The Build of a Headache Rack

We can move on to the headache rack part of the build. Next step we want to get these headache rack bars up and then the crossbar. Here's what I want - The headache rack bars to look like they won't block the window at all and they'll follow the curve of the cab. So now I need to cut this at an angle so it lies flat on that piece and allows for an angle up, and that will intercept like that, so let's go cut that at an angle.

I'm just going to do it by eye and then fit up the bar. Sheesh! Got it - The first cut not bad okay now. We're going to use piece wood with cardboard which is going to give me the same distance from the cab on both the driver's side bar and the passenger side bar. Now I'm going to tape up the bar so I can weld it in place. You can see the angle I wanted at - I just want it right at the edge here.

That's going to come up meet the bar and go across - So we're going to go tack weld this in place. Okay, this looks good. I kept the angle I was looking for sometimes when you weld the heat causes the metal to bend but we're all good here. Let me quickly do the other side so we could do the crossbar at the top.

I'm using the same piece of wood as the driver's side which will keep the spacing even and I'll angle the bar the same angle - So it follows the curve of the cab now with it all taped up at the correct angle let's weld it in. Okay, we're on the last steps of this build pretty much laying out bars that are going across that way and that way and then.

One bar that goes across like this so the next thing I'm going to do is right here - I'm going to cut and make it level so that we can put this long bar and weld it to the top. So I'm going to level this out by eye and mark where I need to cut okay, so it's a little uneven but I'm going to take a grinder I'm gonna just grind this flat, and then this will sit right on top.

So now I'm trying to follow this line right up to there - I'm going to just do it by eye, and then I'll measure it so that's where this bar is going to end right there. And you can see that's the plan this actually the picture goes a little bit further here I want to be a little bit further back, and that will give us enough light so that the hood doesn't light up.

But we get all that light in front of us okay let's see how it fits - That's what it'll look like. Looks good, so I'm going to quickly do the other side you need to see it same exact process, and then we'll weld these babies up okay, so we look here got my two bars all set up going across the top this.

I'm going to adjust a little bit I'm going to move this fiberglass sheet over so this is just temporary just to give you an idea what it's going to look like - I want them to run parallel so I'm going to start welding here. You can see I got my camera set up, so you get to see the welds okay these welds are looking really good the bar is nice and straight and level now the top bar the headache rack will go across right here but first let me finish the other side real quick.

Looks good I know it's a little early but I really couldn't resist this looks so cool really wait to get this done. Let's go weld in that top bar on the now we're going to measure across the top. Let's see what we get and we're looking at about 42 and a half right so we want to cut the next piece to 42 and a inches okay let's see how well it fits perfect let's go weld it in place.

So that's welded into place for the most part now we're going to go to this side and weld this into place, and then we'll take it off and finish welding off the truck okay this looks great. Let's take it off the truck and finish all the welds I couldn't get to with our rig on the floor.

I'm going to say this is the end of part they'll be a part but in the meantime I'll finish those welds I couldn't get on the truck the next video link could be found by clicking on the video on the screen and I'll also put a link for part two in the description. Hopefully you're as excited as I am if you are remember to give the video a thumbs up and if you're not subscribed What are you waiting for hit that subscribe button to get updates?

