Trailer-Trash Drunken Bumper Build (aka My DIY H/C Rear Bumper)

I've been meaning to make this thread for a few months. Grab a beer and enjoy the shit-show!

Spoiler: Full Story

I've had my Taco for almost 10 years and have gone through (3) stock rear bumpers and maybe 3-4 brake lights (since the flimsy rear bumper kept getting smacked on rocks and trees and breaking the brake lights in the process).

I've been wanting a high-clearance rear bumper for many years but I'm cheap and reluctant to spend $1000+ on one. I came very close to buying one last year from Billy @ BruteForce - he was going to give me a helluva deal and I've always liked his design and build quality. Then I came across a deal on FB Marketplace that set-in motion a 4-month drunken haze of DIY fabrication madness to build my own rear bumper.

There was an All-Pro Rear Tube bumper listed for $100. The bumper itself was not what I was looking for, but maybe it could be used as a good starting point to build my own. It was hard to tell from the pics, but it was in poor shape and pretty rusty. I messaged the seller and hauled ass through rush-hour traffic after work to pick it up. After seeing it in person, it was apparent the thing was in really rough shape; it had been poorly coated with a bed-liner/line-x type of coating that was cracked and peeling, nasty cancerous scale rust had been eating away the metal under the coating and wasting it away to nothing. I was skeptical if it could even be repurposed. BUT - I enjoy a challenge and I didn't want to waste my 2-hour white-knuckle drive to pick it up. So, I negotiated with the dude and in the bed of my Taco it went, on its way to a better place.

This is what the All-Pro Tube bumper looked like in its heyday (not my pics):



This is the bumper I "rescued". If I could sum-up this entire bumper build in one sentence, it would be "Like putting lipstick on a pig!"

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I definitely needed to drink some beer before starting on this project - and that became the ongoing theme throughout the entire duration of the build; I made it a point to only work on this thing if I had at least (2) beers in my system. Call it justified alcoholism if you want, but for me it was just a way to stay committed and not second-guess every single step of the project. Sure, it may have caused a few stupid mistakes and numerous shit welds, but it really helped me to stay motivated and keep the momentum going.

I got to work trying to see if there was still any usable material under all the rust. I used multiple methods to remove the rust: wire wheels, brushes, air chisels, needle scaler, sand blasting, chemicals; anything and everything. Luckily, most of the rust on the tubes was surface scale and there was still quite a bit of structurally sound metal that I could weld on. It looks worse than it really was, aside from the pock marks and craters left behind. I cut off the side tube sections and center sections (which were completely rusted through) and started planning out the design.





I had a few "requirements" for the build:

1. Re-use as much of the All-Pro bumper as possible; every part of the buffalo.
   
2. Re-use the OEM tow hitch and mount it behind the license plate (for high clearance)
   
3. Re-use the swingout tire-carrier that Mike (@Chickenmunga) donated to "the cause"
   
4. Re-use as much scrap as possible from my scrap pile (3/16" and 1/4" plate from a demo'd mobile-home frame)
   
5. Use a double-shear pivot hinge for the swingout and inset it in the bumper
   *All the swingout designs I've seen have the hinge sticking out from the bumper, making it exposed and more-susceptible to impacts and rendering it useless if damaged*
   
6. Keep the costs down to a minimum.

I purchased a 4xInnovations (@traxman25) Swingout Hinge and Latch kit, which ended-up being the biggest expense for this whole project ($180 for both components). In my opinion, their hinge and latch are the beefiest and most-versatile (DIY) design out there and I was happy to pay a premium for the set. No ragerts!

My plan was to reinforce the tube "skeleton" with some joining plates and gussets in-between the tubes, then weld a plate steel "skin" on the outside along with plate steel wings for the sides. I also kept it in the back of my mind to maybe add a fold-down table and some tube protectors on the sides.

