"Homemade" Aluminum 2nd gen front bumper

When I put a front bumper on I’m going Baja amber pods myself

 

I will honestly go with something cheap like

HOUSE TUNING LED Pods 60Watt 3",Off Road LED Cube Light Driving Beam with Wiring Harness Black Amber Cover (Pack of 2)

these because I can’t justify spending so much on lights. I do love the Baja designs S2 pros for ditch lights though. There so small and come in white!

 

So, um.. when can I place an order?

 

Haha idk if I’ll be in the market to start selling. We will see if there’s enough interest and I get all the kinks worked out maybe.

 

this is so sick! im making an aluminum front bumper for mine soon and im torn between tube/hybrid or plate!

any tips as i go into it??

(im just learning to weld, but my buddy is pretty good at it)

 

Fantastic work OP, I'm very jealous.

 

I like the look of the tube hybrid bumpers but have never seen one in aluminum. My guess is because aluminum tube isnt as strong as steel tube.

If you do go with aluminum plate my tips would be keep the material clean of any contaminates and weld in stitches and jump around. Aluminum will pull much more than steel will when going through the heat cycles of welding and cooling. That being said if you make a stitch on the inside make one on the outside in the same spot to keep it from warping back and forth. You can use an air gun to help keep the material cool just blow off the metal not the weld you dont want the weld to cool rapidly.

Thank you! I hope to do soem skids, rear bumper and sliders as well.

 

do you think a steel tube would be much heavier than an aluminum plate? and isnt steel easier to weld anyways?

thanks!

 

Iron will be a 1/3 lighter.

As for ease of welding, that's subjective. They weld the same if you have the proper welding equipment. Most don't have the rigs to weld aluminum.

 

ive got access to both. i love the hybrid front bumpers but tube rears look off to me. probably end up doing alum plate rear and hybrid steel front. thoughts?

 

A aluminum plate front off the shelf from Domello or CBI will weigh around 85lbs is what everyone seems to be saying. A hybrid front out of steel I would guess weigh around the same but not sure of that. Check the 2nd gen bumpers thread it gives some info on all the brands and some people have chimed in with the weight of there bumpers.

Personally I will run a steel rear just because you back into shit or you drag ass (especially in a DCLB) and the rear is going to see more abuse and it will be integral to the reaciver hitch so it'll need to be steel.

 

youve convinced me. ill probably do steel plate even if its heavy, because when i park in the city people wont park close!

thanks for the reply

 

It won't be that heavy. I recommend nothing heavier than 10 gauge. Mine just took out a deer @40 MPH. No damage.

I'll try to find my bumper build thread in a bit.

 

damn im jealous... i hit at boxer (probably like 45-55lbs) at 15mph and my stock bumper is much more fucked than it should be. (dog is ok dont worry) headlight and grill and metal fender are all misaligned. headlight points at ground in front of car now. here are pics

 

Bummer. The front did exactly as it was designed to do, unfortunately.

 

i was much more worried about the dog at the time. the owner is basically a neighbor so i stopped by later to ask how the pup was doing and shes fine. owner offered to pay for whatever damage was done because the owner had let the dog outside with no leash as he went to get the mail so technically his fault, but i couldnt accept it after running over his dog.

i should mention that this was saturday, 2 days after getting the truck.

yup it sucks, but it will turn into a fun project!
do you know if a bumper will affect the airbag?

 

Hmm?. I could have sworn I had my bumper build recorded here. I guess I'll do a bumper build thread instead of bogarting the OP's thread.

 

sorry OP! i forgot that i was hijacking a thread

 

I'm sure it will. To what extent, know one knows. Every accident is different. The dash and wheel air bag are not as important to me as the side curtain, seat and knee bags. The bumper has no effect on those.

I do know they still go off even if you have aftermarket bumper. There is a lot going on with the computer when there is a crash. It has to make lots of decisions. This is a discussion that could turn into a huge topic.

One of my best friend is a police officer and I asked him the same thing. He told me seat belts save lives. Air bags reduce injuries. Good advice. I'll wear my belt and know I have a good chance of staying alive.

 

my dad rolled an 80's cherokee over 2.5 times and survived with only a little scratch because he wasnt wearing a seatbelt and was able to lay flat down (or thrown) instead of the roof crushing him. the lesson i learned from this was more "dont buy a jeep" instead of "wear your seatbelt". regardless, i always buckle up!