Just wondering if any of you have any neat ideas for custom parts not available for the Rav, or may be available but at an outrageous price? I want to build some neat stuff for the Rav that I may not have thought of, and get some practice with my new CNC plasma table.
you should make some actual skid plates im sure some forum members such as myself would love to buy that if you make it light enough, and not tooo pricey lol, a custom front bumper would be cool too
+1 on the bumper and skid plates I want a pushbar to mount my offroad 7" diameter light to but the ones I find are very expensive also I would like custom metal that says RAV4 where the bottom of the door meets the car not sure what its called
Really like the skid plate idea. Something for the transmission and engine sumps. Also something in place of the plastic in front of the gas tanks. In fact my Rav has been around a bit and all the plastic bits underneath are either missing or held together and or secured by zip ties. Thin aluminum diamond plate for the door sills would be cool. What about the barn door sill in the back something metal to replace the plastic piece there. Another issue I have that is getting worse is dents in the ac condenser. All the openings up front would ideally be covered with metal. These could easily be cut out in mass on a table as well. A mesh slightly smaller than stock mesh and extras to cover the open areas would work well. So many dents In my ac condenser from gravel roads. at least the newly installed transmission cooler is nice and stout and will take some of the hits.
No sorry I only own a 4.2 so I will be building parts for the 4.2 series. I can afford to build a small run if I am building some stuff for myself, however I can build parts for the 4.1 but since I wouldn't be able to use any of it I would have to have a solid qty of people wanting to buy.
4'x4' material max material size (but I can index a 4'x8' sheet) and up to 5/8" thickness steel is the max I can cut. I will be running stainless steel, aluminum and mild steel through the table. I have the ability to form and weld all three materials.
What I would like are a couple of plates that seal the rear door inner skin, with a hole for a shallow 8"/10" subwoofer. Perhaps the steel used for the outer and inner skin isn't the appropriate material for a subwoofer enclosure though.
Also I would like to fit cruise control to a car that has a cable operated throttle body; so would desire brackets for attaching the actuator and for the throttle body for the cable end.
What I would like are a couple of plates that seal the rear door inner skin, with a hole for a shallow 8"/10" subwoofer. Perhaps the steel used for the outer and inner skin isn't the appropriate material for a subwoofer enclosure though.
And this is why I am glad I asked. I would have never thought of this, however the bottom two holes look to be somewhat doable, the area around the wiper would need a lot more creativity.
Conrad I would also want a light bar like that for the 4.2 but would be nice if it could bolt on without having to cut the bumper
I need a way to attack 2, 7" diameter lights to the RAV they have bulbs 110watt high end bulbs I had them on my 94 yota truck and they were bright and shined far
Yep I wouldn't want to cut up my bumper either, the metalwork would pass through the existing rectangular hole in the front bumper. I plan on making it for 4 lights to mount...but we'll see. They would most likely be installed with Rivnuts from the backside of the bumper crash bar.
No ETA just yet, especially considered I planned on having mine built during the summer this year! I'll come up with a few ideas and once I am confident with the plasma table then I'll be producing some production quality pieces.
For sure will definitely keep everyone informed. The lightbar should be pretty easy to do, skid plates will need more work (I've never looked up close on the underside to see where the mounting points are).
Tossed a scrap piece of AL on the table to test it for the first time:
4" tall on the same AL sheet.
A vid of it running:
All this was before I got the electrical service to my shop upgraded (just last week). Any time I ran the plasma prior to the upgrade it would run until the air compressor kicked in...then the breaker would trip. Haha.
I have been using the plasma on non-critical parts, mostly practice pieces for my wife. This is her valentines day present (it's 9" tall from 1/8" 6061-T6 AL):
I will be tweaking the table a bit more and then will begin cutting mechanical/functional parts on it soon.
Nice I would love a plasma table but they are expensive, hopefully you will have a lightbar prototype out sometime in the summer, or maybe those door panels foot protector things I was talking about with the RAV4 cutout because I was going to put lean sheet under with led lights to go.on with the door open
Top one is the first prototype to confirm some crude dimensions, second prototype below. Still have 2-3 more revisions and then I can work on the lightbar itself.
I think maybe where the gear stick is have like a ferrari gear plate to select gears, were the gear stick has little slots cut out..... if you get me haha
Hi Conrad I am toying with the idea and passing it on of a simple detachable rear nudge bar.
At present i have a extended 300 mm long (which keeps the trailer coupling away from under the wheel cover ) 50mm square removable pinned tow bar. Im thinking fabricate a simple T end about 600mm with simular 50 mm square tube and drill the same pin connection 350 mm long.
So it becomes first touch point nudger little damage reversing or take a fair bit impact with a low speed rear ender. The back flat edge would definatly suit a clever cut out aluminium logo or slogan. :thumbs_up:
Awsome work there Conrad with the exhaust system stainless steel welding, i know how hard that is and the truck loading platform is a intricate and clever design .
PS the tool lockers would look great in my garage and i would proudly display your sponsorship logo on them.
Below is photos of my small finished project of the small T nudge tow bar insert that I told you about. Right click and then open link the will enlarge.
Im seeing it as a cheap sacreficial nudge piece cost me $16 ($6 for ouch sticker) plus an hour to make :thumbs_up: im pretty happy with it saves any first light damage on the OEM bar in an accident or the back door via the spare tyre that used to protrudes out the most its - 110 mm now.
Also gives me more step space on the back to wash the top or secure top loads thus the top grip.
At present contemplationing lodging multi national patents for the "OUCH" bar lol $$$ :zzzz:
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