Making homemade bumper. need ideas!

I built a steel bumper a couple years ago over 2 weekends. I built it out of cardboard first than had all the pieces cut on a friends cnc. (Lots of cbi influence, I live in north west Canada so it was WAY cheaper for me to build my own mainly due to shipping costs) it turned out pretty good but with our winters up here and the salty roads I was unhappy trying to keep it rust free. So my 2nd one is aluminum more photos on my build thread

 

Super job! The bumper looks outstanding!!!!

 

thats SO awesome! how long did it take? was it much more difficult than steel?

looks incredible!

 

It took me about 24 hrs. I did it over 2 weekends. The CNC probably saved like 8hrs of cutting, so that was a bonus. Steel is definitely easier for a DIY. My friend welded the aluminum one for me.

A couple pointers would be to tack on some braces, and weld it in small sections to eliminate warping.

And thanks!

 

whatd you have on your steel bumper for a coating?

 

I used self etching primer and than a rattle can bed liner. I was not very happy with how it held up. It’s probably worth getting it powder coated, unless you don’t mind taking it off and touching it up every couple years. Another cheaper and durable option would be POR 15 and than top coat it with something

 

doesnt powder coat scratch easily? i was thinking of getting it linexed or rhino lined, but it would be expensive

 

Pretty much all the high end armour you see out there is powder coated. Rhino liner is tough and if done right would last a very long time. A lot of people don’t like the texture. It also seems to get dirty very easy because there is so much texture for dust to grab onto. Totally personal preference both are good and should last a very long time.

 

sorry for my lack of knowlege but whats the ballpark for the cost of getting a bumper powder coated?

 

I can second the bedliner gets dirty fast and it's hard to clean the mud off. If i had it to do again I would just rattle can it and be done

 

Here is a link to my bumper build. It's for a 1st Gen, but much info can be applied to any generation.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/tacoma-bumper-build.582211/

 

thank you!

 

Not sure. +/- $300 ish maybe. I’m sure there are others who could give you a proper number. Haha

 

From experience, I think bed liner coating is superior to PC.

If you are married to a shiny, smooth finish, then do PC. If you want ease of touch up and have no issue with a bit of texture then just use paint on bed liner material.

My opinion only. You must decide for yourself.

Note: .An odd thing about the harbor freight beliner paint is it does not harden up in the can. The unused material will still be usable the next year. As long as you don't let it freeze. But that applies to any paint.

 

thanks for the info everyone. greatly appreciated!

 

I believe it would be roughly half of that but prices widely vary....

 

It depends on the powder coat itself. For instance, we use a color called bike black which is an extremely glossy black and it "micro" scratches fairly easily. The other blacks we use are tough as nails and don't have that characteristic. Generally speaking, powder coatings are far tougher than wet paint. The down side, as previously mentioned is that when they breach, problems can start.....

 

I believe it might be a little more expensive, but not as pricey as you think...

 

Just a note here, the DIY bedliners aren't the same as the bedliners that are sprayed in a shop...

 

yeah i wouldnt do one of the cheapo bedliners because i havent heard great results. it sounds like ill probably end up powder coating or rhino lining, but it sounds like the rhinoliner can be a pain to clean.