AR400 vs mild steel winch mount

I'm in the process of designing a low profile winch bumper for the front of my taco, and I'm torn between regular 1/4" mild steel and 3/16" ar400 for the winch tray itself, and 3/16" mild steel vs ar400 for the part of the bumper that will actually come in contact with rocks or trees or whatever I run in to. I've heard regular steel has a tendency to bend rather then break, and ar400 will crack before it bends. Also, is either one more dense than the other? I'm new to metal work, so any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

Unless you have the experience and are set up for it, ar400 is liable to crack on the outside or edge of the weld. I doubt any fab shop will us it to make bumpers. I'd stick with mild steel like the bumper vendors.

 

Mild steel will work just fine and will be a lot cheaper.

If you have ever tried to drill AR400, you won't want anything to do with it.

 

I have not tried to drill it. I've never worked with it before, but a guy at the fab shop told me ar400 is strong as hell and might be worth looking in to. It's starting to sound like more trouble than it's worth, though. Thanks for the input!

 

I'm thinking your fab shop has a bunch on hand but no buyers. Probably a special order deal that fell thru.

 

Makes sense.

 

Ar400 is used for its wear resistance because it's surface hardness is so tough. My first question is WHY would you want a winch plate made of this? What benefit does it offer you?

When you end your post with I am new to metal working my first reaction is to roll my eyes. We all started somewhere once so don't be discouraged. By trying to over engineer things when you are starting out usually ends with realization that simple is usually better. I would strongly suggest once you get the basic design sorted do a cut list and figure out the surface area so you can determine the weight of the whole thing. 1/4" plate gets heavy real quick. You might just build it and then realize a diet is needed.

Geometry is your friend. I would spend more time figuring out how to build strength where required with geometry rather than doing it with thickness. Some areas will require thickness so use it where needed and save weight in other places. In many places I wouldn't use thicker than 1/8" and even then Swiss cheese them and use dimple dies for strength.

Winches are HEAVY. Synthetic rope sure changed the world and lightened stuff a ton but a winch is still heavy and then you haven't even added it to your bumper. You may just lose your mind once you realize the weight of everything you have envisioned.

 

This is a low profile bumper, so it's pretty small. It's only replacing the middle section at the bottom of the stock bumper right above the skid plate. The 1/4" part will be where the winch bolts on and where it connects to the frame. 3/16" seems to be the industry standard as far as the actual "face" of the bumper. That's what basically every Jeep bumper is made of. Other than the gussets, I'm not sure where 1/8" could be substituted.. It needs to be able to take a beating! And yes, I will be using synthetic rope.

The reason AR400 got my attention was that I did some reading on a rock bouncer forum, and some of those guys were using it to make skid plates on their buggies because of it's resistance to caving in when hitting rocks or stumps or whatever they threw their rigs at. My roommate's ranchand has a huge dent from hitting a pig, and I don't want my brand new fancy bumper to dent like his when I go out and use it.

Based on what yall are telling me though, I'm gonna go with mild steel. It seems like the better option.