Well we’ve made it to blog number 3 – manufacturing and fitting the subframe to De Trucksta.
This is Fred’s forte so he got to planning the construction. Steel sizes, amounts to order, measurements not to mention accounting for the bend in the chassis. Yep there is a bend in the chassis so the normal straight piece of steel will need to be modified to fit.
Steel, springs and impact resistant wear strips were purchased. A new welder was purchased. It was time to get serious.
He started with the main rails, cutting and shutting the box steel to accomodate the curve in the chassis. He then cut the steel into measured pieces for the centre structure to mirror the chassis. We now worked out the total width required and allowed, to suit the habitat box (aka our house) and began fabricating the out riggers which will support the box.
Now it was time to cut and fabricate the spring mounts and rear plates and begin the drilling of the chassis to mount the plates and brackets. This was a big job as we had to remove the fuel tank, battery box, exhaust and air tanks as well as modify a few existing mounts and brackets.
We took advantage of the bare chassis and fitted the hydraulic rams for the levellers. Yep after having them on De Busta it was a no brainer to fit them to De Trucksta.
Nothing Fred can’t handle and after a couple of weeks of cutting and shutting, welding and drilling we were ready to dry fit to the chassis. Before we could do this, we had to build a gantry to allow us to pick up the large frame which we estimate to be around 600kg, high enough to back the truck under. No problems, we sourced some “free to a good home” box steel and Fred whacked up a gantry quicker than Phar Lap ran the Melbourne Cup. With a borrowed block and tackle, thanks Leanne and Boney, we were ready to give it a crack.
The springs are bolted to fabricated mounts to allow the movement between the subframe and the chassis as determined in the twist test. The wear strips are to fit between the chassis and subframe to insulate from vibration and wear.
All this was as simple as weld one side, fit it to the chassis to check correct size, take off truck, flip over, weld other side, paint, flip back, paint, attach that sucker for real. Job well done Fred, end result looks fab and fits like a glove.
Stay tuned for next week’s blog……………