Custom Silverado Side Steps

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Well, I have been wanting to build some side steps for my truck for a while now. I finally was able to get the materials together, and am about ready to get started. These will go from the back of the front tire to the front of the back tire. A total length of 115". They will allow me to easily step up and reach into the back section of my bed. They will also double as some rock sliders to protect the rocker panel when I get really off road, however usually it just sees muddy roads and trails. Heres the truck: (picture was taken in Kern County, CA during a trip up there back when I lived in Southern California)Heres a list of what I have for the materials:Approx 28 Feet of 2" x 3/16" wall tubing Approx 24 Feet of 1x2" x1/8 wall rectangular tubing5 Feet of 4" wide 1/2" barstock4 feet of 4" wide 5/8" barstock6 Feet of 2" wide 3/8" barstockSome assorted pieces about 1'x1' 1/8" sheet5 Pieces of aggressive tread plate step materialSo this material was all donated to me, so I will not be able to use a solid piece of tubing for each side. I will be welding sections together to obtain one piece long enough for each side. I am looking to imitate these steps made by iron cross:So I will be using the 2" tubing and rotating it 90 degrees so that it will look kind of like a diamond. Then bridging the steps off that. So far, I have just measured and marked the pieces I need to weld together. Cant weld just yet, since I recently moved and am working on getting a 220v outlet in the garage. Heres the current progress i have made, as you can see the pieces are marked driver and passenger. Thanks for looking, I will be updating whenever I make more progress!
Reply:I am getting close to finishing a similar set for mineMiller BobcatHarris cutting outfitMiller spectrum 625 plasmaVariety of shopmade tools
Reply:Been thinking about a set for my f350. I'll be watching this to see how it goes for you. Maybe it will help me decide between buying and building. Good luck on your build.Yeah, I know, but it'll be ok!Lincoln Square wave 255Miller Vintage mig30a spoolgunThermal Dynamics Pacmaster 100xl plasmaSmith mc torchEllis 1600 band saw
Reply:Originally Posted by welderjBeen thinking about a set for my f350. I'll be watching this to see how it goes for you. Maybe it will help me decide between buying and building. Good luck on your build.
Reply:Gawd damn. is that 3/16 or 1/4"? Those are gonna be some heavy duty/expensive side steps.www.FirehouseFabricators.comZachLincoln 210mpLincoln SW200Hypertherm Powermax 45xp2x4 CNC Plasma Table.
Reply:Originally Posted by BrooklynBravestGawd damn. is that 3/16 or 1/4"? Those are gonna be some heavy duty/expensive side steps.
Reply:I am close to paint.   I used 3"X3"X 3/16" square tube.   Look at my thread on the black art of heat straightening.   There is a couple of Picts of my set in the raw.    Be careful not to overheat anything.    It's easy to do.   Trust me I know LOL.Miller BobcatHarris cutting outfitMiller spectrum 625 plasmaVariety of shopmade tools
Reply:Originally Posted by jw3I am close to paint.   I used 3"X3"X 3/16" square tube.   Look at my thread on the black art of heat straightening.   There is a couple of Picts of my set in the raw.    Be careful not to overheat anything.    It's easy to do.   Trust me I know LOL.
Reply:I should have made my own on my last truck ,but no I had to have special order Stainless ones  .Flashy as hell which was what I wanted ,  but  they don't stick out far enough to be really useful.
Reply:Got some more work done on them today, Just got all the sections welded together to make the two long sections that run across the rocker panel. Beveled each edge, and had a pretty good fitup. I only snapped a few pics, was trying to get it all welded up. I skipped around and let the pieces cool off fully before welding again to try to resist warpage. The pieces are almost 100% square, close enough for me on this project. And here are both sections lined up against each other. Hopefully tomorow i will get a chance to start making the mounts for the truck.
Reply:Okay well I got some more work done today before it started raining. Heres what I did so far-I took one of the sections and put it on the floor jack, and then lifted it up to where i wanted it to be.Then i placed jackstands on the front and back and measured to make sure they were parallel with the rocker panel of the truck.All level! Then the next step was to measure for the arms that are going to be welded onto the bar and then bolted onto the cab/bed mounts. This step was a whole lot more trouble than it should have been, Im sure there was probably an easier way for me to find the angles and everything but we got it done and it looks good. After I got the pieces cut and test fitted, I wanted to mark where my holes on the arms needed to be drilled so I can drill them on my drill press before being welded on. So I did that, then I tacked the arms on and test fitted them to make sure they fit.Well somehow after I welded them completely on I discovered the middle mount was about a 1/2" too far away from the flange it was being bolted to. So I welded this 1/2'x2" barstock to the arm as a spacer and it fit absolutely perfectly.here are some close up shots of some of the welds. And thats it for today! I got all the holes drilled that they mount with so I will be bolting it up tomorow and experimenting with how the steps are going to be mounted. More to Come!!!!
