DK40 grill guard

[alancamby]

The Grill slats are spaced 10mm apart. To make this easy. I used a bunch of M10 x 12" long keystock to use as spacers during fabrication.

The reason I don't like expanded metal. It is to easy to bend and hard to bend back once it bends/stretches. Nearly impossible to paint properly. Hard to eliminate sharp edges.
Biggest issue is the paint problem. If you go to a trailer lot, all the rear drop gates on new trailers have rust bleeding out of where the expanded metal meets the tube. How can you get paint between the expanded and the square tube. Even the powdercoated trailers suffer from this.

I bolted the slats so that they would be replaceable and paintable on all sides. If the slats were welded. They would need to be welded all the way around on all sides or rust would creep out. That would be a lot of welding.

 

[seacap04]

Nice guard and excellent craftsmanship.

 

[alancamby]

I changed my oil and air filter today. Decided to install a inner air filter along with the outer.
Anyhow I snapped a photo with the front grill off. It wasn't necessary to remove the front but I had both sides off for the maintenance anyway. I am at 76 hours.

Here he is out in the snow a few days ago.

 

[k0ua]

While you have that open (or next time) you might thing about putting your favorite battery grease on the battery terminals to keep the fumes from starting corrosion there. I use NO-OX-ID. made by Sanchem. I have used it for years with good success. While I am at it I put some on the screw threads of the battery retainer bolts too. How many times have you seen bolts near a battery that are always rusty and or corroded to the point they just break off? I believe in coating them to protect them.. YMMV..but that is what I do.