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enHey guys ChrisFix here today. We'll be working on project nightlight. Now. What is project nightlight?And why do I have all this metal out here?And why do I have a huge 42 inch Led light bar?Well project nightlight is going to be installing the Led light bar on top of my truckI'm going to use the factory post holes in the bed make some bed rails a headache rackAnd then a little bit of an overhang for a slight roof rack projects like this don't just happen overnightYou just don't go out and buy metal and go at itIf to come up with ideas, so I first sketched out an idea of what I wantHere's a crude version of my truck nowI wanted bed rails a headache rack and a little bit of an overhang so my light bar iskind of centered on the cab and I kind of drew out a view in all different views andThen I created my own rendering photoshop of how I wanted it to see how it actually look you can see here this looksReally cool got the bed rails there lifted up just a bit so you could tie stuff down to them it also protectsThe bed since I have this bed coverIt'd be good to have something is kind of protecting it, so if I want to lie something on topI don't even have to open up the bed cover it also protects the back hereSo something slides into the cab it won't hit the glass it'll hit the metal hereAnd then I need some type of Roof rack thatStays right above the cab and goes about to where the doorI think that looks pretty goodBut it also prevents the light from shining on my hood if you put the light bar up hereYou'll get night blind with the light bouncing off the hood this blocks outJust the hoodbut allows the light to go everywhere elseHere's what I mean if we put the light bar right by the windshield the light will shine on your hoodAnd you'll go night blind which isn't good you want the hood to be darkAnd you want the light to shine right?after the hoodSo here's the led light bar which the whole reason I'm doing this build it's a 42 inch bar by Wharton and it turns nighttime into daytime this thing isn't a cheap light bar it has39,000 lumens and has a lifetime warrantytill you see how bright this baby is so be using square tubing for this projectThis small square tubing will be for the top of the roof rack and the larger one and a half inch square tubing will beFor everything else finish welding will use herculiner and give it a rust-free super durable coating do this buildI'm not using any expensive toolsHave a metal grinder. have a cut-off wheel with some extra cutting discs and we have a 90 amp flux core welderSo you don't need to use gas and it cost about a hundred bucksSo really not that bad you don't really need to spend a lot of money do a build like thisAnd that's the whole point and so we don't lose sight of what we're building. put this right hereLet's start with the bed rails and looking into the post holesThe post holes fit a 1.5 inch tubing and there are two on each side the bedOne in the rear and one in the frontand I want the bottom of the horizontal Tube to be level with the bed cover, so let's mark where we want to cutTransfer the Mark to make sure it's level in a straight cut I'm using a square marking the metal with a nailThen I cut one side at a timeUsing the square for each cut to ensure. It's level andlet's test it out and seePerfect that is exactly where we want it now. I'm going to go measure and cut the postsOkay, so we got our four pieces of metal that are going to be our postThey're all even let's test fit everything and see how we didThis is looking really goodIt's nice and level and we're already starting to see how this is going to look on the truckThis is going to have a post coming up to here above the third brake light so we aren't blocking itBut getting ahead of myself. finish the bed rails IJust want to check out to how level the bar really is because what the naked eye looks perfectwe have fifty five millimeters in the back andWe have fifty two millimeters in the front a three millimeter difference is nothing so this came out greatLet me quickly do the other side and we'll see what it looks like with both set up with the other side doneThis is looking great now. Let's cut the ends off and weld this togetherWe're going to make sure there's bars at the right spot to cut so we're going to check the gap against the bedI'm using this piece of wood to make sure the gap is even on both sidesGood mark off the spotwe need to cutI'm only going to show you cutting one side to save some time you don't need to see me cut both sides same thingIt's like a mirror imageAlright, let's test fit itslide this forwardLet's check out the gap between the rails in the cabPerfect, okay, this looks awesomeBoth bed rails look straight to the same on both sides and we're ready to weld them inWhen welding these in I'm going to tack weld them together on the truck so we can make sure they're straightSo we're going to be using this thick fiberglassBlanket to prevent the weld Sparks from causing damage the paint or plastic on the truck attach the ground for the welderGet your welding mask on and we're ready weldFirst we're going to Tack weld the rearAnd now we're going to tack weld the frontNow with that tack welded in place. We could take the bar off the truck now. I'm by no means a professional welderI'm a self-taught welder watching and doing some reading on the subject while I won't be welding up any roll cages or engineMounts, I can do projects like this no problemLet's clean the weld offSee that's a pretty good weld I do say so myselfLet me weld the rest of this up, and we'll test fit the bed rails on the truckSo we got some nice welds going I'm going to get some plates to fill back hereBut I got the back welded as well. These welds will be ground down so they look decent. They're nice and strongThat's all that mattersAnd it looks nice and straightSame over hereThis is a pretty good weld, and we're done with one bed railSo let's go do the other bed railAnd then we'll have to get a piece of metal here that goes up at an angle, right?above the third brake light ITried using my extra welding mask over the camera lens, so you get an idea what I see.But the camera had a hard time focusingBasically when you weld you're watching a molten puddle of metal and making slight sea movements at an angle to weld the metal togetherwith the other bed rail weldedWe can move on to the headache rack part of the buildNext step we want to get these headache rack bars up and then the crossbarHere's what I wantThe headache rack bars to look like they won't block the window at all and they'll follow the curve of the cabso now I need to cut this at an angle so it lies flat on that piece andAllows for an angle up , and that will intercept like that, so let's go cut that at an angleI'm just going to do it by eye and then fit upsheeshGot it the first cut not bad okay nowWe're going to use piece wood with cardboard which is going to give me the same distance from the cab onBoth the driver's side bar and the passenger side bar now. I'm going to tape up the bar so I can weld it in placeYou can see the angle I wanted at. I just want it right at the edge hereThat's going to come up meet the bar and go acrossSo we're going to go tack weld this in placeOkay, this looks good. I kept the angle I was looking for sometimes when you weld the heat causes the metal to bendBut we're all good here. Let me quickly do the other side so we could do the cross bar at the topI'mUsing the same piece of wood as the driver's side which will keep the spacing even and I'll angle the bar the same angleSo it follows the curve of the cab now with it all taped up at the correct angle let's weld it inOkay, we're on the last steps of this build pretty much laying out bars that are going across that way and that way and thenOne bar that goes across like this so the next thing I'm going to do is right hereI'm going to cut and make it level so that we can put this long bar and weld it to the topso I'm going to level this out by eye and mark where I need to cutOkay, so it's a little uneven but I'm going to take a grinderI'm gonna just grind this flat, and then this will sit right on topSo now I'm trying to follow this line right up to thereI'm going to just do it by eye, and then I'll measure it soThat's where this bar is going to end right thereAnd you can see that's the plan this actually the picture goes a little bit further hereI want to be a little bit further back, and that will give us enough light so that the hood doesn't light upBut we get all that light in front of usOkay, let's see how it fitsThat's what it'll look likeLooks good, so I'm going to quickly do the other sideYou need to see it same exact process, and then we'll weld these babies upOkay, so we look here got my two bars all set up going across the top this I'm going to adjust a little bitI'm going to move thisFiberglass sheet over so this is just temporary just to give you an idea what it's going to look like I want them to runparallelSo I'm going to start welding here. You can see I got my camera set up, so you get to see the weldsOkay, these welds are looking really good the bar is nice and straight and level now the top bar the headache Rack will go acrossRight here, but first let me finish the other side real quickLooks good. I know it's a little early, but I really couldn't resist this looks so coolreally wait to get this done. Let's go weld in that top bar on the nowWe're going to measure across the top. Let's see what we getAnd we're looking at about42 and a half rightSo we want to cut the next piece to 42 and a inchesOkay, let's see how well it fits perfect? Let's go weld it in placeSo that's welded into place for the most partNow we're going to go to this side and weld this into place, and then we'll take it off and finish welding off the truckOkay, this looks greatlet's take it off the truck and finish all the welds I couldn't get to with our rig on the floorI'm going to say this is the end of part they'll be a part , but in the meantimeI'll finish those welds I couldn't get on the truck the next video link could be found by clicking on the video onThe screen and I'll also put a link for part two in the descriptionHopefully you're as excited as I am if you are remember to give the video a thumbs up and if you're not subscribedWhat are you waiting for hit that subscribe button to get updates?\n"