Booty Fabbed 40 Tailgate With Checkerplate FINISHED

[RAY185]

Just thought I'd share some pics of a tailgate I knocked up for the back of the 40. Was a bit sick of the flimsy barn doors rattling and they where not really practical. I saw a great idea by one of the members on here and elsewhere of welding the barn doors together and moving the hinges down to form a drop down tailgate. Great idea, looks the goods, but still not really what I was looking for. I needed something strong enough to put things on as I was loading the back, or to sit on while casting a line out into the surf or when taking a break from wheeling for lunch. I decided to fab up a frame with bracing and used 3 of the hinges off the barn doors on the bottom of the tailgate (with the 3rd bolt hole lopped off as it was not needed). A couple of barrel bolt latches saw the tailgate locked into position when closed and a couple of lengths of chain in clear tube made sure the tailgate didnt drop lower than it should when open and being used as a seat etc. Here's a couple of pics of the progress, I've just picked up some 3mm alloy checker plate to cover the front and back of the tailgate and some more to protect the rear guards. I'll post up more pics when I've had a chance to mount all the checker plate as a finished project.

Hope this is of use/interest to someone.

[RAY185]

a couple more pics

[bj42turbo]

Looks good should be solid enough

Here is pics of my steel one made by Daz off this forum

[RAY185]

Nice neat job. Has that 40 been lowered?

Nah looks like a clean truck. Its 50 x 50 box section 2mm thick. a little on the heavy side maybe in hindsight but should hold up well.

[alchemist]

That looks pretty choice. I should post my tailgate pic up, very simular but checkerplated. Good work mate.

[pcman]

whats wrong with barn doors lol

mine have been chopped in 1/2 and plated on the bottom then remounted

the bottom section is under work at the moment rear floor being raised up so no need for a tailgate ive got some steel plate to weld over the hole once its all dont and i dont need access anymore

[RAY185]

almost there

[bj42turbo]

Looking good, how much body lift you got

[RAY185]

If you work for the transport department, its 50mm. If not, its actually 60mm, only coz I got the alloy blocks for nothing and wasn't about to give them back because they where 10mm out. Bastard of a job and I wouldnt do it again if I had the chance to do it over.

[RAY185]

more pics, left quarter plate is on, right one to go.

[RAY185]

a before shot to compare with. before lift and 35's etc

[Roctoy]

hey Ray, it's looking good man, now all you need to do is piss that "BUGGER" fake number plate off and it'll look even better!


Cheers chris

[bad_religion_au]

Bastard of a job and I wouldnt do it again if I had the chance to do it over.

why not? just interested as i'm looking at going the bodylift path

[RAY185]

I am disapointed it took this long for someone to give me shit for that. My mrs bought it for me so I felt obliged to put it on to show my appreciation. I'll get her to get u one for your biffy Chris, or maybe one that says MAZDABATOR to go on the buggy.

[bj42turbo]

Bastard of a job and I wouldnt do it again if I had the chance to do it over.

why not? just interested as i'm looking at going the bodylift path

Me too want to know

[RAY185]

Bastard of a job and I wouldnt do it again if I had the chance to do it over.

why not? just interested as i'm looking at going the bodylift path

Steering column for one was a headache, I retained my column but opened up the hole at the bottom in the firewall to lower the column and had to get a uni joint piece from a hilux to mount between my steering box and my column to take up the misaligment. I had to elongate a couple of the holes in the hilux mounting pad to match up with my column mounting pad. I just wanted to do anything but move the steering box.

The front guards took a lot of mucking around to get mounted right, the front grill panel was easy enough to make a spacer for. The big pain in the ass was removing the original mounts. Pretty much every one snapped when undoing and a couple snapped fairly close to the head of the bolt which made it impossible to get out as the distance from the mounting surface and the floor of the car was less than the broken bolt. (dunno if I explained that very well but cant think of a better way to say it) Not enough room to grind them off so had to get someone in to drill them out (High Tensile Bolts). I'm glad its done as it afforded me alot more room for tyre clearance and looks good but I dont think I'd do it over for the trouble, unless I had plenty of time to spare.