Reply:Also another quick question, On that last picture I posted, (see pic below) the one bead I circled, is that undercut? I didnt feel as good about that bead as I did the others and thought maybe I had been undercutting a little, If not undercut, then what did I do wrong? Im still trying to learn all the techniques and such only been welding for a few months
Reply:Well I was able to get them pretty much finished yesterday. First of all, I was using the cab mount flanges to bolt to, but the driver side front mount had parking brake cables running through it so I had to weld a bracket onto the frame to bolt the steps to. I put a gusset on each side to ensure the bracket wouldnt flex side to side.Here is with one of the steps tacked up before full welding. I wasnt sure how much the heat would warp the steps, from what i could tell they wanted to flex downwards when i welded a lot on them. So I tried to skip around to keep them from warping. Heres one of the steps fully weldedA couple close up weld shotsFinished passenger sideFinished Driver sideNow theyre off to my neighbor to get them sprayed with bedliner. I saw a bed of a truck he just did and it looked so good. Im excited to see how they turned out and ill show y'all how they look when i get them back. Thats all for now!
Reply:Those fit right in with the truck. No one will be sliping off those
Reply:Nicely done. Are you gonna powder coat them?I hate being bi-polar it's awsomeMy Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Reply:Originally Posted by motolife313Those fit right in with the truck. No one will be sliping off those
Reply:those steps look great , I would have liked to see a rounded edge on the steps so they don't become shin  splitters.gxbxc
Reply:The steps look great. You asked about your weld that you had circled. The weld you circled does not appear to be undercut but pictures are deceiving sometimes. It appears the weld puddle is just not wetting/flowing out to the edges and filling in along the seam. This in turn will cause a weaker hold  area along the weld bead because there is less weld penetration and surface area to marry/bond with the parent metal. Plenty strong though for your application.  Undercut is created when the heat from the arc blows/melts out the metal on the edges of the piece you are welding. If your weld pool doesn't spread and wet out to these edges then you create these undercut areas that didn't fill back in. Moving to fast is the reason most undercut is created. To hot on the settings along with moving to fast can create wicked undercut. When you look at your weld pay attention to the V pattern.  The sharp V pattern in  a weld bead indicates you are traveling a little to fast. when you slow down the pattern will be less pointed and curve a  little which allows the weld puddle to fill in the edges along the seam. Using a small pattern like this ( and pausing on the sides will allow the sides to fill in. Just a little wiggle and pause on the edges using this pattern can make a big difference. Don't linger in the middle and pause on the sides. Try to practice watching your weld puddle. The molten puddle follows behind your arc and you want to keep it looking like a key hole with the puddle flowing out filling in. If you have a decent mask this can be seen if you position your head correctly which is so important in being able to create a great welding bead. Hope this helps and this is stuff i have learned over the years and even from the guys on this forum. Good luck..................Fireman BillHH 210 MVPMM 211 Spoolmate 100Lotas LTP5000D PlasmaOxy/Accet (Victor)Wards AC/DC buzz box30 ton old hyd pressA few brand name toolsA bunch of cheap toolsA wife to worry me and4 dogs to supervise me
Reply:Originally Posted by Fireman BillThe steps look great. You asked about your weld that you had circled. The weld you circled does not appear to be undercut but pictures are deceiving sometimes. It appears the weld puddle is just not wetting/flowing out to the edges and filling in along the seam. This in turn will cause a weaker hold  area along the weld bead because there is less weld penetration and surface area to marry/bond with the parent metal. Plenty strong though for your application.  Undercut is created when the heat from the arc blows/melts out the metal on the edges of the piece you are welding. If your weld pool doesn't spread and wet out to these edges then you create these undercut areas that didn't fill back in. Moving to fast is the reason most undercut is created. To hot on the settings along with moving to fast can create wicked undercut. When you look at your weld pay attention to the V pattern.  The sharp V pattern in  a weld bead indicates you are traveling a little to fast. when you slow down the pattern will be less pointed and curve a  little which allows the weld puddle to fill in the edges along the seam. Using a small pattern like this ( and pausing on the sides will allow the sides to fill in. Just a little wiggle and pause on the edges using this pattern can make a big difference. Don't linger in the middle and pause on the sides. Try to practice watching your weld puddle. The molten puddle follows behind your arc and you want to keep it looking like a key hole with the puddle flowing out filling in. If you have a decent mask this can be seen if you position your head correctly which is so important in being able to create a great welding bead. Hope this helps and this is stuff i have learned over the years and even from the guys on this forum. Good luck..................