DIY Spare Tire Tie Down (AKA, my first rally welding project)

[UP2MTNS]

Part 1, cut and weld steel plates for D-Rings to mount on. I used 16 Gague steel because the stock suby sheet metal is pretty thin, so I wanted to be sure these things weren't going to get ripped out by anything.

I used 3x3" pieces, and one of them had to have a corner trimmed. Here's pics of each mounting point (3 total) and the final product.

I have the actual D-Rings on order and that will be 'part 2'.

Obviously you could also do this with eye bolts, etc...but getting under the car like that seemed like a major pain, and honestly, I wanted to ****ing weld something!! :muhaha:

Left side:

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=1120&d=1229212457

Top right, had to trim the corner:

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=1121&d=1229212461

Bottom Right, no 3x3" flat surface, so this kind of 'bridges' the sheet metal ribs. (ribs? ridges? whatever)

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=1122&d=1229212466

Overall, I think the welds are pretty good (considering I just taught myself how over Thanksgiving), some of these were hard to get at, I practically had to climb into the trunk a few times.

^^ This 3rd one here is the worst, because of the angle I had to use my left hand and well, I'm just not left handed.

Final Product:

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=1119&d=1229212451

[UP2MTNS]

Post Saved for "part 2"

________________________

PART 2 UPDATED!! Final Product!

D-Rings welded on, grinded down and cleaned up:
http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=1137&d=1230164312

Little bit of overkill with the 6,000lbs tie downs? :D
http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=1138&d=1230164323

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=1139&d=1230164360

[RS-ti_Andy]

can u please practice a little more.. wasnt it you who told me to not be stupid and weld my own car?!

those welds are extremly sketchy.. i mean thats great for just learning.. but the feild of welding is actually a profession i know.

go to ur other post and read what i told you.. then practice more.. i know steel isnt cheap.. so i say go dumpster diving at ur local machine shop for free bee's.

EDIT:ohhh a tire tie down.. well then i guess youll be fine with this.lol

[Rally OBXT]

[quote=RS-ti_Andy;111680]can u please practice a little more.. wasnt it you who told me to not be stupid and weld my own car?![quote]

IIRC Jackson Rally told you that, but I could be wrong.

[UP2MTNS]

[quote=RS-ti_Andy;111680]can u please practice a little more.. wasnt it you who told me to not be stupid and weld my own car?![quote]

IIRC Jackson Rally told you that, but I could be wrong.I told you (along with the rest of the forum) to not build your own cage, because its a critical, life saving piece of a rally car.

Andy, respectfully, stay out of my tech threads unless you have some legitimate and helpful experience to share that improves the quality of the thread.

Your post is based on you getting flamed in the past and now you're still bitter about it. "Practice some more" is not bad advice, but you offer no basis for your statement, and you obviously have zero experience with this subject.

I'm pretty sure you messing around in tech threads where you had no business posting is how you got banned in the first place....so tread lightly here.

[RS-ti_Andy]

[quote=Rally OBXT;111688][quote=RS-ti_Andy;111680]can u please practice a little more.. wasnt it you who told me to not be stupid and weld my own car?!I told you (along with the rest of the forum) to not build your own cage, because its a critical, life saving piece of a rally car.

Andy, respectfully, stay out of my tech threads unless you have some legitimate and helpful experience to share that improves the quality of the thread.

Your post is based on you getting flamed in the past and now you're still bitter about it. "Practice some more" is not bad advice, but you offer no basis for your statement, and you obviously have zero experience with this subject.

I'm pretty sure you messing around in tech threads where you had no business posting is how you got banned in the first place....so tread lightly here.

will you open your ignorant eyes past my post whoring.. and read the HELPFULL info i wrote! its saftey first on here and ur "welding" on ur car.. ill say it again.. GO look at the advice on the other thread and PRACTICE more! ill go add more info too

[RS-ti_Andy]

Also.. it looks like you are using MIG short arc.. so you MUST push the bead.. not pull, if u dont push the bead it wont penitrate. when welding make sure your gun angle is at 45 degrees pointing ur electrode right into the corner of the metal. To help on gaps, tack weld everything before going large on the welds.

im going to give you a secret to welding.. your not actually welding, your controlling a weld puddle.. if you can get that you'll never have problems.. build up that weld puddle and bring it over the gaps in the metal and u wont have to worry about the popping, and a good mixture of 75% argon and 25% co2 is good shielding amount.

