BLACKnBLUE's Rear Bumper Build

INTRODUCTION
​

While there are several things that I have already done to my 2007 Indigo Ink, Double-Cab, Short-Bed Taco, this is the first "big" project I have undertaken.

So far, I've installed spacers (3" front and 1 3/4" rear), blacked out the wheels (which were stock), blacked out the headlights, installed an aftermarket roof rack, and installed an ARB front bumper.

Sometime ago I backed into another car. And since have been waiting for the "right" time to fix the damage (mainly on the rear left corner--bumper and quarter panel). I had looked at several of the aftermarket bumpers that are available, and didn't really find any one that had all the characteristics that I wanted in a rear bumper. So when my buddy since high school suggested that we build our own, I was all for it!

What will follow is an image and description (in chronological order) accounting of our progress thus far (we're still working on it...). Feel free to ask for clarification or additional photos.

Enjoy!

 

Through some well-placed connections, we were able to obtain a healthy amount of (mostly) 1/4" steel. We also obtain a piece of 8"x5' 3/8" steel. Most of this was in the form of one long piece of steel square tubing (with beveled edges). Here, it's getting trimmed down to approximately the length we needed.



Below, you can see that this metal had been exposed to the elements for a little while... nothing that some cleaning won't fix!



Lots of cleaning...

 

Once we knew the exact length of the main piece (which is essentially the distance of the tailgate), we could cut the steel tubing to length.



And to prevent me from cutting my hand (again), we decided to polish the cut edges...



Having the tubing made it really easy to draw on our initial bumper shape, seen below.



Later, I decided to drop the exhaust cut-outs for a future hidden exhaust system. This increased our ability to angle in the sides of the bumper. In hindsight, I'm really glad I made this decision.

 

That is a massive piece of steel lol. Can't wait to see what you guys turn it into.

 

To save on weight and to increase the amount of usable material, we opted to cut-off the back of the square tube/bumper. This material will be needed for the license plate cut-out or in-step (whatever you want to call it...) and for the side pieces. (We plan on wrapping the bumper around all the way to the wheel well)




(Just slightly magnetic...)

Next step? Cut-out the bottom of the bumper for where it will be angling up and where the license plate will be going (Just bought new license plate lights from ebay today!)


(^^I thought this was a pretty cool picture! )





Needless to say, we've gone through several cutting-wheels. Since this time, I've used both a cutting torch and cutting-wheels. I think I prefer the cutting-wheels. They seems to be more precise and less messy.

 

nice. cant wait to see it finished

 

This was one of our brighter ideas (below). Since then, we've forgotten who initially came up with the idea, but in any case... We cut out the space for the license plate, and dropped the top piece straight down. The combination of the two beveled edges creates a nice curve. There will a picture of this later, but here, you can see me holding what was the "top" of the steel tube on the bottom of the cut-out space. It's gonna look sweet!




You may be noticing at this point that the bumper is warped. This was something that I didn't consider or know about working with metal. Either the metal's natural "grain" or the heat generated from cutting (or both), caused the metal to warp, quite substantially. We'll be taking some measures to correct this later down the road...

 

pass me the popcorn!!

 

nothing better than making your own bumper. good job man

 

Man i think this is going to be a great looking bumper. I have built a lot of bumpers in the last 20 yrs and have had this happen a few times. Dont worry about the bowing, you can get it to straighten back out. 1 way to minimize the bowing is before you cut out a big section like that is to weld a stiffiner brace across the area you are cutting out. once you weld your pieces back in you can take a torch and wash the weld off the stiffiner brace and grind to smooth everything back out. Keep posting the pics of the progress. BTW I may be getting some ideas here......

 

subscribed!! good job

 

That looks awesome so far. Keep it up! Predrilling for any reverse lights?

 

Eventually, that's the plan. Probably located in each corner so they actually shine where the side mirrors look... go figure. But anyway, yeah. But I haven't figured out exactly what lights to use yet. I just want to be able to mount them flush, so it looks manufactured that way--know what I mean?

I've been looking at trailer lights and those rock-crawling LEDs that are super bright...

 

A little clarification may be in order. For those of you following along, much more progress has been made thus far, but I am adding additional photos and corresponding info in small packets/groups. Currently, the entire back section in done minus lighting/mounts/fixtures. What remains to be done are the side pieces.

The below picture shows attaching that "license plate bottom" piece that I was trying to describe. I'll let the pictures show what I can't describe with words...


^ Here, you can see Chris using a C-Clamp bring that 'bottom piece' into alignment for tacking.

^Tacking the other side...

^And finally... welding it on.

^Now welded in place!

^Here you can see the attached lower section. This picture also shows the side pieces attached and after some grinding has been done to clean up the lines.

 

Coming along nicely......cant wait to see a finished product on the truck

 

nice build