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ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: Cheeto on October 23, 2012, 11:07:14 PM
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Winter's coming, my soft-top is in need of repair and I can't find a decently priced hard top...what to do? How about pull all the seatbelt hardware (pulled the rear seat the day I bought the Tracker), soft top bows and plastic trim and make a half-cab!
Several nights of brainstorming, some 1/8" diamond plate aluminum, a jigsaw with a bunch of metal blades, a buddy at a glass shop, a couple of door seals from a Peterbilt, a buddy that can weld aluminum (although a drill and bolts could be substituted), misc. hardware, some tweezers to remove aluminum slivers, some gloves to avoid more slivers, a patient and helpful girlfriend and this is where I'm at.
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I need to pull it off again when I have some free time and clean up the edges. Long term plan is for it to become some shade of black...it's too bright as it sits. Also need to get a piece of angle welded underneath to mount a seal for the tailgate. For now I have a piece of foam pipe insulation filling that need.
Next up...A-pillar light mounts!!!
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Nice looking work 8) 8)
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I need to pull it off again when I have some free time and clean up the edges. Long term plan is for it to become some shade of black...it's too bright as it sits. Also need to get a piece of angle welded underneath to mount a seal for the tailgate. For now I have a piece of foam pipe insulation filling that need.
Next up...A-pillar light mounts!!!
Looks really close to Drone637's White Rabbit build. http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/build-diaries-how-to-diy/project-white-rabbit/30/ (http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/build-diaries-how-to-diy/project-white-rabbit/30/)
He used 1" angle across the back (mounted to the body) for deck support and to close the door up against.
How about some information on those headlights?
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Thanks Tan Zuk.
Wish I had seen Drone's build before I got into this. I searched all over for any and all half-cab pics for inspiration....clearly I skipped the "Build Diaries" section. ???
RE: Headlights. The Tracker was wrecked when I bought it. The entire left front corner was gone. Angle iron made a framework that supports junkyard fender/hood/grille. I wanted HIDs and had a kit with H3 bulbs. I get good deals from the Peterbilt dealer here (former employee and I left on good terms) so I bought some rubber bodied flood lights. Swapped out the sealed beams for a driving light kit made for Harleys (Yamaha uses the same exact style light) because it takes an H3 bulb. Light output is fantastic and current draw is less than halogens.
The downside to these is the beam pattern. HID bulbs are longer than the H3 bulbs they replace so they sit in the reflector wrong. Add to this the fact that I have no high beams right now and the other driving lights on the bumper are useless. High beams were going to go in where the turn signals are now but I'm re-thinking that. 12" strip of amber LEDs sitting on the shelf waiting to take over marker/turn signal light duties. I have an extra set of projector driving lights from my Ram that will likely replace these low-beams when I get the bulbs. They take an H1. Bulb dimensions are much more comparable there.
I have 2 more H3 HID kits. Thinking I'll test them in some 6" KC Daylighter style housings to see how they perform. I can then mount those either in the headlight area or on A-pillar mounts I plan on getting fabbed up some time soon...I hope. As long as I'm careful with how high up the A-pillar I go they will safely be under the legal headlight limit for Washington (54"). I gotta get something done because I found myself in the woods, in the rain, in the dark, cursing again! I hate not being able to see way down the road.
Sorry for the long-winded reply...I'm a details type guy.
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Crap! Here's another half-cab I didn't see before. :P
http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/build-diaries-how-to-diy/suva%27s-homeade-hardtop/msg194450/#msg194450 (http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/build-diaries-how-to-diy/suva%27s-homeade-hardtop/msg194450/#msg194450)
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Crap! Here's another half-cab I didn't see before. :P
[url]http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/build-diaries-how-to-diy/suva%27s-homeade-hardtop/msg194450/#msg194450[/url] ([url]http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/build-diaries-how-to-diy/suva%27s-homeade-hardtop/msg194450/#msg194450[/url])
I like the back window in that one, and yours is better than Drone's, and he plans on making a larger window.
Where in Wa.? I am up in Bow, and Drone is in Seattle with his rigs up at my place.
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A large window was a must for me. I feared this half-cab would make the interior feel cramped but that is not the case at all. Sheet-metal guy said to leave a 4" perimeter to maintain strength of the panel. I hit the inside with 80 grit and the glass guy bonded the glass right to the aluminum. No need to try to find just the right sized seal that way.
Any farther East in WA and I'd be in Idaho. Seems there's a real good following for these trucklets on the West side.
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nice work
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A large window was a must for me. I feared this half-cab would make the interior feel cramped but that is not the case at all. Sheet-metal guy said to leave a 4" perimeter to maintain strength of the panel. I hit the inside with 80 grit and the glass guy bonded the glass right to the aluminum. No need to try to find just the right sized seal that way.
Any farther East in WA and I'd be in Idaho. Seems there's a real good following for these trucklets on the West side.
On mine it's just smoked plexi with double sided tape. It will probably get bigger so I can use the rear view mirror properly this winter.
