Very nice.

Damn, very nice work!!!👍👍

looking good!

just a peek there of a corner of the cargo basket that will hole the spare tire.. On the jeep parked next to my truck..

If you need any help or aluminum welding, give a shout. My shops all set up now.

@Mark and Vicki Lennox Not much Aluminium welding at this point. Most of the rack I am building is all bolt together. Building it to slide out in case I need to make a dump load in the truck. I went with extruded four slot aluminium from 80/20 inc. for the cross bars and rails. The idea is to bolt rails to the inside bed rail of the truck, bolt the no weld towers from Compact Camping Concepts to those, and bolt the additional four slot to the top for cross bars. The rack I got is a cheap one that "looks" good. That will hold my spare tire and hi-lift jack. The height of the rack and crossbars will make the spare tire sit slightly above cab height, and allow room underneath for my cooler and a stuff box for trail gear. I will be posting some images of it as I build. Probably this coming weekend if it is warm enough outside. (old hands are not good with cold metal)

Dan, I have NO doubts you can handle this, my man!

Made some progress Wednesday. Modified the rear license plate delete insert to accept the quick disconnect for the air hose.

Needed a machine a .750" diameter hole in the center of the delete insert.

The parts assembled, front view.

The parts assembled, rear view.

Those look gr8! I like the look and probably far easier to assemble into what you want than the original idea. Way to go!

Working on placement, Then I'll figure out the cross bars and a nice roof basket type rack to go on it...

@Mark and Vicki Lennox

For the most part when I am covering chrome, I use Plastidip It will stick well to clean chrome. If done right, it will last for years with no real maintenance. The trick with plastidip is to use a light coat first, then several heavy coats to build thickness. I use five coats, and go a little heavier on the corners.

I prefer the plastidip because it can be removed if you want a new look later.

There are a lot of brands out there selling "Peel coat" type finishes, I only use Plastidip. I have tried several others and not been pleased with the result. The bumper in the above image was plastidipped more than a year ago and still looks great.

If you need a hard paint finish, Scotch bright the chrome and prime with a two part epoxy primer like 2K from SprayMax available on Amazon. This works best for areas that will no take hits from rock and gravel, as it will chip some.

@keman Kewl. Thnx for information. My XJ has some black plastic peeling on window trim, so I was thinking about just covering all the chrome. It's not a bling mobile anymore, so might do the flares etc in a bed liner type stuff and blackout the chrome. Even most of the factory blacked ones are chrome under the black coating. Any sugests on a decent spray bed liner, or is there really good spray liners?

@Mark and Vicki Lennox Not too sure on bed liner, don't think any of it will stick to plastic. I know a good heavy five coats of plastidip will stick to just about anything you spray, and stand up to abuse. I used Duplicolor spray bed liner on a set of aluminium rock guards many years ago and it flaked off when I hit it with the pressure washer. That even with acid etch primer under it.