Here one of my first projects ever completed. I started working on this when I was a junior in high school (2005). With the help of my Ag teacher, the project won a blue ribbon at the San Antonio Ag Mechanics show! This is the only good picture I have of the finished product. Hopefully my memory will prove itself as I try and recall some of the details that went into this project.
I planned this project for several weeks on paper, trying to get the right design down. I wanted something original, good visibility through the back window, brake and reverse lights, and a stout look. Finally I came up with the design that you see here. At first I wanted pipe for the frame but I ended up choosing the square tubing at an angle, and diamond plate for the top for a nice touch.
All the welding on the project was done with a gasless Mig welder by myself and one of my friends who helped me out a little.
I started by building the frame (where it attaches to the truck). Using angle iron for the length and width of the truck, I welded together the base. This part was pretty easy, but the trick was to make sure that the front of it was square so it would sit on the truck correctly.
Next I worked on the square tubing for the front. The outside pieces are thicker than the inside ones, as seen in the picture. I cut them using a chop saw for a clean cut. After than I used C-channel for the top crossbeam. The angles on the ends were tricky to cut since the square tubing is at an angle in two directions. For accurate cuts, I used a plasma cutter. On the piece of square tubing on the left, I cut a small hole on the top and bottom so I could run the wires for the lights. After the pieces were cut, I welded them together.
Once that was done, I cut the diamond plate with all the holes for the lights. Before welding it on I ran the wires through the square tubing because I wouldn't be able to get my hands in there afterward. I was extra careful not to melt the wires while welding on that side. Also, I welded the diamond plate on in short sections because the metal would heat up and bend if I would have done it all at once.
At this point I welded the caps for the top of the square tubing, again being careful to avoid melting the wires with slag. The last thing was the lights. Before riveting them into place I made sure the wiring was perfect. I spliced into the trailer connection near the back bumper and used a trailer connector for easy removal. I used the ground wire as the reverse light wire since the headache rack was grounded to the truck, and spliced that in from the taillights. When the wiring was good, I placed the water-tight seals around the lights and riveted them into place.
To finish the headache rack, I cleaned the welds with a grinder and then sandblasted it since some of the metal was reclaimed. After that I sprayed two coats of black primer and then two coats of gloss black over that. On the final coat I used a "hammered" style paint for a little more protection. I really wish I would have powder coated it, but that would have been much more expensive.
After a year or so I decided I wanted to add some bed rails. They match the turned square tubing of the sides of the headache rack. See pics.
Overall I really enjoyed this project and it turned out great. Looking back I would have powder coated for a better finish and maybe used LED lights instead. Those things can still be done, but it hasn't been in the best interest of my budget. Total cost of the headache rack was about $150. Most of the cost is attributed to the lights and the paint since most of the metal was scrap.
I've since sold the truck and the headache rack went with it unfortunately.
