1.tinypic.com/okam9x.jpg

Test-fitting the cross-tube on the upright, to make sure the notches are square:
http://i1.tinypic.com/okamo3.jpg

Again:
http://i1.tinypic.com/okan3a.jpg

[Tex Arcana]

Cheking the cut length (tube was originally cut with a torch):
http://i1.tinypic.com/okapg5.jpg

Damn, I couldn't've cut it exactly if I had tried (and no, I didn't--just trimmed the rough ends off):
http://i1.tinypic.com/okapzn.jpg

So this is my first attempt at welding: damn I suck. :(
http://i1.tinypic.com/okaqkp.jpg

Damned ugly welds, indeed:
http://i1.tinypic.com/okbb5i.jpg

But the upright got done, after some grinding and rewelding:
http://i1.tinypic.com/okbc52.jpg

Test fitting the crossbar, before tacking it, on the truck:
http://i1.tinypic.com/okbcec.jpg

First I tacked it in 4 places, then I couldn't help myself, so I went ahead and ran this bead:
http://i1.tinypic.com/okbclx.jpg

Then I pulled it and finished the welds all around, and I forgot to take pics.:(

The last welds looked MUCH better than the first, once I got used to how the MIG worked (flux-cored wire welder).

THe tires will be slid on the crossbar, after I pad it with an old towel and ducttape, after painting the device. I haven't figered out what to use to fasten them to the crossbar. I'll post more pics as I finish it. I will be adding some braces to the upright and the crossbar as well. :tu:

[dboat]

Why do you have a Mustang stick-on on the tailgate? :throw: why havent you taken off that Bankston stick on too? :hammer: :hammer:

How is this thing supposed to work again? :confused:

Why cant you just throw the slicks in the back?

Dana

[Tex Arcana]

Why do you have a Mustang stick-on on the tailgate? :throw: why havent you taken off that Bankston stick on too? :hammer: :hammer:

How is this thing supposed to work again? :confused:

Why cant you just throw the slicks in the back?

Dana
Not Mustang, SMU (mirror-image to the Ford logo). :tu:

I slide that into the hitch,l I slide the tires onto the tee, two to a side. :D

Becasue there's not enough room for them and anything else, plus that'll mar the treads if I do it.

[dboat]

Not Mustang, SMU (mirror-image to the Ford logo). :tu:

I slide that into the hitch,l I slide the tires onto the tee, two to a side. :D

Becasue there's not enough room for them and anything else, plus that'll mar the treads if I do it.

ok, I'll give you a pass on this one.. but get rid of that Bankston advertising unless they are paying you to wear it.. :hammer:

Dana

[Tex Arcana]

ok, I'll give you a pass on this one.. but get rid of that Bankston advertising unless they are paying you to wear it.. :hammer:

Dana

Well, I look at it this way: the wifey-unit worked for them for 7 years, and we got a BUNCH of excellent deals on cars, including the L; not to mention all the service deals we got done at employee cost, and the excellent service 'cuz the service guys knew she'd rip 'em a new one if they screwed us. knana So, yeah, we kinda did get paid to advertise a bit. ;)

But ti's coming off soon, as is the SMU logo. Any suggestions on how to take 'em off? :tu:

[PUMP]

The great thing about being disorganized is that you get to make discoveries almost every day:rll:

[dboat]

But ti's coming off soon, as is the SMU logo. Any suggestions on how to take 'em off? :tu:

Sawzall? sabresaw? Oh, just get a belt sander and sand 'em down... :evil

Actually, I made Prestige Ford take them off of my truck before I would take possession of it.. the guy was pretty ticked off that I would do that, but its my truck and my money.. they were able to use some plastic wedges and some kind of acetone smelling kind of stuff..

badges, we don't need no stinkin' badges... Blazing Saddles

Dana

[WA 2 FST]

But ti's coming off soon, as is the SMU logo. Any suggestions on how to take 'em off? :tu:

Simple... dental floss. Get the waxed kind so it slides easily and it will not hurt the paint on the truck. Get it behind there and start pulling behind the emblem. You will have to work at it, but eventually it will pull the double sided tape off the truck.

