Fitting a NOR TrayBack unit - with Mods -' A Guide'

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

Enter stage left Mr Beagley (V8Jon on this forum) and his V8 90, and stage right Shaun From NOR and his Trayback kit

and yes, ...your F truly in the middle - "Duh Fitter"

This will be a report on the NOR TrayBack kit, with more than a few mods (more later) and will be as I see it,

the good and the bad - If its good then I will say so, if its equally ****e / in places poor, I'll do the same

as at the time date I am typing this it has just arrived, and I have unpacked it, theres the first poor point.

NOR do not supply semtex, so with the fact that its packaged up so damned well, its takes a while to get to it !

In all seriousness here we are talking about tube that will, most likely in a month or so be shoved into

rocks / banks etc, so to take this much care packaging it all to a customer says much about the companys ethics

Anyway, whilst I am at it "Customer" - that is ALL I am - I have no involvement with NOR in any business sense, all

I have is customer involvement - ie my Truck Cab cage (see tech archive for fitting thread) and my (Modified) NOR

challenge wings, again see tech forum for fitting guide, both these products are IMHO superbly made and I would and

have recommended NOR on both this basis and that they are decent to deal with, and I am hoping and expecting the

tray back system to be the same, but don't start thinking I am in any way involved with NOR and spamming their products

just in case your wondering

OK, so what do you get with the Kit ?

A grumpy UK Mail delivery man, huffin and puffin with the unit. Jon has gone for the one with Tube at the back

for side winching, and a spare for maybe cage mounting (TBC when we get to it) New "Down" pipes from cage to toastrack

sorry ...trayback , tubes from trayback to rear end and chassis, and some plates, I will see from the website what goes where, but so far

impressed as ever at the quality of the bends and general finish, and I am a fussy sod

Some pics :

As delivered, normally 1 packet, we have 2 x packs more why later

Once the generous packaing removed you have a "Frame" which is tacked into the basic shape :

And a selection of tubes bends and we have also bought extar the NOR Rollcage "Gussets" which

will save time and may be used to beef up the X in the rollcage fro the centre winch mounting unit

Linky to NOR Website : http://www.northoffroad.co.uk/epages/es120586.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es120586_shop/Products/nor42

I said 2 packages, Jon has also bought the NOR Winch tray, I say "Tray" as in no way to actually mount

once the rear end is cut away, so Mr Barker will be a fabricatin' some means of glueing this on the end

and tying it all together with the Trayback unit / Chassis - it was just a cheap way to get a rear

winch mounting in there vs the nice but rather spendy D4x4 unit, so expect some 20mm plate porn later on

NOR winch tray is in the last 2nd pic rhs

and linky to NORs website : http://www.northoffroad.co.uk/epages/es120586.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es120586_shop/Products/nor14

Jon saved time - and money by "Attacking" his 90 with a 12" petrol cutter so the rear body section were

removal prior to him bringing it over, but note he left the rear crossmember on - this is essential, as the rails at the

moment are fixed, I will weld a pipe behind the rails / crossmember before cutting the crossmember off so that it all doesn't

go sprooooonge and move out of line - some chassis rails move considerably, so always bear in mind !

So, roll forward to 9.00am today

Any, 90 arrives and after some tube cuddling I get JBs attention

Here is the 90 with the rear tub cut away, Jon will be refitting the plates that were on the back body

back onto the newly cut tub where it finishes but this gives you an idea of the work ahead, this is without

doubt well made kit, but, without doubt this will be more work and determination to fit than the cahllenge wings

Some pics, after I pointed to the rear cross member / Cage mounting and gasped, Jon looked at his feet

shuffled about a bit and mumbled "I Know I know" - tsk

The NOR winch unit is just that a plate 10mm Thick , and nothing else, we bought this

as we knew the others about a la D4x4 and NORs etc with extensions would be pointless as the extensions

wouldn't be what he wanted so everything would need to be fabricated, hence Jon a set sqare and a lump of 8mm plate for the

winch base :

Some considerable time later a few straps much welding and tacking the rear tray was on held loosely and

more measuring took place. Its really important to measure LOTS of times and ONLY Tack it up, when you weld make sure that

there are a vast range of tacks, and only weld up a bit at a time from corner to corner and opposites if you hear a 'crack'

as your welding STOP - it means you tack somewhere has give way due to metal / tube moving - which means things may not be as think

when you finish welding, go slow and take time

A few hours later :

