1st Gen Bumper Design

Yep. There is a write up somewhere on how to do it. You make a hole in you drl and just put the turn signal bulb up there.

 

So I have done some FEA on a few of the components of the bumper. Specifically the few that you all have brought to my attention. The mounting bracket is made from 1/8, and if a winch is used regularly I would personally recommend welding the bumper to the frame but with that in mind I did my simulation acting like it was bolted on. The important thing to not in all of these pictures is the scale of the displacement to the right of the part.

Just to put my tests into perspective it takes about 1,000N to lift around 200lbs of weight. So I tested the mounting bracket with 2,000N of force acting on two of the faces, to simulate maybe a sideways force. The part deformed approx. 1mm. Then I tested the logo portion of the bumper with an excessive force of 10,000N and the max deformation was around 3mm.

 

Looks sweet man. I've work with CAD before, during those test are pretty neat for something you are actually building!

And I wouldn't weld it on there, there will probably be more then one time it will need to come off. And do you think the stock number mounts will support it? Is that what you were thinking about bolting it too?

 

Yea that's the plan right now. Once I get into it I might see it would be worth while to add some more support. But I plan on using some grade 8 hardware for it. Do you think that'll be good? What did you do to mount yours?

 

I'm not 100% sure, bit since it was made to just hold a regular number and not a plate one with a winch... I would think you may want to do it different or at least brace it. I qould rather have it too stout, then not stout enough. On my 96 which is the same front end as yours. We had a piece like this |_ , the bottom was bolted where the tow hooks are and the | part was up against the end of the frame. Not sure if there was a bolt there or not. Too bad I don't have a pic... I could get you one but I'm at college.

In your test though it's seems everything will hold up well

 

Here is the mount on my current truck, its a 98… and some more bumper pics.

 

Ok that makes sense, I am adding an additional cross member in to hold it in place. It probably wouldn't hurt to use some extra bracing. I really like the looks of you rear bumper too! That's next after this front one.

 

Yea go to my build thread and I shows how we built them both. After doing it though I wouldn't make it so deep. Like the top part where you step is like 7 inches. And it looks a little funny sticking that far away from the truck. But I'm happy.

 

Just wanted to reach out again to ask all your opinions. I am thinking of switching to the Toyota trucks logo on the lower bumper. This will allow for a stronger bumper but also have some visual appeal. What do you all think of this design? I am looking to cut it out this next week.

 

I vote yes. It would look sweet!

 

So I have pulled the trigger and started fabricating the bumper. I've included some images. I'm think of spraying black monstaliner on it. I'm having trouble finding some information on how to reduce the monstaliner down to spray it. If you guys have any info on how to spray monstaliner let me know! Thanks!

 

Thoughts on adding a square cutout for the fog light location in future designs?

 

We sprayed my whole truck including my bumpers. Im pretty sure it will tell you in the directions. Monstaliner sells a reducer

Oh and bumper looks sweet! I like how you put the center part angled on on the sides instead of out. I was going to do this but decided to follow the lines on my grill.

 

Yea I could change it to square cutouts pretty easily.

And thanks! Are you happy with the durability? Im thinking I can make due with just a quart size rather than buying a whole gallon. Do you think a quart would be fine considering your experience spraying it?

 

Hmmm I'm not quite sure. My dad actually did the spraying cause I didn't want to screw it up lol. I would have to ask him. I think it kinda depends on how thick you put it on. How you spray it can change the texture and stuff too. My truck is pretty smooth while the bumpers are rough. I would suggest getting there good primer as well.

The durability is great as far as my experience goes. I had a 96 with a custom built bumper and Monstaliner and it's held up fine for 2 years.

 

To be honest I really don't think it needs to by thinned out to be sprayed but I'm not sure.

 

I'm not a huge fan of plate bumpers, they're just not my cup of tea.

However, the rest of your truck I'm a huge fan of hahaha.

One think I've noticed, is that most winch-ready bumpers use 1/4" for the main mounting plates and winch cradle. Something to ponder. Offering or adding provisions for 2x2 LED pods in the fog light openings would add appeal.

Make the bumper unique. That's what will help you stand apart from the crowd. Study the soft body lines of the taco, and try to incorporate those into the bumper.

 

Ahhhh ok thanks! I'll check it out.

I built the winch plate and extra cross member mounts/components all with 1/4" material, so hopefully that will hold up. And I think my nitch would be the ability to customize. I can change the design to a lot of different things. So square holes rather than round. And also images or logos I can add too.

 

I'm also working on a new grille. Hopefully it will add to the bad-ass factor.

 

Ah, gotcha. I though it said 1/8" for the whole thing.