[Logan]

I'm sorry, I can't forgive your tailgate transgressions.... ;)

[L8 APEX]

Making stuff is fun but often less functional and cost effective. I would have jsut gotten a hitch carrier. Steel ones are 59 and aluminum is 69 500# capacity. That could hold jack and stands, tools etc.. Also when it is empty you can still use the tailgate/bed.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/photos/34300-34399/34313.gif (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=34313)
The aluminum one is on sale.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=92655

[Silver_2000]

Because there's not enough room for them and anything else, plus that'll mar the treads if I do it.

??
How will putting the tires on the sides for an hour trip to the track make a change to the treads that don't exist on a slick ?

[Tex Arcana]

The great thing about being disorganized is that you get to make discoveries almost every day:rll:

Yeah, but that's the discoveries I do NOT want to be making. :(

[Tex Arcana]

I'm sorry, I can't forgive your tailgate transgressions.... ;)

:tongue:

[Tex Arcana]

Day two of the Tire Carrier Project...

First some pics of the top bar welds, they look a bit better than they did last nite:

http://i2.tinypic.com/opwm82.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/opwsn8.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/opwt1f.jpg
Not bad, not great, but they're solid, and cleaned up decently.

Just before I start, I see something weird on the floor:
http://i2.tinypic.com/opwtbb.jpg

Hmmm.. closer look...
http://i2.tinypic.com/opwtpc.jpg

Hot damn.. it's the metal filings that have been flying all over the place, and the wires from the welder made them line up in patterns. Cool. :)
http://i2.tinypic.com/opwvfp.jpg

So I cut the upright brace, and test fit it:
http://i2.tinypic.com/opww0m.jpg
Yeah, it's gonna work. So I weld it, and I also cut a pair of gussets for the crossbar, and weld them in:
http://i2.tinypic.com/opwwzp.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/opwz79.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/opwzmb.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/opx06e.jpg
I think this ****'s gonna hold.

[Tex Arcana]

THen I test-fit it on the truck, with the slicks:
http://i2.tinypic.com/opxkye.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/opxlkm.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/opxlyr.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/opxmcz.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/opxmjr.jpg

Yeah, that's gonna work. I tried them a couple ways, settle on turning the outside wheel outside-in, so the fastening system will press on the surface that's already designed to press hard against something made of steel:
http://i2.tinypic.com/opxoo3.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/opxpck.jpg
Yeah, that's the best way. Now to figure a securing system. Someone suggested threading the pipe and using a pipe cap with a t-handle welded to it, might work.

So the next question is: what to use for the inner wheel stop? I found a piece of old fireplace gas pipe, 1" od, that will work perfectly to make a set of stops:
http://i2.tinypic.com/opxr9f.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/opxs12.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/opxsg3.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/opxv2b.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/opxvlj.jpg

I'm going to space the 3 stubs equally around the tee bar, and they'll hold the innder wheel in place. As for the outside, I think I'm gonna find out how much it'll cost to thread the pipe and fit a pipe cap with a tee handle, and that way it'll press on the flipped outer tires. I think that'll work.

[Tex Arcana]

Making stuff is fun but often less functional and cost effective. I would have jsut gotten a hitch carrier. Steel ones are 59 and aluminum is 69 500# capacity. That could hold jack and stands, tools etc.. Also when it is empty you can still use the tailgate/bed.
[imghttp://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/photos/34300-34399/34313.gif[/img] (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=34313)
The aluminum one is on sale.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=92655


Yer an evil bastard, you realize that?? NOW you tell me about this sh!t!! :crying:

Aw, hell, this is a good project for me, gets me working with my hands again, and thinking my way thru problems as they happen. I *need* to be working like this, and not sitting around electronically jawing with you wankers. :d

[Silver_2000]

if you thread the pipe it will tend to chew up the rims

[SILVER2000SVT]

For the outer retainer just do the obvious, use a clevis pin with a spring pin retainer. Put a shoulder on the top so you will have a couple of inches sticking up (a very tall head).

