A Suburban A Warhorse and a pair of Double Dees

[onebadmonte 235]

This guy doesn't say much does he? I like him.

Like anything prep is the most important step. As for the way I did the corners, that credit belongs to you friend. I picked it up in your "93 Fleetwood Caddy/Something for the Streets" build. Thanks for sharing.

Thats why I do detailed builds. I love seeing quality work and if my builds assist in that for somebody else then it's all worth it in the end.

[onebadmonte 235]

Hey everybody. I got some more work done on the battery rack. This time I got some work going on the hangers. I got a video update this time around. Check it out.

Here are the parts done up and ready for welding.

Here is a finished hanger

Here is a close up of the phat bead I laid down with my little 110v welder. Flux core wire FTW.

It's not the prettiest but I did it. Here are some more pics of the finished hanger.

[Wood. 24]

very nice. good welds for a 110! love to see fabrication...

i wanna CNC... =(

[sefugi 166]

That's one slick way to gat those peices ready for welding!! Nice finished product!!

By the way does one of your daughters have 3 arms? LOL! Just kidding! Figured there was a shorter one there...

[CrazyKenKid 64]

that is one kick as CNC plasma cutter! lol! is that a 0.25" cold rolled? that plasma cutter is whipping though that stuff lol!

nicely done with sander and tumbler! do you work for a Die casting shop?

[Sir-Lancelot 216]

< is Jealous. I want.

[onebadmonte 235]

very nice. good welds for a 110! love to see fabrication...

i wanna CNC... =(

Thanks bro. The CNC does make life easy.

That's one slick way to gat those peices ready for welding!! Nice finished product!!

By the way does one of your daughters have 3 arms? LOL! Just kidding! Figured there was a shorter one there...

Ha ha. No my daughter doesn't have three arms, but I do have three daughters.

that is one kick as CNC plasma cutter! lol! is that a 0.25" cold rolled? that plasma cutter is whipping though that stuff lol!

nicely done with sander and tumbler! do you work for a Die casting shop?

Yep, 1/4" steel. Ever since we got the CNC plasma cutter the owner of the company (Vintage Air) has go nuts on his personal projects. Awfully cool of him to let me do this.

[CrazyKenKid 64]

very nice guy for sure! tell me what feedrate is that machine moving at? also what is the max depth you can cut with that machine? i have never seen a cnc plasma cutter i have always just used a hand held one lol those are garbage lol!

[onebadmonte 235]

very nice guy for sure! tell me what feedrate is that machine moving at? also what is the max depth you can cut with that machine? i have never seen a cnc plasma cutter i have always just used a hand held one lol those are garbage lol!

We use 80 amp consumables to cut 1/4" steel. With this combination it cuts at 70" per minute. We have the ability to run 130 amp consumables. With those we can cut up to 1" thick steel and 5/8" aluminum and stainless steel.

[CrazyKenKid 64]

HOLY CRAP! that is killer for a plasma cutter lol!

I know my dad runs a 1200ft per minute CNC 6axis machine! it is awesome! lol!

[onebadmonte 235]

Evening gents. I finished welding up the battery rack hangers today. That and I sanded off all the splatter to keep things looking nice and smooth when they're painted.

[CrazyKenKid 64]

i like! what color you going to paint them?

[outhopu 70]

Brackets truned out real nice. I wish I had access to a CNC machine for doing my plasma cuts as well. I've got nice plasma cutter but I just don't have as steady of a hand as I once did so I always end up having to sand the edge smooth. Does your 110v welder have a hook up for running argon? Getting away from using the fluxcore wire will do wonders for the apperance and cleanlyness of your welds. It looks pretty respectable for what your working with.

[onebadmonte 235]

i like! what color you going to paint them?

Thanks. I'm thinking black, just not sure if I should go the bed liner route or splurge for some powder coating. It's going to come down to what I can do on the cheap. Sad to say that's going to be the decision maker, but funds are always a concern. Wonk, wonk, wonk.

Brackets truned out real nice. I wish I had access to a CNC machine for doing my plasma cuts as well. I've got nice plasma cutter but I just don't have as steady of a hand as I once did so I always end up having to sand the edge smooth. Does your 110v welder have a hook up for running argon? Getting away from using the fluxcore wire will do wonders for the apperance and cleanlyness of your welds. It looks pretty respectable for what your working with.

Thanks. The plasma does make pretty parts. Eventually I'll get around to getting a bottle for my little welder. Unfortunately, it wasn't in time for this project. Sometimes waiting till you have everything perfect means it'll never get done. Don't get me wrong, I know that there are times where the only way to do something is the right way. Just, this time, doing it this way, meant a little more prep work to get it to look pretty. It is what it is. I'll take your "pretty respectable for what I'm working with" and raise you a and a

[Wood. 24]

Yep, 1/4" steel. Ever since we got the CNC plasma cutter the owner of the company (Vintage Air) has go nuts on his personal projects. Awfully cool of him to let me do this.

you work for vintage air?!?!?! thats awesome, now im suuuuuuper jealous.