Jon also wanted a Loop on the rear to enable him to use his rear winch vertically through the back, this was supplied by NOR

but I had to with Jon cut fishmouths into the tube and here tacked on :

This obviously is a mod and not part of the standard kit, the forces involved could be quite vast, so we knew some bracing would be required

we have done the best we can, bearing in mind I am just an enthusiastic amateur, doing it the way Jon wants it done and also

we ran out of tube ferkin fast, yes if someone wants to be an*l and mention solidworks crush analysis etc fine, but this will be built kin

strong, for starter a 2" 3.6mm wall tube welded onto 2 x 6mm plates was popped into the chassis (red bit) and adds massive strength, done

pre the cross member being cut off and it didn't move 1mm I don't do this for a living, just for fun, or as in this case for people who

badger me hard enough and wave money at me

Happy with the way it was on trial fit and tack, it was removed welded up as much will be a pig to get to later on

after an age of welding it was bolted on and yes it all lined up, the strap taking the strain for a while

Only now was I happy to chop the rear off, up to now it was a useful datum point, now its off (yes I know SVA time ) and

there is no going back

Peering inside showed "Some Mud", and a mod is planned to resolve this in the future, more later (Much later )

Next the flat winch tray unit was tacked into its new home after much thought :

And then after even more work hours and measuring a bar was made up, fish mouthed and welded in (Tacked) 11.5 inch from rear hoop

which will eventually be the new position for the spare tyre, held upright, but dropping into the Chassis, this being made out of one of

Jons old rear down stays :

Then the rear stays were made up which go to the chassis, these were made and also some 6mm plate spacers were welded to the chassis top

interlinking with the plate on the earlier made and now welded in red tube, these tubes help (we hope ) Brace yo the centre winch

idea mod, and it begins to come together

The winch unit was welded up along with rear stays to the old cage, bear in mind also that this is designed for a NOR Cag,

Jons is different so much has to be fettled , some more stays made under the trayback itself, and a final picture bring us to the end of

todays efforts, more tomorrow but I'm on me own then, and its fiddly fabby time

What,s good is from the back everything seems square and true, and the W effect of the tube braces equal, for a Toastrack its

looking quite pretty

More tomorrow

Off for beer bath and Indian

Nige

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

Day 2 was started by checking rechecking any welds or holes missed, then on to boxing up the ends and boxing

around the winch unit

The sides of the winch tray / chassis had plates made around 6mm thick , these were welded from the inside

during assembly, before the top being welded on, and then again welded from the outside. As the tray was wider

than the chassis width for some reason the shape was more of a triangle at the back, which was handy, as a

further tube was going in for more triangulation at the rear.

Some build up pics :

At the rear after straightening the chassis rails which had somehow during Jons onwership got bent I plated

up the ends, 6mm plate again, but a large 24mm hole drilled and a nut welded on the back on each side means he

can shove a hose pipe / drain cleaner etc up inside to flush it out when the bolts removed

Then the final tubes made again from left over tube from Jons old down stays and this welded to the tops of the

boxed up winch tying it all together, with all this sort of fiddling getting each side to "Match" can be

time consuming :

And then a recheck for any more missed bits and some final shots of the finished tubework :

And that,s it, now back to Jon for painting and finishing.

All in all its another well made bit of kit from NOR, fitting is much worse if you modify the product

but even so the time saved for the money virtually defys making it, that is if you can get it a close

dimensionally as this is, more beer now required

Hope this was of interest

Nige

[rope runner]

Shame to do all that nice work though and not have a MSA complient roll cage at the end of it

[Retroanaconda]

Nice fabrication there Nige. Looks to be another well thought out kit from NOR.

Can't stand traybacks myself, but it certainly looks strong enough!

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

Nice fabrication there Nige. Looks to be another well thought out kit from NOR.

Can't stand traybacks myself, but it certainly looks strong enough!

Yep, I'm defo not a fan of ToastRacks sorry TrayBacks, but I have to admit this is almost pretty

Nige

[Ian M]

any reason why you havnt made the rear stays to meet msa spec?

[ciderman]

any reason why you havnt made the rear stays to meet msa spec?

I was thinking the same , With the MSA rules creeping into alot of comps now.

[timmymac]

i know no one wants to hear these words but the only way to find out is asking.

does a tray back like this mean sva time ?

