gu rear bar build... help with measurements and tools

[8UFF35T]

Hey all,
I need to make my own rear bar before my big trip on December.

Lets all assume that;
I’ve never built one on my own, nor I’ve seen one made in front of me, I don’t know how to weld, I don’t know how to even take bolts out that well etc. This is my very first project, and I need it to be completed in a few weeks because of school and work etc.

What tools do I need?
1. Grinders?
2. Spanners?
3. Welders?
4. Screw drivers?

I’ll buy the cheap tools, but for the welder jobs I will take it to a welder.
I don’t want to use tube metal, because they look ugly and very un-professional. I want a 6 or 7mm 100x100 for the base of the rear bar, does that sound alright?

http://www.uesint.com/product/product.p ... tSubType=5
That’s the latch I want to use, is there any other style you guys recommend?


I want to use that as tail lights, good idea?

And don’t convince me buying a rear bar from somewhere either, I’ve been stuffed around heaps and prices are just BULL$#!7 ...

Wish me luck! cos I will need it

[-Nemesis-]

If you've never welded before and a rear bar is your first project, please don't mount a spare tyre or something on it. For the sake of the people following

Good luck. If you question your bolt undoing ability it is certainly a big first project!

[marin]

Are you for real? You say that you can't even undo a bolt properly, yet you believe that you can fab a rear bar? And you are going all out on cheap tools after all the money you have spent on the car, and then you go knocking what the professionals are making (tube bars) and then you are asking for their help?

WTF? You haven't learned a thing, have you?

Edit: they look very un-professional because you can't buy them off the shelf from ARB like the rest of your car?

[8UFF35T]

Don't worry nothing will fall apart .

Okay I just bought my metal from METALCORP

4.5mtrs for $110.10,
100 x 100 6mm angle bar
I think 4.5mtrs will do the job, would it?

I need to find a welder before I do anything, then I'm going to start on doing dimensions .

After that, I will probably start tommorow afternoon, and dad comes back from fiji tommorow morning. So I can't wait to start and finsh.

And marin... . Have some faith in me mate!! I have the money for the rear bar, but I need that money for uni next year.

cheers

[barbz]

Hi Moiz - might be a bit far to travel but a great welder out our way is Hans steel at Yamanto - they have done a few small jobs for me free and a few bigger jobs - just call ahead as they can get very busy.

Good luck - and post some pics.

If you need a hand cutting up anything or whatever just shout at me - happy to help provided you can make it to mine.

Cheers
PAul

[8UFF35T]

thanks paul, Han's are packed, they cant do any welding for two or three weeks because they're booked out.

However,
Theres one in ipswhich called Sanjo fab,
His charging me
$110 1hr

Is that quote alright???

Does anyone know anyone cheaper? Hmmm I'll talk to my cousins tonight, Deen Brothers.

[barbz]

Try these guys otherwise, have also done some work for me - that price seems a little high but any one off job will be.

Ipswich & District Welding
45- 49 Huxham St Raceview QLD 4305
ph: (07) 3288 6479

[8UFF35T]

thanks paul

These fellas were so nice on the phone, even though they don't open on saturdays they said ' I will work something out for you don't worry '.

Charge rate is $65hr, but he said come over and we'll see how big the job is and I'll work something out cheaper for you.



Maybe in a week or two I'll be there,

cheers paul

[Struth]

Good luck with it.

So much of custom bar work is the ability to conceptualise the design in the first place.

It can turn out looking great or turn out looking real wanky, let the metal fabbers do the welding etc as you stated so at least you can be fairly confident the necessary strength is there.

Cheers

[8UFF35T]

thanks struth,

no way im doing the welding, cause yes it can get risky. Right now im just looking at pictures of other peoples rear bars and just brain storming along... they make it look like a day job!!

but they say nothing is impossible... so i gotta have a try.

http://www.patrol4x4.com/forum/showthre ... bar&page=2

http://www.4wdaction.com.au/forum/showt ... hp?t=41825

wish me luck!

[8UFF35T]

just have to make a few brackets to start off

[familybus]

id say a better start would be take the old one off first dude!

[familybus]

id say a better start would be take the old one off first dude!

