TRAILER MODIFICATIONS

These are some trailers I have done some fab work on in the last three months. The first trailer is Nick's Trees landscape company trailer which needed some repair work, tool box, ladder locks, and an off road bumper. The second trailer was built for Burt Cook. He wanted his razor hauler to turn into a covered wagon for hunting. I added steps all around making loading easier. I felt it also needed a tire guard so that the spare tire doesn't end up flat do to a tree branch out there on the trail. Burt's only real concern was making sure that the covered canvas setup could come apart and lay down inside the trailer for transport. Mission Accomplished!!! Thanks Burt for your Support!

For All Your Fabrication/ Welding Needs:

Brock@dunlopcustoms.com

602/515/2285

HOW IT WORKS - ARC WELDING

HOW ARC WELDING WORKS

First lets describe what the term fusion welding is so that when I say fuse you will understand what I am talking about. Fusion Welding is term for any welding processes that rely on melting to join materials of similar compositions as well as like melting points.  A heat-affected zone is developed in the material, due to the high-temperature phase transitions inherent to these welding processes. Basically what that means is that the electrical current is creating friction 

Arc welding use­s an electrical arc to fuse the pieces of material along with filler material (welding rod). Arc welding involves attaching a grounding wire to the desired material or other metal surface that is to be welded upon. Another wire known as an electrode lead is placed on the material to be welded. Once that lead is pulled away from the material, an electric arc is generated. The arc then fuses the work pieces along with the filler material that helps to join the pieces.

Feeding the filler into the welding joint takes steady hands and an eye for detail. As the rod melts (carbon steel melts @ around 2500 degrees Fahrenheit), the welder must continuously feed the filler into the joint using small, steady, back-and-forth motions. These motions are what gives welds their distinctive appearance. Going too fast or slow, or holding the arc too close or far away from the material can create poor welds.

Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW or stick welding), gas metal arc welding (more commonly known as metal inert gas, or MIG, welding) and gas tungsten arc welding (frequently called tungsten inert gas, or TIG, welding) all exemplify arc welding.

These three common methods each offer unique advantages and drawbacks. Stick welding, for instance, is inexpensive and easy to learn. It's also slower and less versatile than some other methods. Oppositely, TIG welding is difficult to learn and requires an elaborate welding rig. TIG welding produces high-quality welds, however, and can weld materials that other methods can't.

1984 TOYOTA XTRA CAB FRONT AXLE BUILD

   I finally decided to name my 1984 Toyota Xtra Cab truck a few weekends ago on while wheeling out on the back trail of Crown King! Every rig or bike needs a name. I named my truck the "DESERT HARE". I hope that the name will help bring my truck good luck on the trails! lol Well is post is intended to recap on the 1984 Toyota front axle build up that I did last summer to my truck. It needed a rebuild really bad!!!! I had so much death wobble in the front end it was scary to take on the highway. I mean it looked like my truck was break dancing all the way to the trail. So it was time to rip this off the truck and do a little surgery to it.
   First things first I had to decide what the long term goal was going to be with this truck? TRAIL READY/ROCK CRAWLER! Easy enough right? Well this step is pretty important because that will determine how much suspension travel you will need, how much armor to put on it, and what type of axle internals you will be needing in order to handle the stresses of off road driving. Plus if I ever decide to get rid of the leaf spring suspension and go with links, coil over shocks, and PSC hydraulic ram steering assist I will need to set it up so that this will be easy in the future without rebuilding an entirely new housing.
  The axle is the original 1984-85 Toyota straight axle that has been stripped down and rebuilt with Marlin Crawlers Eco Seal kit (knuckle rebuild), Marlin Crawler Armor (needed some serious elbow grease and labor on my part)  trail gear creeper gussets, grade 8 nuts in the steer stops,  1.5" wheel spacers, Ballistic fab upper truss, and Dunlop Customs front and lower armor! I decided that I wanted to make this housing as clean and beefy as I could get it without buying some new rough stuff housings. All the armor and gussets on this axle are .250"- .375" thick steel making for a long lasting rock slaying axle housing.

Grade 8 Nut shaved to fit in the steer stops

Marlin Crawler armor after I re welded them together, sanded them all smooth, and fine tuned them to sit flush on the axle housing.

Axle housing before front truss was welded on.

Front Truss Mock Up

Got the front truss in position and ready for welding. I threw on some flare to make this axle standout a bit. I used some small punch blanks because it looks like little spikes. I think that it gives it a tough look without being to over board. The spikes where TIG welded on so that it would be clean and look almost like they where seamless.

FJ Rotors

Fully Serviced and Mounted Axle

The lower armor on the axle housing protects the drain plug as well as the gears inside from being damaged. This housing is rock ready!

I would like to place a mount for a D-Ring in the middle of the axle for when the winch and bumper is installed.  This would be used to compress the suspension. Compressing the front suspension comes in handy for steep climbs since it lowers your CG (center of gravity) a bit, cuts down on axle hop and can help provide more traction by shifting the weight of the rig around. One other benefit is it makes the obstacle feel less steep than it really is since the front end is brought down and the front suspension is no longer unloaded, this can provide a much needed boost of confidence to the driver.

FOR ALL YOUR FABRICATION/ WELDING NEEDS:
BROCK DUNLOP
602-515-2285
BROCK@DUNLOPCUSTOMS.COM

IMPORTANT NEWS

Important News: 

The shop will be closed from May 29 - June 11. The shop will be closed but if you need to get quotes, schedule fab time, or place orders for product contact me via: 602-515-2285, Brock@dunlopcustoms.com. Thank you