DIY Armor and Accessories

Thanks dude! I was getting tired of the stock chrome one so I solved that problem real quick...

It's the stock one painted black, 1/8" perforated stainless 16g, and the letters I cut out on a bandsaw (16g mild steel) then tack welded bolts to the other side to bolt to the mesh grille.

Rad! I'm a mechanical engineer myself, but the rare breed that has sandpaper hands.

 

So school started back up so everything else in my life gets put on hold, only been able to research. But thanks to school I will be using part off my tax return to buy a tube bender. After some research I'm leaning toward the jd squared model 3. My question is can I get away will just one die?? (I will spend the extra $) to get the 180 degree die. But will I need different radii ?

Again goal is sliders, rear and front tube bumper using 1020 Dom 1.75 x .120 wall

 

Also got lucky on Craigslist and found a black softtopper for $75, had to cut some holes in the Bedliner but looks great!

 

Your work is beautiful and you could easily sell your rear or front bumper that you make to many of us

 

how'd you do the rear bumper? looks like square tube with a round tube running across the top for the swing out, how big is the square tube if thats what you used? I just picked up a 6' piece of 6"x2" and I'm starting to think it might be too small (width wise)

 

Where the hell are these softoppers for 100 bucks or even 200 bucks???? I need one. I think my ferver for the old soft top FJ40s is why I love the softoppers so much.

 

I just got lucky, the Craigslist ad had no pic and a lot of misspellings, I thought it was to good to be true and something had to be wrong. But at that price I had to give it a go. Turned out the seller was moving and needed it gone.

 

If you end up wanting to get rid of it, hit me up first!! I call dibs!

 

Big city craigslist

 

I'll have to look outside of SLC, I guess. At that price point, paying for shipping wouldn't be unreasonable.

 

Not selling any time soon. But I'll keep that in mind.

 

Use searchtempest and set a radius

 

Thank you for the kind words!

I went with a 5"x3" rectangular tube for the body of it. The tire carrier I built about 8 months after building the rear bumper. The pivot is a tubular housing machined to fit a wheel bearing and is fully greaseable.

 

@eon_blue apparently you got ripped off on your softtopper kidding

 

ah thats what box rocket used too, shoulda gotten the 3x5 but the 2x6 was all they had at the steel place I frequent..

 

My drive wasn't 6 hours either, I'd say about 6 mins

 

Back to the task at hand...
does anyone have experience with the jd^2 model 3 tube bender?
Ive noticed the woodward Fab is simular in design but im not to sure about quality.

 

Just placed and order for a bender, went with the jd^2 model 3 and 1.75, 5.5 radii 180 degree die
Next buy is a chop saw

 

After playing around and cutting some tubing with an angle grinder, I decided a chop saw is the way to go



Also picked up the trail gear bumper mount plate. Thanks again @roosterburm
Love the mounting points and ease of bolting a bumper to the frame.




jd squared bender came in. Not fully assembled yet. I can't wait start bending!




The only thing left on the shopping list is a notcher and hole saw. After that I'll be ready to roll.

As of right now, ive spent a pretty penny on tools. So I've decided to expand my project.

1) sliders
2) front bumper
3) rear bumper with tire carrier swing out
4) skid plates
I've come to the realization that this list is guna continue to grow so I'm just going to start.......a build thread

 

Good luck with your chop saw I would not take one if you gave me a new one .