20-Mar-2015
Rear slider plates
I used some 3/16" thick flat bar to beef up the rear sliders.
20-Mar-2015
Added bracket for tire carrier
I made up this braket that will bolt to the tire carrier that will support a 2 gallon RotoPax water jug. I bead blasted it and prepped it for some powder coating.
20-Mar-2015
Powder coated RotoPax bracket
I shot the bracket with a silver powder followed by a coat of clear powder.
21-Mar-2015
Holding trapeze for painting
I had to weld together a holding stand to hold the rear bumper, tire carrier, and both rear sliders so that I can paint them.
I swear I spend half of my time building stuff to hold other stuff!
21-Mar-2015
Rear bumper protection
Before spraying the rear bumper I coated the complete inside with a product called Chassis Saver which is a very good rust preventative. After the Chassis Saver was dry I layed down a couple coats of the epoxy.
21-Mar-2015
Epoxy primer sprayed
After sanding all of the bare metal I shot a good full two coats of epoxy primer on all of the rear parts for a good base to apply the top coat to.
21-Mar-2015
Rear sliders coated
The epoxy primer lays down nice and smooth.
24-Mar-2015
Painted and installed
After painting the rear bumper, tire carrier, and rear fender sliders I let them dry for a couple of days and installed them.
24-Mar-2015
Fit and solid
Everything bolted in place and now that the bumper is tied into the frame, the sliders are tied into the bumper, the sliders are tied into the C pillar base plate, and the C pillar base plate is tied into the frame, it is ROCK SOLID!
24-Mar-2015
Rear sliders
The rear sliders are pretty solid in the way they are mounted. The main slider is 1.75" DOM tube and has an 1.75" DOM tube attaching the slider to the C pillar base plate.
Since my tolerances were a little tighter than they should have been I scratched up the new paint when I installed them. I'm pretty sure that they are going to get scratched up a little anyway!
24-Mar-2015
Rear fender protection
The rear slider protection turned out better than I had hoped for. I used a big 1/2" button head bolt to fasten the slider to the bumper and all other fasteners to the frame and roll cage are grade 8.
24-Mar-2015
Greased up bearings
I used a good water proof grease on the bearings in the tire carrier spindle then installed the the grease seals on top and bottom.