I'm definitely not a professional welder or fabricator by any means, but I've done a few dozen DIY/welding projects and had the help of my brother (who's a certified welder in all processes), so I was pretty confident we could get it built with a somewhat agreeable end result. What I didn't have was a plasma cutter, CNC machine, auto-CAD or any real "fancy" shop equipment make do with what you have - cut off wheels, angle grinders, a portaband, oxy/acetylene torch, tons of cardboard and of course bee-eeer!


After cutting off the side tubes and center plate sections, this is what I used as the basic framework of the bumper:


I (carefully) cut the OEM receiver from the stock frame mounts to start test-fitting it on the "Trailer-Trash" bumper. I would need to invert it (upside-down) in order for it to line up with the hitch receiver cutout on the bumper. After finding the right depth and placement, I cut squares into the 1/4" frame plates on the "Trailer-Trash" bumper to inset and weld it in later.


I cut and notched some 3/16" steel joining plates to weld between the sections of All-Pro tube frame to reinforce it and have additional (flat) sections to weld on the steel "skin" pieces.

Then came the fun part of measuring and cutting cardboard templates (CAD - Cardboard Assisted Design ) to make the outer plate steel "skin" and bedside wing pieces. I wanted to keep the front edge of the wings about 2" short from the fender line, to accommodate future plans to cut the fenders back all around. I also wanted each piece to match the natural angles of the truck, bedsides and brake lights.

I cut the bedsides and started tacking-up pieces of metal while trying to plan for the swingout components and inset hinge. From this point on, it was all a "figure it out as I go" approach to reinforce, gusset, and plate everything in to be as strong as possible.







Initial test-fitting of the swingout clearance. I wanted it to be as close as possible without touching the tailgate.



Reinforcing the corners and adding some beefy Hi-Lift jack points on each corner:



It's coming together!


The skin and wings were pretty much done, so on to the swingout!

Now, I have to digress a bit here and tell you the history of this swingout tire carrier.

My good buddy, Mike (@Chickenmunga), had a H/C Rear Bumper built by one of our mutual friends years ago. During a wheeling trip last year, the swingout tire-carrier sheared off the main pivot and literally fell off his bumper.



Mike was kind enough to donate the swingout to my scrap pile to be repurposed or reused, so I figured it would be a perfect addition to the "Trailer-Trash" bumper. I knew from the single-shear pivot failure that I would need to re-weld and reinforce that hinge corner, so I cut out the old hinge and reinforced it with about 3/4" of steel, and made deep multi-pass welds.

In the process of cutting/welding the new hinge plate, I noticed something odd. The vertical support tube on the swingout (for the tire-mount) was swelling like a pregnant woman, and it was leaking some sort of liquid (?) from a small hole at the top of the of the weld seam. I drilled out the small hole where the "water" was leaking out and let it drain completely.

Hard to tell, but you can see how much the metal had swelled-up and how much "water" had been trapped inside:



A little leakage from a spot of porosity in the upper weld:


After drilling out the hole and draining all the liquid trapped inside:


Now, I enjoy a good mystery as much as the next man, but this was a head-scratcher for my beer-fueled brain. I hypothesized that while I was welding in the new corner hinge-plate, the massive amount of heat transferred through the tube(s) causing that trapped liquid to expand (boil) and balloon the metal tube until finding a tiny weep hole to escape and relieve the built-up pressure. That much made sense to me, but HOW did that much liquid just find its way in there?

I knew that whole vertical section would need to be replaced, so that was next logical step; cut it out and weld a new one in. After I cut out that section I peeked inside to see if I could find the culprit. There was a sickly-sweet smell emanating from the tube, a very familiar aroma that was unmistakable. It was a big ol' clump of chewin' ta'backy!!!



Here's my theory:
While building Mike's bumper, our buddy was using that tube as his spitter. Maybe out of laziness, or perhaps to put his own special "signature" on the bumper. I can only assume that's why there was so much liquid, i.e. chew spit, trapped inside that tube section along with the clump of chaw. As gross as this is, it made me laugh my ass off once I "solved" the mystery. Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled program!

I eventually opted to replace all the tire-carrier tubing with some beefier 2" square tube all around. I also angled the tire carrier to match the lines on the canopy and centered it a bit more to better distribute the load and reduce the shear stress on the swingout and hinge.

