Anybody install wheel tubs in B2? Pictures or tips?

bailey · Post by **bailey** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 10:02 pm

Your right. I was trying to shorten it up by taking a few inches off from the base of the semi-circle, but that also shortens the length, and I can’t keep doing that. It’s a lot taller than it needs to be now. I have to decide whether I want to try and bend a single piece (the sheet metal is rolled {EDIT, Proper term is BEADED}– I think that’s the term for the valleys bent into it to provide stiffness – so I am not sure it will look) or just cut. I probably will end up cutting 3 separate flat panels and join them with angled strips of aluminum/riveting.

bailey · Post by **bailey** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 7:19 pm

This is about as far as I can cut and still cover the hole:

bailey · Post by **bailey** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 7:15 pm

So after a ~2 month hiatus I figured I better get going on these or I’d never get to wheel this spring. I am nearly done as of this weekend, and if I were to do them again it would take about 1/5th the time and they’d come out a lot better. Nonetheless, I’ve learned a lot about sheet metal. The jigsaw is great for sheet metal, and welding the thin stuff is tricky.

Anyway, after I cut out the support piece (above) and riveted it to the tabs on the metal frame, I cut several long 2” wide pieces of extra 26 gauge. I bent them 90 degrees lengthwise down the middle to make “angle”, then I pug welded the angle to the top, front and back of the tub. This little flange was really helpful in mocking things up and initial assembly:

bailey · Post by **bailey** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 7:17 pm

Then I cut the top, front, and rear pieces. I made them a little wide at first so I would have a little excess as I trimmed the outer edge that follows the contour of the quarter panel. This took a little while as it was cut a little/test fit/repeat:

bailey · Post by **bailey** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 7:18 pm

Once the pieces were cut, I tacked them together, marked the excess that needed to come off on the straight side (i.e. that stuck out past the support piece), and cut that off. Then I began the long task of welding the seams together. Basically, you have to use a series of tack-welds and even then I occasionally had burn-through and had to carefully refill with weld. I am very novice on the welding side of things, and the bead needed cleaning up with the grinder:

bailey · Post by **bailey** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 7:21 pm

The grinding left a rather sharp so I riveted on Home Depot galvanized flashing to make the edge more knuckle-friendly. I am having second thoughts about this, but the added strength provided by the rivets can’t hurt:

bailey · Post by **bailey** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 7:23 pm

To fasten the tubs to the outer body panel, I made some tabs out of thin strip steel and welded them on perpendicular to the panel. As one might expect, this blistered the paint on the outside. My truck is a trail rig with lots of scrapes and dings and will be getting a rattle can job here shortly. I drilled a hole in each one of these tabs to mount the tub to, then fastened with rivets:

bailey · Post by **bailey** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 7:25 pm

I ran seam-sealer inside and out, and just finished applying undercoating underneath:

bailey · Post by **bailey** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 7:28 pm

Here’s one in place. The tub frame is riveted to the floor every two inches or so. My orignal plan was to weld the assembly in, but I figured this way will be easier to modify. I need to run a bead of seam sealer around the edges where the tub meets the body and where the frame meets the floor. When I get enough extra money to buy some Herculiner, I’ll clean up the sealer on the cab-side of the tubs and slather them with bedliner.

bailey · Post by **bailey** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 7:36 pm

All in all, this project was a little more than I was bargaining for given my limited expertise. On the positive side, the floor stiffened up nicely after I got the tubs riveted in, and despite the thin gauge metal the assembled tubs are very rigid. If I were to start over, I’d still just buy a big sheet of 18 gauge, though. I think it would be easier to weld, if anything.

I plan on taking the truck out sometime to make sure that the tubs and hacked floor are up to the rigor of off-road flexing before I do the final sealing and herculining.

Post by **Nobody** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 9:31 pm

I've been wondering how this turned out. Thanks for the update. It looks awesome! Nice work!

no v8? why drive? · Post by **no v8? why drive?** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 10:33 am

Looks good!

bailey · Post by **bailey** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:19 pm

Thanks guys. Alas I just discovered is that my spare tire will no longer fit lying flat in the bed anymore because of the tubs. I need to fab up some sort of bed carrier to lift up the front part of the tire to clear them. I was hoping I was through. Shouldn't be too hard, though.

Wheelz · Post by **Wheelz** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 6:26 pm

Looks good.

AlbertaBoy · Post by **AlbertaBoy** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 12:25 pm

I plan to do this this summer. I will try and post pics as I get it done. Thanks for yours...looks good. We'll see what I can wreck with my torch and mig.