Doors

The hinges on the door took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do. The door is the only moving part and I wanted it to be as kid friendly as possible. I would feel really bad if my son hurt himself on something I made if I could have made it better. I finally decided on handicap hinges with one of the hinge sides flipped. See pictures. This way in the closed position the hinge forms a 15 degree gap. This gap minimizes pinch fingers by allowing a space but the outside is not noticeable. If finger pinching becomes a problem I will install webbing in this gap to end it once and for all. For the center screw on each side of the hinge I installed a ¼-20 screw and T-nut to guarantee the screws do not strip out if a neighbor kid pulls down or hangs on the door. My kid would never do this. A plunger stop is used to hold the door in the closed position. The door stops against the base portion of the bed. I limit the amount the door opens to help climbing into the truck with 1” webbing under the hinge screws. The door handle is a 6” SS drawer pull recessed half way into the surface of the door. A small pocket was routered 1” depth into the door for your fingers.

Tires

In the interest of saving time I designed the tires so standard 16” hub caps would fit. This way I didn’t have to make wheels too. The tires are three ¾” MDF and one 5/8” MDF layers of 24” diameter circles. The top layer I cut the ID to the outermost diameter of the hubcap using a circle cutter attachment to my router. The next layer I cut the same diameter ¼” depth. This is so the hubcap is recessed into the tire for a more natural look. I then cut the holding hubcap diameter the remaining thickness through the 2nd layer. I cut the 3rd layer same holding tab diameter to the depth of the holding tabs. The 4th layer is not cut. For the 20 lugs I drilled two ½” holes at the base of each lug corner and used a reciprocating saw to cut them out on the 4th layer. Then I glued the 3rd layer to the 4th layer. I used a tracing bit on my router to cut the lugs into the 3rd layer. You could use the reciprocating saw for all layers but the router cut surface will require less prep for painting. I then repeated this for the 2nd and 1st layers. And finally I used a belt sander to shape the side wall of the tire. If the bed is going up against the wall like mine you will only need 2 tires.

I used tool dip paint for the tires over standard rattle can primmer. The rubber texture makes the tires more realistic. It took 1 can of primmer per tire. That’s MDF for ya.

Cab roof

The cab roof is two layers of ¾” MDF. To make things as save as possible I added two ½” diameter Aluminum rods between the layers. I drilled and taped the rods ¼-20 thread at both ends. I drilled a hole and placed a nail through the rod so it will not spin. I used wood bolts to attach the cab top to the cab sides into the rods. This way if someone somehow breaks the 1 ½” of MDF by sitting on it they will not fall though into the cab. Say like the neighbor kid again. The aluminum rods will bend but it will not be a catastrophic failure. I added two handles with a router. The wiring is added between the MDF layers so there is no wiring visible for little fingers to get to. Notice the extra area for the connector. Once connected the connector gets pushed into this area so it is not smashed. For all hidden wires I used 16 gauge wires just in case.

Cab Front and Dash

The front of the cab is a single layer of ¾” MDF. The grill is glued to this piece and it is two layer ¾”MDF. It has 7 slots cut with a router only one layer deep. The dash is two layers of ¾” MDF. I made a small box for gauges. The gauges and switches were bought off ebay for 40 dollars. They are for a boat and came on a plastic dash which I modified to look more like a truck dash. The wiring travels down to the electronic compartment via a routered ½” by 1” slot behind the grill. I needed 21 wires.

Cab Floor

The cabin floor is ½” MDF with scrape strips glued to it to reduce noise. The floor surface is ½” below the door opening to minimize tripping while exiting the vehicle. I used a dado cut to secure the floor to the cab sides but you could use ¾” MDF strips. The steering column I used bolted though the floor. I used a custom hot rod steering column to minimize design time. It has telescoping, tilting and angle adjustment so I can easily change it based on the size of the cab. I could have bolted the steering wheel to the dash but that would not be as cool, plus I get blinkers, flashers and horn all in one.

The compartment under the floor is used for the electronics.