You could get a little fancier and get a pin with a ball detent, where you have to push the button on top for the detent ball to release.
Search for "quick release pin" here http://www.mcmaster.com/

With either of these solutions I would use a nice thick washer between the pin and the wheel surface.

[tliss]

For the outer retainer just do the obvious, use a clevis pin with a spring pin retainer. Put a shoulder on the top so you will have a couple of inches sticking up (a very tall head).

You could get a little fancier and get a pin with a ball detent, where you have to push the button on top for the detent ball to release.
Search for "quick release pin" here http://www.mcmaster.com/

With either of these solutions I would use a nice thick washer between the pin and the wheel surface.

http://www.nloc.net/forum/images/smilies/stupid.gif

Don't get too complex with the solution. Drill a hole through the pipe and use a pin to hold the wheels snug. That'll be a pretty easy solution that won't be too costly.

Tom

[SILVER2000SVT]

http://www.nloc.net/forum/images/smilies/stupid.gif

Don't get too complex with the solution. Drill a hole through the pipe and use a pin to hold the wheels snug. That'll be a pretty easy solution that won't be too costly.

Tom

That's what I said, but to complete the thought you need to keep the pin from bouncing out by using a spring pin or similar to retain it. (like a receiver hitch pin but smaller). I mentioned using the washer so the spring pin, which usually has sharp points, doesn't rotate and contact wheels finish when it's bouncing around and scratch the rims surface. Also keep in mind that the hole in the rim is much larger than the pipe, so a washer may be necessary. Or to just use a detent style pin so you don't have to keep up with multiple pieces, it's positively locked in place but to remove all you have to do it press a button and pull it out.

[Logan]

Oh the humanity!!!!

[L8 APEX]

It needs a center spring then a cone or backplate, then the wheels another cone and a hitch pin. It would be rigged kind of like a wheel balancing machine. I would also lock it up somehow...

[Tex Arcana]

Well, those are good ideas. Doug, not gonna thread the pipe, and I'm gonna cover it with spray-in bedliner. The rest, I've already got the solution:

Tire carrier project, day 3:

NOt much got done, spent most of the day shopping for fun things like a replacement Delta sander belt, a new flap-sander disk, and these:
http://i2.tinypic.com/or5lhj.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/or5nk4.jpg

They are 3" to 2" cast iron adapter collars. Just the right OD to contain the wheels, but the ID is a bit too small, so I have to grind out the ID threads and a bit more, to make 'em fit. Lacking a lathe, or access to one, I'll be using a metal hole saw--yeah, it'll likely destroy it, but I only have to use it twice. I'll probably grind off the OD threads as well, because they are kinda sharp.

I also picked up a pair of these:
http://i2.tinypic.com/or5ohs.jpg
Trailer hitch/ball locks, with keys. Drill the holes in the tee bar, and push the collars on, and lock 'em in with this. Yeah. ;)

I also got the brush-on bedliner, so that'll happen as well. Likely tomorrow. Today ended up a bust, spentt oo much time running around. :(

[Tex Arcana]

It needs a center spring then a cone or backplate, then the wheels another cone and a hitch pin. It would be rigged kind of like a wheel balancing machine. I would also lock it up somehow...

Hum.. evil bastard, making me rethink it again... Can I shoot you now?? :rll: j/k That's not a bad idea, actually. I think the stubs will back up the wheel okay, and the collars I just posted will hold the other side, as long as I coat them with the bedliner material.

Still.. hmmmm....

[L8 APEX]

Brush on liner is a myth, only the prof stuff will take the wear. But I bet you'll try it anyway:D . A Rhino, Tuff, LineX dealer would probably spray it cheap.

[03LightningRocks]

Oh the humanity!!!!

This thread is a perfect example of why wives flip out when their husbands buy new power tools.

First comes the power tool...then comes the project to try to justify why the husband needed the power tool in the first place.

I am betting that Tex will have upwards of 35K into this tire rack of his before it's all said and done. Then he will use it once or twice and it will fall off on the highway somewhere.

