Chaplain

Getting a rear bumper on the FUNrunner has long been overdue and has become a huge need for my surf safari and prerunning/race-chasing activities down in Baja. There are two major/serious reasons why the need for a real bumper; 1)I need to be able to carry a full size spare and 2)I need to make room for a fuel cell where the OEM spare is. Too many times the FUNrunner has all but made me walk from running out of fuel. For those of you that haven't ventured south of the boarder; gas stations are few and far between, when you do find one there is a good chance it will be closed or out of fuel. Not fun being stranded without gas in Baja at night.

To accomplish this build I turned to Steve Eagan of C.B.I. Fabrication out of Idaho Falls Idaho http://cbioffroadfab.com/. I have seen Steve's work up close on the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series Bully-Dog pace truck that I ride in. He fabricated the bumpers and rear cage for that truck and it has served well bombing through the short-course jumps so I figured his work would be more then sufficent for the FUNrunners duties as a race-chasing prerunner.

We started by tearing off the old tow hitch and bumper. (hitch for sale)


Then fabrication started on the bracing for the future bumper and swinger.


Progress seemed slow, but I'm sure tomorrow will look more promising.

Our priorities in this build are to fabricate a performance/duty oriented bumper that is lean, high-clearance but still stout enough to carry needed items (spare tire, fuel jug, jack and breaker bar). I told Steve I didn't want some land-anchor that was all for show and not for go.

Stay tuned to see what we come up with as we are currently slaving away in the C.B.I. Shop. Any constructive input is always welcome.

Fink

Subscribed.

Fink

Elton

looks promising

BigBluePile

iTrader: (3)

Sweeet!

dannomite

Right on. Mine took me and my buddy about 18 hours one day to build.

Chaplain

Good thing Steve has little elves working for him because somewhere between midnight and 6am some progress was made on the bumper. Not sure how that happened. Notice the inside bracket to add to bumpers support and still allow it to be "bolt-on".

Chaplain

More progress made:
To reinforce the frame, bumper and receiver hitch a cross brace was installed from inside frame rail to rail.



Things are moving along nicely and sliding the bumper skin on there you can see what direction Steve is moving. I can't wait.


For an added option a glove-box is added, Steve calls it the "bumper-box." It ate up a lot of time bending the folds but I think it will be awesome storage for a wet muddy tow strap or just security for the hitch receiver pin inside.


Hey, every pastor needs a holy bumper...

Chaplain

Bumper box welded in with lid, turned out real clean and flows well with the rest of the bumpers lines. Very cool!



Now for the fun part, getting the sides and corners put together.

dannomite

Starting to remind me of my bumper.

Chaplain

Off the truck ready to be welded up and a jig made so the rest of you can have one toooo.

Chaplain

Getting close just need to get the tire swing built, painted and installed. Steve's craftsmanship and welds are so good it was hard to cover it up with paint.

michalik_piotr

grt looking bumper! How much $$ for the off the shelf ones modeled after yours??

ADH8796

I'll take one too please!

TinMan

Can you post the thickness of the steel used in the various places? looks like 1/4" for the frame brackets, and maybe 1/8" for the skirts on the side of the rear quarters. how thick for the frame reinforcement square tube, and the deck plate.

Thanks

Chaplain

DONE, Whohoooo!!

Bumper turned out awesome and I'm VERY pleased with the shops quality craftsmanship; they have a lot of pride in the products they are putting out there. Many many many thanks to the crew at CBI for their countless hours spent pounding this bumper out and making a jig for everyone else to have one. It was an honor to GET to work along side in the CBI shop, special thanks for all the patients you had with a preacher cutting, welding, and grinding. I learned a bunch and still have all my fingers.

This bumper is designed to be "bolt-on", outside of drilling a couple extra 9/16" holes and asking the neighbor for some lifting help it fit perfect.



Show & shine:


Dimple dies to give it a little race flavor and of course add to the structure rigidity.


Steve can lay down a nice bead that's for sure. I saved a few of them before he ground them off smooth. I guess some people like the seamless smooth look, but not I when the beads look this good(picture doesn't show well).


Just the right amount of space. I like how the shop caps the ends to give the bumper a factory/finished appearance and strength.


Form follows function. This is a stout bumper.



I'll take some pictures of the tire rack when I get it on, but for now I'm off to Farmington NM for WERock's rockcrawling finals.

Chaplain

I'll get back to this one because I want to varify with the shop and not misquote the guage's used. You are right that there is a mixed use in the build.

nc994run

That looks great, would definitely be interested in one

TinMan

Thanks Chaps, I understand if the CBI holds some information close.

Your bumber is spot on, functional, durable, and not overly heavy. And dang good looking.

I have been thinking hard about what I want on the front and rear of our 85 and 87. The bumper that CBI built for you is pretty much exactly what I had in mind. Even started to draw a few that were similar.

Have been working hard at putting a decent garage together since returning from Japan in June. I figure that while I am saving the money for the high dollar parts and rebuild, I can spend some time fabricating bumpers and sliders.

BTW, my cousin is a Chaplin for RFC. Northern KY circle track. Never hurts to have a Chaplin in your fighting hole.

God bless

wormhole

Nice.......price??

Do you know if ther are going to build anymore?

Chaplain

YES! The whole idea was to build one that could be re-manufactured and easily mounted on any 3rd Gen. Part of the reason the build took so long was building the jig as well. CBI is ready to take orders and I believe they will be priced out at $600ish (without the bumper box and exhaust cutout)