Once the tire-carrier was fixed and good-to-go, I got to work installing the 4xInnovations hinge and latch components. This was one of the most crucial and important steps to get right. Since I wanted to inset the pivot hinge to be recessed (and not stick out from the bumper) I spent a great deal of time measuring and test-fitting the thing, over and over again. I plotted out my components and how I was going to weld them in place.

Here's an early pic of the process, planning where to put the 1" latch pin. I had to cut/weld a little recessed pocket for the latch, handle and pin to fit when the swingout is closed. I angled the bottom plate a bit to allow water to drain and not collect or pool up in the pocket.



I repurposed some of the side tubes that I cut off the All-Pro bumper and welded them in as frame-plate support braces for the front portion of the wings.


Once that was done, I had a few other (little) things to button-up on the bumper:

• Make cutouts for my Rigid Backup lights
• Make a cutout for the trailer harness plug
• Test the spring license plate frame
• Test the cheap license plate LED light bolts (since I couldn't easily reuse the OEM lights)

Next, I had the bright idea to use the rest of the tubing (from the All-Pro bumper) to make some side tube protectors. I had a spare brake light that I was using to test-fit the placement and position of the tubes and was feeling pretty good about it. Now, I should have test-fit them while the bumper was mounted on the truck, but laziness and beer clouded my better judgement, so I just welded 'em on there! Fuck yeah!



This was a poor decision on my part. When I went to test fit it on the truck again, the newly added tubes were touching both brake lights and I could barely get the bumper bolted up and actually cracked my pass. side brake light in the process. Oh, the irony...



My quick remedy was to cut the rearmost section off and re-weld it to sit further forward, away from the brake lights. A quick photoshop edit to show my idea:



After cutting that section, I found that still wouldn't clear the brake light enough, so I had to mount them even further forward. I was able to find a good spot and tried to make the lines match to the other lines/angles on the bumper and truck.

Phew! Got them to clear and still provide some protection. End result:


The next step was to finally install and finish welding the hinge and latch components for the swingout. After welding all the pieces in place, I took time to box it all in and cut/grind so it sits nearly flush and matches the angles on the rest of the bumper.




Once the swingout and latch/hinge pieces were done, it was time for some of the final touches:

• Finish welding all the seams and add a few more gussets
• Add some break-away chain mounts for the hitch
• Weld the little slide-plate for the swingout carrier
• Relocate the backup camera
• Add a fold-down camp table on the backside of the swingout(?)
• Grind and clean-up all the welds
• Prep it for POR-15, prime and paint it.

The nylon "skid pad" for the swingout. I had to countersink the holes a bit so the screw would be recessed and not scrape every time it was opened/closed.



One of my favorite parts of this bumper build, even as small and insignificant as it may be. I repurposed one of the "bolt caps" from the OEM bumper to use as a cap on top of the swingout hinge bolt. It fit almost perfectly, so I dumped in some epoxy and let it form/harden overnight on the bolt.



Added some break-away chain mounts on the receiver



Started work on the fold-down camp table. I had a large piece of scrap from an old office desk that was a good thickness and size to work with. It would require a bit of modification, but I wanted to keep the sides in-tact to act as "guards" to prevent stuff from rolling off or falling off the table while in use. When folded up, the table would fit perfectly inside the negative space of the swingout.



Welded on some metal hinges



I welded in some coupler nuts to the inner frame of the swingout, bolted in some wire cable and ran it through holes in the table to act as the supports when the table is down.

Added some split rings attached to some quick-release detent pins to act as "stops" to keep the table in its down position, and the pins would then slide into welded nuts on the swingout to help keep the table closed when upright. I also drilled a hole at the top of the table, cut the head off a 3/8-16 bold and welded the threaded portion in place to use a wingnut to keep it closed. I also added a rubber fender washer on the backside to prevent rattling.



So close to being completed!!!

I fab'd a little camera relocation bracket to weld on the underside of the swingout.



Finally...everything was pretty much completed and ready for finishing!