[outhopu 70]

Thanks. The plasma does make pretty parts. Eventually I'll get around to getting a bottle for my little welder. Unfortunately, it wasn't in time for this project. Sometimes waiting till you have everything perfect means it'll never get done. Don't get me wrong, I know that there are times where the only way to do something is the right way. Just, this time, doing it this way, meant a little more prep work to get it to look pretty. It is what it is. I'll take your "pretty respectable for what I'm working with" and raise you a and a

Running gas just makes it easier to since there isn't as much smoke and you get a better view of whats going on. I wasn't knocking your welds, just your welder a little bit.

[onebadmonte 235]

you work for vintage air?!?!?! thats awesome, now im suuuuuuper jealous.

Shhh. Don't tell any one, they'll start expecting quality work from me on these forums.

Running gas just makes it easier to since there isn't as much smoke and you get a better view of whats going on. I wasn't knocking your welds, just your welder a little bit.

I get it bro, nothing bad taken.

[Kanaworm$ 292]

Wow great craftsmanship! Keep up the great work man! Enjoying all the progress pics.

[onebadmonte 235]

I got some hardware in and as luck my have it, I actually had the energy to get some work done. Enough with the yapping, now for some pics.

Looky, looky here. Hardware from my favorite source.

What do we have here? Wood insert and rivnuts in 8-32, 10-32 and 1/4-20. Also some 1/2-13 nuts, bolts, washers, and lock washer. Those big bolts are 3/4-11. Heavy duty.

With the hardware in I put the battery rack base and hangers together.

Before getting the rack in place I had to prep the spare tire are. Here you can see the line I have drawn across the spare tire hanger sheet metal. I'll be taking off everything below the line on both sides.

Here is a shot of the aftermath.

Here the first rack is in place. Pic is looking in towards the center from the passenger side.

Here I am verifying my measurements.

I've got just over half an inch between the cross-member and the top of the studs on the batteries.

Here is looking at the rack from the drivers side.

Before I could get the second rack in I had to hack off some the the receiver hitch. Another classic jigsaw hack job by yours truly.

A little close up. Here you can gauge how much I took off by comparing the close side to the far side.

Now the opposite side. That jigsaw is one bad mofo.

Ahhh, the carnage. That stuff was every bit of a quarter inch thick. Those $2 jigsaw blades from Wally's Mart took'em like a champ.

Moment of truth.

I've got a little over an inch between the receiver hitch and the rack.

Lined up good with the factory opening in the frame. I meant to do that. This is the drivers side frame rail

Now the passenger side frame rail

One last shot from the drivers side looking up towards the center.

Time for bed. I was a productive day.

[outhopu 70]

It looks like it belongs there. I like it a lot. It's not going to be fun drilling all those holes though. I always hate having to drill holes when laying under neath a car. Do you plan on putting a plate in the bottom of the tray to protect the battery cases from anything that might get tossed up from the road?

[sefugi 166]

SIC!! Don't know what I was thinking but didn't realize those were going under the truck. Very Nice!!

[Sir-Lancelot 216]

So, you need my address now or what? lol

Looks very nice man, as said above looks like it was supposed to be there.

[sefugi 166]

Been a little quiet, hows the progress coming along? I need a fix!!

[onebadmonte 235]

Thanks fellas. Sorry for slow goings. Things seem to be coming back on track, fingers crossed. I got my battery hold-downs cut and now I've got to bend them. Easier said than done, but here is the catch, they're cut from 1/4" steel. Here goes:

Here is a pic of the hold downs and my weenie vise.

Here's the part in the vise ready for bending. If you haven't guessed by now it's the little tangs that need bending.

Haha, had you going, you thought I was going to use the hammer for this one. It's the power of leverage that will be utilized for this one. Yes, my arms are that effing hairy.

Bam, tang bent. It was easier said than done. BTW That orange tube is from a bottle jack.

Here's a close up of the little f*cker. So why the tang to begin with you ask? Well, I figure I could use a little something to keep the batteries spaced away from rubbing on the threaded rod and each other. This seemed like a most elegant solution.

Here is the hold down in place.

The whole shebang. Solid.

The whole bunch together for a family portrait.

More on the way.

[CrazyKenKid 64]

aww very nice!

i was going to suggest if you had a hard time bending that weak ass 1/4 CRS either:

- bigger pipe

- use a torch

- GROW SOME MUSCLES!

but it seems you already got the 3rd one down pat! lol!

and I like your idea to protect the batteries from external wear and tear! also once it is all done how much weight will be under your truck?