probably going to start building my own bumper monday

100 for one of those hid lights is not that bad.

ok got a lot done today, started with some shopping bought some decent size D shackles turns out 1/2 inch the largest size that lowes sells looks tiny, so got some 5/8 inch from a tractor supply store by my home. next a quick trip to wal-mart for some cheap 4 inch lights, at some point i will stop being cheap and buy some nice ones right now money is tight.

 

first up here is a newish sheet of 1/8th plate, nice find at the scrap yard. she is heavy by yourself got me thinking wonder what the bumper is up to? im guessing 110.


little drawing and cut out for a brace that will be welded in to hold the D shackles and support the front face of the bumper.

 

some matching cuts in the front of the bumper.


so it wont look rediculious i welded another piece of 1/8 on each side of the brace, it took what felt like for ever, these are really really solid.

 

and here they are in the bumper, you cant see it but to the right they attach to the mount that is bolted to the frame. solid.


and here we go.

 

Wow I didnt check this thread for a few days and your bumpers already done! Looks great man nice job!

 

the other brace going in sorry i dont own a camera, these are all from my phone.


with both of the D rings installed

 

and now the skip plate, now that im sitting here i can clearly see that i wont be able to remove the bolts holding the bumper on im an idiot. Going to have to drill some big holes with that hole saw i bought today (it was expensive and i barrowed a much stronger still old looking drill)


After that skidplate, the under wings were next on the list

 

and another front shot.


Thanks everyone for the props and im still days away from being done, im really nervous about the drilling the big holes part, i really dont see this going well esp the ones in the side for the lights. and i still have to go find some blinkers. then welding all the seams up, (ill put a few pictures of my best welds up . and finaly grinding before i send it off for powder coating going toyota black its like a simi gloss with a light grit in it my sliders are in this and it looks great.

 

I was going to ask about the welds. So you are going to take it down, weld the seams from the inside, and then grind off all the tack-welds right? Then I'd imagine its wire-wheeling the crap out of the thing and getting it painted?

 

you have to weld the front of it, i do this with a slow wire speed and a hot weld so that i dont have to grind much, then it will be welded on the inside every other inch or so. this will all be done slowly so that the bumper will not be warped, the first bumper i built when i welded it warped over 1/4 of an inch i was way to hot with the welds. then i will use a grinding wheel to smooth everything out and make it look like its one piece. thats why some of the very little gaps you see now will not be a problem in the end.

Feel free to ask any questions i will be happy to answer, to the best of my abilities.

 

if yall all seem to lack this much faith is 1/8th inch steel how do yall feel about our frames? im really worried about this bumper coming off my frame, or the frame breaking/streching not so much worried about the bumper.

 

looking good! Where abouts in Alabama?

 

roll tide, im in birmingham and tuscaloosa. u?

 

Usually between Montgomery, Auburn, and Huntsville/Scottsboro.

 

Your gonna finish weld all this right?

 

yeah im going to finish weld the outside then grind it to smooth so it looks like one sheet. and i will weld the inside the tack welds are so that it will stay in shape when i do start welding and not warp out.

 

Looking great!

 

im not being offensive at all, this is why i hate the internet no one can tell when people are being offensive. the only reason i welded the 3 plates together was so that the D rings wont rattle around and make as much noise. most of the strength comes from the single center 1/8 inch plate, which is actualy a little thicker than 1/8 i got it at the scrap yard it was called 1/8. honestly i wont really be pulling with these, due to the winch, i will only be using them when the winch is doubled up and they will only have 1/2 the pull strength on it or to high lift the front end. sorry for the confusion.

 

i would have loved to, i dont have the ability to drill through 1 inch, there is no local machine shop that can do that either. i looked around. it sucks.

 

it's not the press it's the bits they are out of control expensive. those 15$ bits that you can buy at lowes wont touch 1 inch steel. but the next tool on my list PLASMA CUTTER amazing.