Anybody remember Tim the Tool Man Taylor. Haven't thought of that show in years....until now...:rll:.

[Tex Arcana]

Brush on liner is a myth, only the prof stuff will take the wear. But I bet you'll try it anyway:D . A Rhino, Tuff, LineX dealer would probably spray it cheap.

I wonder how cheap? I got the stuff they sell at Vatozone, I figure if I go 3-4 coats on a well-prepared surface, it'll hold.. won't it?? :confused: I could take the sh!t back...

[Tex Arcana]

This thread is a perfect example of why wives flip out when their husbands buy new power tools.

First comes the power tool...then comes the project to try to justify why the husband needed the power tool in the first place.

I am betting that Tex will have upwards of 35K into this tire rack of his before it's all said and done. Then he will use it once or twice and it will fall off on the highway somewhere.

Anybody remember Tim the Tool Man Taylor. Haven't thought of that show in years....until now...:rll:.







Damn, yer as evil as Terry...:tongue:

So far, I've spent a total of about $70 in materials. THe welder I borrowed, the other tools I already had. I had to replace the sander belt, and buy a cutoff wheel, and a sander disc for the angle grinder, since I starrted this. So that's not too bad. :tu:

I"ll use it as long a it's useful. At the very least, I'll have a stand to hang the slicks on when they're home--and yeah, I plan on coming up with some kind of leg brace arrangement, that'll keep it upright, loaded or not. ;)

EDIT: "The first two words in ANY home-handyman's vocabulary should be...





















"YELLOW PAGES!!" :tu:

[03LightningRocks]

Damn, yer as evil as Terry...:tongue:

So far, I've spent a total of about $70 in materials. THe welder I borrowed, the other tools I already had. I had to replace the sander belt, and buy a cutoff wheel, and a sander disc for the angle grinder, since I starrted this. So that's not too bad. :tu:

I"ll use it as long a it's useful. At the very least, I'll have a stand to hang the slicks on when they're home--and yeah, I plan on coming up with some kind of leg brace arrangement, that'll keep it upright, loaded or not. ;)


I'm just teasing you a bit Tex :beer:.

[Tex Arcana]

I'm just teasing you a bit Tex :beer:.

Yah, I know.. but I appreciate the feedback. Hell, it's also got me second-guessing myself: couple times today I wanted to stop and run the ideas past someone. :(

[Moonshine]

http://i2.tinypic.com/opxr9f.jpg



http://i2.tinypic.com/opxvlj.jpg



Fergot to smudge your LP in these. :nono:

[wesman]

Fergot to smudge your LP in these. :nono:

Yep...now someone knows where you live....they're coming over to steal this fine piece of craftsmanship you've been working on.

:D

--wes

[Tex Arcana]

Day four, and it's not going well. :(

http://i2.tinypic.com/os7lzq.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/os8kno.jpg

I tried to open up the collars, but that 1/4" took over an hour. What I need is a lathe. Either that, or a better idea all around. On another site, I got this idea:


Have you considered buying a tube with the same ID as the OD of the 'cross pipe'?

Cut the tube into 4 sections wider than the wheels themselves (this way they will automatically space the wheels) and then weld atleast 2 tabs to each of the 4 sections and install wheel studs in them. then you just bolt the wheels to those and slide them on the cross bar. You already have an inner stop built so all you need to worry about is an outter stop/lock. Best part is the wheels will be centered on the pipe, and they are already spaced so you don't have to worry about towels. Plus I don't think you could get much more secure than that, It would be pretty tight tolerances and you can make more adapters for different wheels in the future.

Hopefully that makes sense and might be useful.


cool project


edit: if you wanted to keep the wheels from spinning using my idea you could make the tubes even slightly longer, make a notch in them for the inner stop which will keep the inner two from spinning, then you can just key the outter tubes to the inner tubes (notch/etc) or just use the outter locks/stops to keep the outter wheels from spinning. Again I hope that makes sense.