I only ask because by the time you have tubular wings and a trayback there doesnt seem to be much body left.

[landroversforever]

SVA isnt needed because the chassis isnt radically altered. It is, in effect, a body swap.

[Retroanaconda]

I would have said not, because the chassis hasn't been cut-and-shut or anything of the sort. A new rear end has been put on, effectively.

But you are at the discretion of the VIC inspector really

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

Erm

I'd Beg to differ

With the chassis shortened and altered ...I'd say it is 'SVA' time

However, this 90 is MOT & Taxed but hardly used on the road, is trialered to events

and Jon wanted a Toastrack conversion for depature angles and protection etc

Its been built to Jons spec and design, with input and ideas from moi mixed into it ...ie

the drain / chassis washing plugs (see....No, not just "Add Plate" ) and he wasn't woried re MSA spec,

however the std NOR design is not MSA either, but it would be exceptionally easy to make it so

if required at any point in the future, what I have tried to do a per Jons request is have the back

clean and clear yet lots of triangluation, and the rear tube have a winch abilouity built in that

won't bend on 1st use

NOR Challenge wings are NOT an SVA issue as the chassis remains unaltered and, in the words of the VOSA tech chap I spke to

is a "Minor Body Modification", a Trayback IS NOT, so SVA if we wnat to play the black and White game

Nige

[Retroanaconda]

So I assume the 'point of turning' must then lie somewhere between your replaced rear cross-member, which you said didn't require an SVA, and this modification, which does?

[Mark90]

Erm

I'd Beg to differ

With the chassis shortened and altered ...I'd say it is 'SVA' time

I beg to differ. I'd say it's VIC time and let the inspector decide if it need's an SVA. It won't always be the same answer.

[dirkthe1]

i think the correct answer is probably "pot luck"

[Ruuman]

looks good, I did wonder what jon had planned after he went cut crazy at xmas

[Guest noggy]

Seriously, why do we all bother talking about SVA all the time, its so repetative and annoying! If someone wants the truck to be fully legal and legit then they will sort it out. LR4x4 is the place for tech not squabbles about the ins and outs of the bloody SVA.

This is looking very good, much what i have in plan, but no way am i gonna fork out that much money for a bit of steel!

[white90]

Well put SVA police can somewhat spoil peoples threads

All are Adults their cars their choices.

[timmymac]

it wasnt a dig or anything of that sort but if in the future i or someone else may want to do this and if a deffinate answer could be given we would all know where we stand. i did move my next comment onto its own thread as i didnt want to take over this one, as i belive it is better to try and stay legal as we all now it can turn out nasty.

Also fantastic job and thanks for the post its great to have an idea of what is envolved as i would like to do one myself but with a range rover. (hence the post).

[V8 90 JON]

just got home from picking landy up from nigel...big thank you exactly what i asked for and top quality work,hope the bits im doing will be half as good(mind you after iv'e twated a few trees itwont mater quite so much)!! will post some finished pic's in about 2015!!

[mickeyw]

Some fine handywork there Nige. And an excellent write up too.

Wish I had as much time to play as you

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

^^^

True on the tree count , Your front "Guard" is a fair work of art

now, ...............get some paint on it !!

Well put SVA police can somewhat spoil peoples threads

All are Adults there cars their choices.

Shhhhhhhhhhh I think I hear one coming now

Its alright, I don't think he saw us

Nige

[landroversforever]

^ ^ ^ ^

[moose]

Nige,

Looks very good, strong and neat One question tho i would have terminated the rear stays on the tray where the lower supports also meet the tray.

would this be weaker or not matter, just thinking about redoing the rear of my cage.

Paul

[missingsid]

Nige,

Looks very good, strong and neat One question tho i would have terminated the rear stays on the tray where the lower supports also meet the tray.

would this be weaker or not matter, just thinking about redoing the rear of my cage.

Paul

Paul,

Surely if you want it strongest the rear stay should be terminated at the chassis not up in the air?

Nige,

Nige job and good write up as usual.

Hey I think I accidentally created a new word for good work?

[moose]

Paul,

Surely if you want it strongest the rear stay should be terminated at the chassis not up in the air?

Mine do at the moment and i guess will stay that way.. Not being a structural engineer i was just idly wondering if having a node where lots of tube meet was weaker than the spacing them out as Nige had done.

I am sure it doesn't make any difference in this application, didn't mean to dilute a nice tech write up, some days i think of going tray

paul