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Dude! Nice work. And BRD HNTR beat me to it---I like the lights too. I was going to do something like that on the other Tracker with the messed up front end but I sold it...yours looks like it turned out great. Kudos
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I have started my own 2 piece bed cover/cab bulkhead on a spare kick body. It currently isnt that far along, I have the foam panels cut and hot glued in place for shaping, it will be then be covered with Solarfilm, waxed and a mold pulled from that. I will make the useable part from 4 plys of 8.4oz sqyrd 5 harness Carbon fiber, a 1/2" PVC foam bulker followed by two more layers of carbonfiber, then bagged and post cured.
(http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g96/talonxracer/IMG_1163.jpg)
I should be able to tap dance on the cover with no issues at all.
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US Composites? What resin do you use?
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Thanks for the kudos guys. I'll try to get some close-up pics of the headlights.
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US Composites? What resin do you use?
I use either MGS 285/287s or Jeffco 1307/3176, and my preferred fabric is from Hexcel and DIVINYCELL for a pvc foam sandwich core. I am also highly considering a safety layer of kevlar as the top and bottom ply so if it does shatter from an impact that there is no carbon splinters/shrapnel.
I really like that headlight setup!
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Like your rear deck. Wish I could work with metal better. I did the same thing using 1/2" plywood covered with black bedliner. Window came from a '86 Dodge D50.
[img(http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/zz23/fraziarwp/Tracker/DSC00036.jpg)][/img]
(http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/zz23/fraziarwp/Tracker/DSC00037.jpg)
(http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/zz23/fraziarwp/Tracker/DSC00040.jpg)
maybe someday, I can replace it with metal.
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What do you have on top?? and is that a mercedes emblem on the front? Awesome.
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RFnut, I like your rendition of a half cab, props.
I would retain your existing wood components and use carriage bolts to attach a thinner sheet diamond plate or sheet steel to add significant stiffness to the sheet steel, fab the sheet metal so that is bent on the edges to go out over and cover the verticle lip of the body(where the seal is).
Where did you get the small basket for over the cab? Is that a duster top or a cut down stock fabric top?
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Here is a picture I found of a half cab, no info on it thouggh,
(http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv38/the_fly_2009/reforma%20flyvitas/DSCF3825.jpg)
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talonxracer - Thanks. Good idea about sheet metal over my existing wood cap. Mine fits between the edge lip, so a cap covering it would work well. I had to be able to fold the window section down, since I don't have AC.
The top is a bikini duster. I would prefer a hard top there. The normal straps that attach to the hand holds were removed and it is attached to the old anchors for the rear cover.
The basket was acquired off craigs List. 47X39 inch with no manufacturer markings on it. It is not permanently installed. Just sitting on foam pads and strapped to the pillars. But, it works very well for carrying camping gear.
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I plan on ordering a new Rally-top front section as it's price is fairly decent without the rear section. No sense in reinventing the wheel, LOL
I will get the Rallytops cab top for a year end gift for myself, then I will make inserts to fit the rear like yours from some 1/2" foam faced with 1/4" luan and then just seal them to the body with SolarFilm for the rest of the winter and get onto the full composite cap in the spring.
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Like your rear deck. Wish I could work with metal better.
Thanks, I wish I could work with metal better too. I had a local sheet metal shop do the bends.
I spent a great deal of time trying to conjure up a way to do it on the cheap with plywood/bedliner. I just couldn't figure out a way around the rounded section (though I have since come up with a possible solution). That's why I want to see more of Drone's half-cab. To see how it is mounted and sealed.
I had also considered having this made from smooth aluminum so I could use it as a mold for Carbon Fiber later on but diamond plate won out...this time.
Somebody asked about the top section. It's the same diamond plate aluminum. Just has about a 3/8" bend down on each side for stiffness.
Yes, it's a Mercedes emblem. While waiting in line to pick up my spare wheel at the junkyard I saw a box full of misc. emblems. Grabbed this one and an Audi one for a couple bucks. This one just fit better.
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On mine I wasn't impressed by the building or sealing. He used two pieces of metal and just a simple bend to make it fit. To fill in the gaps just some rubber insulation was put down and it expands to stop things from being able to get in. It mounted originally by just running bolts through the ridge along where the soft top mounts.
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8wJhJMHeg7Q/UDVwbDiaT4I/AAAAAAAAEjs/y-WBUcrM2n4/s512/IMG_20120819_191316.jpg)
The problem with the lower section wasn't very securely mounted and wouldn't hold up to the rack. So I added a piece of angle iron for reinforcement. I held it in place and used it to keep the top from collapsing using a bolt and 3 nuts:
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Gi4eEvyglyU/UJhbFV-GGLI/AAAAAAAAEqE/4ZHNB40-Z9I/s749/topmount.png)
More full sized pics at the build gallery:
https://picasaweb.google.com/110543510785405548959/ProjectWhiteRabbit
I think building it out of a thin plywood would work well. Then you could fiberglass the entire thing or build a carbon fiber version.
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A shot from underneath. The wooden strip has some weather stripping on it and is used to seal the door. You can see the angle iron running across along with the bolts coming down from mounting the rack:
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-qjnjxy4aRF0/UJmllo75mPI/AAAAAAAAEq8/l9myG0N4FIc/s720/2012-11-06_13-41-23_615.jpg)
Some more pictures have been added to the build gallery as well.