RULE OF THUMB!!!! amps are directed from metal thickness.. 1/4" steel.. 1/4 = .25 which is 250 amps. 1/8" = .125 which is 125 amps.. it pretty simple

volts are either trial and fail or by the book.. the volts are used to penitrait steel and the amps are to get the correct heat.

so if ur dealing with subaru sheet metal ur looking at 100-125 amps and 18 volts..ish

what methode are you using? and what gasses are being used?

also to get best penitration on a flat square piece like the one in the photo below u need to Wrap your welds.
http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=1125&d=1229214630


if u need more answers ask. im getting all A's in my classes and i finish my classes early. im top of my class.

there.. i dont kno if u saw it.

i didnt realize this was all for a tire tie down.. so ull be fine with your welds.. thats why i asked what this was for.. good thread keep it up

[Galen]

How could you not realize this was for a spare tire tie down? Thats the title of the thread... not to mention the pics are pretty self explanatory if you cant read.

Back to the original topic. did you have any trouble getting a full sized tire into the spare tire space? A full sized one wont fit in mine, so I was just wondering what your solution was. Looks good Jon, Keep us posted!

[sebhockey]

did you have any trouble getting a full sized tire into the spare tire space? A full sized one wont fit in mine, so I was just wondering what your solution was. Looks good Jon, Keep us posted!


The tire tie down should help with this as long as the diameter of the well will allow it, which is kind of doubtful. You could just use it as a tool well and mount the full size spare another way ie on top or the side.

[UP2MTNS]

The tire tie down should help with this as long as the diameter of the well will allow it, which is kind of doubtful. You could just use it as a tool well and mount the full size spare another way ie on top or the side.


a full size spare sits in there about 75%, which is plenty. The space underneath that is for small tool bag, impact wrench, and spill kit.

[RS-ti_Andy]

How could you not realize this was for a spare tire tie down? Thats the title of the thread... not to mention the pics are pretty self explanatory if you cant read.

Back to the original topic. did you have any trouble getting a full sized tire into the spare tire space? A full sized one wont fit in mine, so I was just wondering what your solution was. Looks good Jon, Keep us posted!


i saw "my first rally welding project" and im sorry for not reading more.. as im not the only one who does this.. :waving:

[KevinWelker]

those of us running Open Lite (NA 2.5RS) can fit full sized michelin 14/62-15 series tires completely within the spare tire well. These are the proper size for non turbo applications. The larger sizes are just overkill and end up slowing the cars down.

Here's what the trunk of our car sort of looks like. It's missing a couple of things between rallys now, but that is pretty much it. As you can see the welds and everything don't have to be overdone. All you are doing it holding the tension of the ratchet straps so the wheel can't move around and gain momentum. If it is a part of the chassis it's not going anywhere.

[Galen]

a full size spare sits in there about 75%, which is plenty. The space underneath that is for small tool bag, impact wrench, and spill kit.

That sounds perfect. I need to figure out a way to do something like that. I was thinking of having something similar to the spare tire rack on baja trucks made to fit one tire in the trunk, but it might be overkill ;-).

[pigpen]

The tire tie down should help with this as long as the diameter of the well will allow it, which is kind of doubtful.

the diameter of any AWD car's spare tire well should be fine for a full size spare, since your donut has to be full diameter to protect your diffs. i was able to even use my original mounting hardware with my full size spare (on forester steelies) by flipping the little "hat" upside down.

[409industries]

I definitely need to figure out my spare tire configuration... ill probably go the eyebolt route...

[UP2MTNS]

I definitely need to figure out my spare tire configuration... ill probably go the eyebolt route...


especially since your trunk is all nice and white now!! eye bolts w/big washers should be fine.

[SoCalBoomer]

The welds don't look at all bad to me - you got penetration for most of it and since your life isn't going to depend on it, you're all good!

Nice job Burke!

[subyspawn]

The tire tie down should help with this as long as the diameter of the well will allow it, which is kind of doubtful. You could just use it as a tool well and mount the full size spare another way ie on top or the side.

A full size spare fits just fine after you beat that 'bubble' down with a rubber mallet. I did that years ago when i first got rally tires.

[UP2MTNS]

A full size spare fits just fine after you beat that 'bubble' down with a rubber mallet. I did that years ago when i first got rally tires.

bubble beat down FTW!! ;)

look out, bubble...I'm gonna mess you up!

[UP2MTNS]

Post Saved for "part 2"

________________________

PART 2 UPDATED!! Final Product!

D-Rings welded on, grinded down and cleaned up:
http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=1137&d=1230164312

Little bit of overkill with the 6,000lbs tie downs? :D
http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=1138&d=1230164323

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=1139&d=1230164360

2nd post updated....FINISHED! :)

[sebhockey]

Definately not overkill when you think that a full size tire could be flying at your head.

Now that you're done with all that, get some primer and paint on that to keep it from rusting out on you.