Almost A Bumper
 

Well I have been real busy around work Christmas time in DC sucks the house and senate both working over time to pass bills and budgets before Christmas break.

Anyway with the day off today I did some more work on my front bumper and I am at 4 welds to finish I belive then off to LINE X and I should have me a new bumper.

Any ideas before I finish let me know so I can make the change before sending it out.

Heres a few pics for you all to pick over and apart this is my first attempt to build so let me have it.

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSCN2775.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSCN2767.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSCN2764.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSCN2765.jpg

Looks great! I wish I had the resources to build myself a bumper. There's two things I would change though. One would be, to use a piece of say 2" tube over the top or cut the hoops from the light bar and ditch the main tube. And the other would be remove the lower set of lights or use a smaller light recessed into the bumper.

It's all really just personal preference though. And once again it looks great!

all i would think to add is a skid plate as burly as your bumper.
like tubes that keep the angle going all the way around the lower front axles.

never seen that, and always wanted it on all my cars. so i could (at any height) hit something w/marginal speed, and just roll over it w/out any damage.

looks very good and symmetrical.

that is exactly what i want to build, any idea what it weighs

awesome build you have there.
I really like how it came out
good job
PS its gonna kill your millage

Well I used the light bar for 2 reasons
1. I had it on my stock bumper and did not need to build one and
2. It is removable if I should say decide I don't like it or if I do decide to go with smaller lights it will be quick and easy to do.
Thanks for the in site and compliment on the looking great

Yes I agree and the skid plate is in the research and development stages right now just have to finish the bumper and be sure it's done before I make it and have to redesign it again.
Thanks for the idea and flowers

Not sure on the weight yet but it is all 1/4 steel so I will guess from picking it up that it weights some where around 75-100 lbs without the 8000 lb winch so I am going to guess it will but around 150 lbs total.

If you do build one I would say use something more like 3/16 or smaller for weight and be prepared to make a ass load of changes along the way but its fun no matter how you look at it.

This is the first time I have done anything like this and it was an eye opening experience , nothing like doing it on your own though I would recommend trying it too anyone thinking about doing one it really challenges you and your skills.

I never did any welding or designing on this scale before and it has been a blast to do. I did have one friend help me with the original welding of the bumper but he has a job so since I only have between 11 pm and 5 am to build it he just gave me a crash course on what to look for and then the cutting , refitting , and re welding began.

Thanks hope to have it going out to get LINE Xed very soon to totalily finish it up should look really cool then.
As for M.P.G. I don't get any now (12-16 M.P.G.with 35 x 12.5's and 5.29's 5 speed) so I guess I would even notice it but with any luck the 3.4 super charged swap I will be doing next will help fix that

I'd recess the fairlead into the bumper while still allowing for someway to access it should it need to be repaired. I think it would look better, but the main thing is that would offer more protection. Other than that, muy excellent build.

Well, recess it or just shield it more somehow.

ditch the main bottom bar on the light bar and weld the tubes on top of the bumper

Well I will be useing it to hold my licence plate so it will be hidden and if I don't like that I may go with the halwes lead and see if that looks better but I would think the aluminum would not last to long with the steel cable.

looks great job well done

That bumper turned out great! Only thing I would do is to wrap the receiver end with a 1"x 3/16" flat bar for added strength at the open end. Just like most factory receivers.

yea that is going to happen next just before going out to LINE Xing

i think it looks good.

Overall I like it, I think I remember it from your other build thread. IMO I would get rid of the lower two lights. No protection for the lights and having them down low kind of kills the look of all the work you put into it.

I think that you could cut of the lower main bar of the light bar and use the main hoop and the outrigger on both sides and have it look pretty good...

looks good man but any better pics of the corners? are they rounded or squared off?

Ya the cornors are rounded it was a pain in the ass to bend the 1/4 inch but lot's of heat and patiances payed off in the end. I will get a couple pics of the bends up soon as I can so you can get a look.



http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSCN2369.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSCN2368.jpg

If you have photoshop I would like to see it myself but I don't want to go into it blind . So if anybody can photoshop it for me I would apreciate your doing it for me.

I think that we might have photoshop at work. I will see if I can tweak it tonight at lunch. Do you have a picture of the truck with the bumper on before you put the light bar on it? If you do that might be easier for me to work with. though I suck at photochop...

Hope I didn't sound like a dick, overall I like what you came up with. My welding skills suck.

First of all you didnt sound like a dick to me after all I did ask for opinion before I LINE X it so your right on target. Next heres a couple pics that may be just what you need to play with it.

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSCN2688.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSCN2682.jpg