For the finish, I planned on coating everything in a couple coats of POR-15, then rattle-can prime it, then do a final rattle-coating of Satin Black Rustoleum.

I've used POR-15 on a few other projects and have been very pleased with the results. The prep process is very time-consuming, but essential for good adhesion, longevity and rust prevention.

Cleaned everything then used their acid etchant to prep it for the POR-15


Coated everything with 2 coats of POR-15. After it cured for a couple days, I added a layer of primer on top of the POR-15



After priming it, I did a final coat of Satin Black Rusto on everything (since the POR-15 is not UV stable) so I could easily touch-up the pain after the inevitable dings, scratches and marks.


After that, it was finally ready for the installation!


Now, I have not spent time taking a bunch of "After Install" pics, but I did have the chance to field-test the bumper on a recent wheeling trip immediately after installing it.

I'm happy to report that it survived the shake-down; took some good hits on rocks, the recovery points got some use pulling me off a boulder, and even the side-tubes had the chance to prove their effectiveness while negotiating a tight corner against some trees.

All in all, the bumper is stout as hell and ghetto-fabulous! The total cost for this project was right around $400, but that does not include the cost of all the beer I drank.


WEIGHT! I was very curious what the end weight would be, when all was said and done. I drove to the dump to do a weigh-in prior to installing the new Trailer-Trash bumper.

Original Weight - I did not have my skid-plate (80 lbs) or the receiver hitch installed, so the actual weight would be right around about 6000 lbs.


After installing the Trailer-Trash Bumper:

Net gain of about 140-150 lbs, which is WAY less than I anticipated.

Since I haven't taken any good "After-install glamour shots" I had to steal some pics from my buddies David (@mutilatedjak) and Mike (@Chickenmunga) from our recent wheeling trips to show the bumper in action!








GAG REEL - Some extra pics and funny moments from the build process

I don't recommend using a high-torque 1/2" impact to install the OEM bumper bolts. I broke 2 of them in the process and ended up replacing all of them with new 10.9 bolts.


FUEL!!!!


My pigsty (that I still need to clean up):




Made with pride in the USA


Fly in my beer!!! This little bastard almost ended up in my belly - but I fished him out and finished my beer. I swear he was a little tipsy when I got him out:




Consumables - Just a small portion of the materials I used during this build:




There are still couple (little) things I need to finish/fix on the bumper:

• Fix the Husky Long-John fender-liner mudflaps that I hastily installed as an afterthought.
• Install the stainless steel "glide plate" for the 4xInnovations hinge
• Touch up a couple paint spots that have already been damaged from wheeling

Overall, I am VERY stoked how it all turned out. It took much longer than I originally planned, but that's how it goes with 'by the seat of your pants' -or- 'figure it out as you go' fabrication projects like this.

I will be sure to update the OP once I've cleaned up the Taco and take some better "After Pics".

Spoiler: TL;DR Version

Over the course of a few months, I got drunk and fab'd a high-clearance rear bumper using:

• The "skeleton" of a rusted-to-shit All-Pro Tube bumper
• Scrap metal from a demo'd mobile home,
• A busted swingout tire-carrier from a buddy's DIY bumper
• OEM tow hitch
• Copious amounts of beer.

 

Nice read. Thanks.

How about some pics of your welds? Shy?

 

Thanks man, glad you enjoyed it!

No real close-ups pics of the welds. I was mainly trying to snap a few progress pics here and there as I was working on it.

Here's a couple more I found on my phone.

 

I have seen the welds in person....I can attest to their shittyness!

 

Haven't updated this in awhile. Over a year later and the bumper is still holding up great!

I've done a few little mods to it since the initial install:

• Got the little stainless steel glide plate installed for the hinge pin
• Modified the fold-down table on the swingout so I can use it with the tailgate down -OR- fold down both sides for a bigger surface while the tailgate is closed
• Added a nice little LED light above the table

 

That will be handy as hell!

 

Yup - if anything it makes the table a bit more versatile to use along with the tailgate instead of an either/or situation.