[+dj_hansen+]

bj42 and bad_religion, couple of my mates have done bodylifts on 40 series... can get some more info if you want... PM or email me

[pcman]

mines lifted 50mm and i dont have any major steering issues i just raised the steering colum at the dash as high as it can go with a new piece of steel and elongated the hole at the firewall slightly

i beleive a 55series mount at the dash is good to use

[crokie83]

looking good now ray

[RAY185]

Yeah I dont have any steering worries as such. I guess what I was trying to get to is that is is a somewhat unenjoyable and lengthy job in comparison to body lifts I have done in the past on other models. I guess if I had alot of time on my hands it wouldn't have bothered me but I just found that it took me far longer than I envisaged and was willing to invest at that particular time. In anycase, its done, I am happy, and I guess if I dont have anything to do for a couple of days I might do it again, as long as the beer fridge is full and the mrs is off on a shopping hoiliday (hopefully using someone elses credit card).

[RAY185]

ok, got some finished pics, sorry it took so long but been kinda busy.

[bj42turbo]

Looking good, might need a wide load sticker though for that spare

BJ

[RAY185]

Yeah I know!! I had to make up another latching point for the wheel carrier as it wasnt exactly designed to carry a 35 and flexed and rattled alot. All good now but 1 day I will mod the carrier to fit the wheel in the centre. 1 day...............

[bj42turbo]

Daz modifyed this one for scotto

[RAY185]

Yeah whats the deal with these wheel carriers?

I have a different type, I have seen lots of 40s with the tube type carrier but havent seen one like mine around. The tube type would be alot easier to mod. Is mine aftermarket or what?

[DIRTY ROCK STAR]

Ray185 yeah i am pretty sure yours is an aftermarket job, infatc im positive!
I have one of each sort, but neither on my truck.

im not sure the 15x10s with 35x13.5s will fit on either without some chopping.
im planning on going part of Ray185s style one, but just weld it onto some RHS onto the chassis,, just for some clearance off the back of the 40. also i want mine mountedfairly low, just on the passenger side to try to balance things a little and get more weight over that corner.

[Busiboy]

Yeah whats the deal with these wheel carriers?

I have a different type, I have seen lots of 40s with the tube type carrier but havent seen one like mine around. The tube type would be alot easier to mod. Is mine aftermarket or what?

Gotta love that 40s flex

[beanz2]

Yeah whats the deal with these wheel carriers?

I have a different type, I have seen lots of 40s with the tube type carrier but havent seen one like mine around. The tube type would be alot easier to mod. Is mine aftermarket or what?

We see those in pre-1976 40 series in the US. They are factory and weigh a ton compared to the tube type.

Dave

[RAY185]

DRS, thanks for the info, even on my 8 inch rims and only 12.5" rubber I had to space out the bracket the wheel mounts to so the rubber wouldnt foul on the body of the carrier. I also had to put in another latch at the top right to stop the carrier flexing back and forth over bumps as it only locks in at the bottom right. But the tube type would definately be easier to mod to the centre.

Busiboy! Flex is ridiculous! Will get to that one day, just havent decided on which way I am gonna go, ie: 60 springs etc.

Beanz2: thanks for the info. Will have to track one down some day, they look like they bolt to the same hinge set up as the one I have??

[pcman]

looks good almost like i was reading your mind mines very close to looking like that but the bottom of mine is solid as i have a raised floor


ive got a tube carrier that im deciding if im gonna mod it seeing as i dont have the lower solid mount point it wont fit anymore theres lots of steel removed from both corners

im thinking just reuse the catch hinges and the wheel carrier part then run 2 tubes across the back have them bent to curve into the middle with 1 catch then weld the carrier part back on so that the tyre sits lower on it so theres less weight above the mounting point

understand or am i talking shit again