[bogged]

It can turn out looking great or turn out looking real wanky,

are we takin bets?

theres excellent plans on 4wd mthly and overlander forums... oh yea, your banned there

[wrksux]

Im making one for my GU at the moment

100x100x5RHS

5m plate wings

was going to use plate allround but want to keep it simple

im using the centre recovery mount as the main mount two at each edge of the chassis and then some braces to the wings with a quarter chop in the mix. mounts are 1" plate all structual welds are tripple fillets/buts

the hints I can give you
mesure 3 times cut once, weld square and take your time ive got 10 hours into the mounts for my LEDS as i had to machine up a bracket to mount them, cut out and french in the lights to the bar.

edit

I dont mean to be nasty, but I think you have bitten off way more than you can chew, baby steps mate howabout going to tafe and learning basic mechanical and welding skills, fabrication isnt easy thats why it costs so much lots of time is spent working things out

[fester2au]

Hmmm I'll talk to my cousins tonight, Deen Brothers.

This could explain quite a lot!!!

Champ starting on a rear bar for such a modern truck with such limited mechanical ability let alone fabrication practice is a BIG CALL but good luck.

Me I would not have started with 100 x 100 angle. for one thing your truck is modern with curves and you are using a sharp edged angle and for me 6mm is way overkill. You would have been better off starting with say some 100x50x3 (or 5mm if you really think you need that strength) for the rear section and then something similar or 50x50x3 for the sides or even silo section whihc is a 5 sided profile which is different. You should make the main structure from say teh box profiles and fill in the not so important bits with flat bar. I see no point in the 6mm top angle edge when all it really needs to do is fill in your body gaps and form a step.You are not going to get a professional look with sharp square edges everywhere. 4.5 metres of that angle is a waste at best you only need it for the rear straight piece as it will be very difficult to use for the side wings and way too big for brackets.

[8UFF35T]

i got a mate over now, we're trying to make a bracket.

I wish i bought one from 8olsy or bop smoo. its such a hard job

but im not giving up, it's going to take me a good 3-4 weeks.

cheers

[wrksux]

You are not going to get a professional look with sharp square edges everywhere. 4.5 metres of that angle is a waste at best you only need it for the rear straight piece as it will be very difficult to use for the side wings and way too big for brackets.

most bars you buy that arent ARB/Kaymar will be around the 4-6mm plate, angle has a fairly large radius in that size I believe its 7-10mm depending on the manufacture and brand, so what sharp edge?

its what you do with it 2m of straight box angle exc will look boring so you need to do something with it, mine is 100x100 box with a step cut in and plated up whilst keeping the radius running along the step.

why is it to big for wings and brackets?


these two have sharp lines and angles but most would say they look good
Millweld rear bar



Unknown maker

[8UFF35T]

Im making one for my GU at the moment

100x100x5RHS

5m plate wings

was going to use plate allround but want to keep it simple

im using the centre recovery mount as the main mount two at each edge of the chassis and then some braces to the wings with a quarter chop in the mix. mounts are 1" plate all structual welds are tripple fillets/buts

the hints I can give you
mesure 3 times cut once, weld square and take your time ive got 10 hours into the mounts for my LEDS as i had to machine up a bracket to mount them, cut out and french in the lights to the bar.

edit

I dont mean to be nasty, but I think you have bitten off way more than you can chew, baby steps mate howabout going to tafe and learning basic mechanical and welding skills, fabrication isnt easy thats why it costs so much lots of time is spent working things out

thanks but no tafe for me,

i'll just take baby steps, get help from people lots, and ask questions what and how everytime.

[8UFF35T]

It can turn out looking great or turn out looking real wanky,

are we takin bets?

theres excellent plans on 4wd mthly and overlander forums... oh yea, your banned there

lol and sooned to be banned here also , who knows i can be banned right now.

hope you like my future bar work Bruce...

[8UFF35T]

You are not going to get a professional look with sharp square edges everywhere. 4.5 metres of that angle is a waste at best you only need it for the rear straight piece as it will be very difficult to use for the side wings and way too big for brackets.

most bars you buy that arent ARB/Kaymar will be around the 4-6mm plate, angle has a fairly large radius in that size I believe its 7-10mm depending on the manufacture and brand, so what sharp edge?

its what you do with it 2m of straight box angle exc will look boring so you need to do something with it, mine is 100x100 box with a step cut in and plated up whilst keeping the radius running along the step.

why is it to big for wings and brackets?


these two have sharp lines and angles but most would say they look good
Millweld rear bar



Unknown maker

wow thanks for the pictures, but looks very complicate to do.