What I think he's saying is, create a sleeve that will slide over the tube, then weld a set of stubs, tabs, or a disc to the sleeve, and weld bolt studs, to bolt to the wheel, then slide into place. That might work.

Any other suggestions?

[Mark #2]

Quit and go to Harbor Freight?

[Moonshine]

Quit and go to Harbor Freight?

That's cold. Funny as hell, but still cold. :evil

[Tex Arcana]

Quit and go to Harbor Freight?

Gee, thanks... should I jump off a cliff while I"m at it?? :hammer:

All the love in this thread... and all I want is encouragement!! :crying:



Bastadiges!


Actually, I've stalled mentally, and need somthing to jumpstart me again.

[Logan]

Actually, I've stalled mentally, and need somthing to jumpstart me again.

Hmmm... Hook your nuts to some jumper cables and get a 12v battery...

Okay if that hasn't convinced you just to go to harbor freight, well, at least you should be inspired and have a cool story to share with your buddies...

[Tex Arcana]

Hmmm... Hook your nuts to some jumper cables and get a 12v battery...

Okay if that hasn't convinced you just to go to harbor freight, well, at least you should be inspired and have a cool story to share with your buddies...

Damn... I tried to find one of my favorite cartoons, Mother Goose and Grimm, where you see Grimm with a pair of jumper cables attached to his ears, from a car battery, and the thought bubble says, "I need a jumpstart on Monday mornings!" Methinks that would've been appropriate right about now. :rll:

[Tex Arcana]

Day Five of the Great Supar-Sekrit Tire Carrier Buld...

Yeah, a few days passed, for one reason or another. But I hit it hard today, and after a run to Gebo's (a local farm/feed store), I got started:

I began with working on the templates for the sheetmetal to box the shackles. These are the GM ones from Summit for $46. I'm going to wrap the metal up and over the top of the ears, 'cuz that'll help stiffen them considerably.
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqelft.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqennc.jpg


Then I got to thinking about this, and decided to measure the new shackles, the old ones, and the ones on the truck
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqeoag.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqeozk.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqequb.jpg

****. Son of a BITCH!! I can't belive this ****! The damn shackles I got with the FRPP kit are the SAME ****ING LENGTH!!! Dammit to hell!!

Anyway, that means the damn things are going back. ****.

So, after giving up on THAT, I got to work on the tire carrier. I needed to make an arm with which to hold the thing up while off the truck/loaded with tires. I also needed something to hold the license plate (thanks for the suggestion, you know who you are). So, this is what I came up with:
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqerv6.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqetys.jpg

This is made with 3/4" galvanized pipe, with that rectangular piece across the end. A 6" stub is welded on the base of the upright, and the T-arm has a hich pin wleded into the end of it, so it'll fit like this:
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqeur8.jpg

It was also set up to allow me to have another hitch pin with the license plate mounted to it, so I could slip it in place when mounted on the truck.

Problem is, with the cotter pin in, there's too much slop to allow it to be stable. Dammit. So I came up with another idea:
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqnvkm.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqnzi9.jpg

[Tex Arcana]

I used an old worn-out 3/4" 1/2"-drive socket, and a short 1/2" extension, and I moved the socket up some on the upright, and set it up so that when weight is on the carrier, the T-arm will tend to center itself.
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqo20g.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqo8cy.jpg
Yep, that's a Snap-On socket.

And, yeah, I welded on a strap to use as a license plate mount.
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqo8t2.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqo9hy.jpg

Does it work?? You tell me! After I finished welding on the wheel stop stubs, I slid on the slicks:
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqobih.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqoc54.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqofb7.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqohfk.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/qqoil2.jpg

Yeah, this is gonna work. A couple of little finishing touches, and some paint, and it'll be ready to roll. Then I need to get cracking on the brakes, shocks, and boxing the shackles I have.


Stay tuned for more... ;)

[Tex Arcana]

Days 6 of the project:

Most of this I did last nite, I didn't get pics of the work I did tonite.

