Just bought a 91 4x4 22re short bed a few weeks ago. got it running good and now i want to do some upgrades. It has a really strong back bumper made of two pipes welded together. I want a push bar w/ lights but dont have 250 bucks for it. was thinking of taking stock bumper off and making a new one out of 3/16 in. half channel??(I guess thats what its called) or should I use tubular steel? I don't do much off roading but the bumper is a little crooked and the metal skirt under it is bent up. ( the guy I got it from used the truck for hunting) I dont want nothing huge. no winch. and going to weld brackets and two pipes for the push bar look and mount lights on lower bar. Any suggestions would be awesome. is 3/16th strong enough and how would I make the mounts strong. was wanting to weld loops for shackles incase I need to pull something how can I make it strong enough for that????? Thanks!!!! I just want to make is look good and be there incase I need it. the most I will probably do is drive through woods.

 

I also want lights on top. dont know if I like the looks of roll bars. was wondering if anyone have made there own light bar for the top. dont want to drill holes in cab but want lights to light up the woods lol. ( is it still spotlighting if you dont have the light in your hands???? im joking) I found a roll bar for 50 bucks on craigslist a while back but didnt get it. do they just mount to the bed or how do they mount????

 

First of all, you want to make sure and get a welder that gets hot enough for that application. 3/16 should be strong enough for what you wantto do, but for pulling I would go with 3/8 in brackets. You can always attach D-rings to the brackets or to the frame. The stock hook works great on the front for pulling, too. As far as a light bar goes, you can either get a roll bar that mounts in the bed or do convert a rain gutter roof rack into a light bar for fairly cheap. Just weld some light tabs on it.