Okay questions,

Do I have to cut the rear quaters off?

[fester2au]

You are not going to get a professional look with sharp square edges everywhere. 4.5 metres of that angle is a waste at best you only need it for the rear straight piece as it will be very difficult to use for the side wings and way too big for brackets.

most bars you buy that arent ARB/Kaymar will be around the 4-6mm plate, angle has a fairly large radius in that size I believe its 7-10mm depending on the manufacture and brand, so what sharp edge?
OK sharp may be a bit exagerated but I've seen cheap angle which pretty small radius and doesn't look as good as box.

its what you do with it 2m of straight box angle exc will look boring so you need to do something with it, mine is 100x100 box with a step cut in and plated up whilst keeping the radius running along the step.

Yes but you would presumably have a bit more experience than someone who has done nothing before and blending that same angle into the sides neatly will be a big job and still overkill in my opinion. And I'm certainly not advocating a 2m stretch of straight box/angle as the primary aspect of the design. (which is also why the design I'm working on personally is out of sheet to get some shape to the design (not GU))

why is it to big for wings and brackets?
Just my opinion as above unless it's for a true rock crawling comp truck I say 6mm material is over the top and certainly using 100x100x6 angle for mounting brackets is not necessary. Some easy 10mm flat bar parallel (bolted to) the chassis rails for rear mounts would suffice and say some 40x40x3 box for side mounts of course depending on fits and needs to clear stuff. Folds add strength too so I think 3mm box or some sort as part of the main structure ffor an everyday rig is plenty.

these two have sharp lines and angles but most would say they look good
Millweld rear bar



Unknown maker

They are both good looking bars and far from what I would call just sharp lines and angles and also most likely out of the scope of a virginal beginner. Also one of the pics of a bar shown for inspiration was nothing more than 3/4 of a rectangle with a couple of gap fillers. No offence to the maker as he is obviously happy with his design but given the initial brief of this post was to make something more professional than the tube bars out there that form of design will miss the mark. I would love to see someone out there make one of your pictured bars from 100x100x6 angle. Very hard work and I'd say a new set of springs would be in order as well.

[8UFF35T]

thanks for the kind information above,

well i got the bracket bits sorted. I've marked what i have to drill tommorow.

[familybus]

wow thanks for the pictures, but looks very complicate to do.

Okay questions,

Do I have to cut the rear quaters off?

take the damn old one off and look first! as i said before if yah take the old one off it will give you an idea on brackets etc!

[hienuf]

I love the rear bar in the second pic, looks tuff!!

[Andrew.hebble]

I'm very interested to see how this turns out. Has great potential to be either a hazard to other people or a work of art.

Let us see some pics of what you have so far, i'm looking for ideas to start building my rear bar and who knows we may be able to point you in the right direction if you need help.

Cheers

Hebble.

[8UFF35T]

yeah i got to cut the rear quatars off, just abit though... I'll record all the measurements.

At the moment it's looking real messy and I have to bolt everything back up and pick up dad from the airport in 1hr .

I still have no design but brackets come first, then design, then cut , then weld, then lights, then paint.

thats the plan so far.

wish me luck

[atari4x4]

photo's?

[fester2au]

I love the rear bar in the second pic, looks tuff!!

Yeah except for the crappy original exhaust system still hanging down in the original position like a turd that hasn't quite snapped off yet. This is where good design and execution falls that bit short. Could have been a killer fab and mod job but really just not bad.

[fester2au]

Really chief how can you make brackets first when you don't yet know what they are supporting and where. You would be better off getting you main bar section in it's correct place and then look at brackets to suit it. Then maybe you could work out your side wings, tack them in place and then work out brackets to suit them.

You don't buy a door then design your house around it, well you can I suppose if the door is the most important part of the design. The brackets should not be the most important part of your design.

Have you tried getting a sheet of say 3mm MDF and cutting and taping that up to form the basis of your design befor eyou even cut anything up.

However you ould just lob straight in and start cutting and if you do please post up some step by step pics as you go.