I got to thinking about the floor brace, and decided to extend the foot portion:
http://i2.tinypic.com/qyxumo.jpg
Figure that'll make things a bit more stable--and it does. I wleded them tonite, figured that would be a better idea than trying to jam the angle iron into place.
http://i2.tinypic.com/qyxx60.jpg

I got the slide collars cut, the stubs cut and welded:
http://i2.tinypic.com/qyxy7r.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/qyy0rt.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/qyy461.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/qyy51i.jpg

And put together, it looks like this:
http://i2.tinypic.com/qyy6tw.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/qyy7n7.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/qyy83k.jpg

And last nite's selection of shop tunes:
http://i2.tinypic.com/qyy9ub.jpg


Tonite's work involved welding those extensions onto the stand tee, then cleaning up the stubs on the cross tube and the slides, followed by a few layers of BOBL (brush on bed liner)on the stubs, so I can slide them on after I get to full thickness and measure where the lock pins will go, and drill their holes. Tomorrow I'll put another couple layers on, then clean out the garage so I can get my truck in and start working on it.

[Tex Arcana]

Day... whatever??

Better: "Tire Carrier Update":

Okay, these were taken 3 days ago, showing how the BOBL is going on:
http://i2.tinypic.com/r8icl3.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/r8idg3.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/r8ifjr.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/r8ig5u.jpg

These are the retainers and their stubs:
http://i2.tinypic.com/r8ii4i.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/r8ij5x.jpg

later update, the retainers are about finished:
http://i2.tinypic.com/r8rqds.jpg

And the work on the crossbar, you can see where I started to spread the BOBL on the areas where the wheels will ride. I used a foam roller for this, and it seems to work well:
http://i2.tinypic.com/r8rrkk.jpg

[Tex Arcana]

Some of the other work I've been doing while working on this:

Rear shackles:
http://i2.tinypic.com/r8sdqo.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/r8sgaa.jpg
http://i2.tinypic.com/r8t1yv.jpg

Yeah, that's the boxing plate... :D

Both are done, they look so nice and cleeaaann!!
http://i2.tinypic.com/r8t2y1.jpg

But wait, what's THAT??
http://i2.tinypic.com/r8t5sk.jpg

Closer look:
http://i2.tinypic.com/r8t937.jpg
What's that on the top??

It's this:
http://i2.tinypic.com/r8t81v.jpg

Yeah, I curved a piece of steel up and around the ears of the shackle; this should be the stiffest shackle on the planet now. :D

[Tex Arcana]

Tire Carrier, updated:

Sorry it took so long, but I had to work my ass off to get the truck ready for this weekend. Needless to say, I got rained out, but I got a LOT of work done.

So, without further ado, here's the wrapup on the Great Tire Carrier Project:

So it's pretty much together, and here is it on Monday with the slicks on, ready to go to Discount Tire for the heat-cycling:
http://i1.tinypic.com/rsv514.jpg

Had absolutely NO PROBLEMS with it: held up well, the welds held, and I used a pair of ratchet straps as safety straps.

Here's a slick on the heat-cycling machine:
http://i1.tinypic.com/rsvatz.jpg

Here's pics of the carrier after the run to MSR yesterday:
http://i1.tinypic.com/rsveqg.jpg

Here's the keepers, with the locks in place:
http://i1.tinypic.com/rsvkfa.jpg

And a couple of welds:
http://i1.tinypic.com/rsvo1d.jpg
http://i1.tinypic.com/rsvp68.jpg

I ended up painting it because of the rain this weekend; but it went all the way to MSR and back without a complaint. I also peeled the BOBL off the crossbar (shutup Terry, :evil bastard), and used three rubber 2" pipe couplers from Home Depot; the stubs remained coated.

At the track, me and another guy reloaded it without pulling the tires, but it's heavy as hell and that brought up another need: rollers. And a way to jack it up into place with a jack with the tires on it. So that's the next project. :D

It held up real well. I'm damned proud of myself. :D

[dboat]

Looks good Tex... just keep an eye on them for awhile.. see how everything handles the road bouncing and such..

Good Work...

Dana