so i started making a bumper and this is how far i got so far, i have some 1 1/4 pipe to do the tubing for the rest. my question is if i should cut the angles and weld then or bend it, i know bending looks cleaner just seeing what people think.

 

Are you going to use more than those 4 bolts to attach it?

What thickness did you use?

 

He is going to have it mount into the side of the crossmember as well. so it would be a total of... 8 bolts. 4 in the front, and 2 on either side.


He used 1/4" plate for the main mount.

 

its 1/4 plate that i used, and in this pic u will see where i colored red, there is going to be a strap that goes from the side to the wall across the front and then to the other side, there are also 2 14mm bolts to hold there...

 

 

you need something to keep the cradle from bending those two nuts and ripping them out of the front crossmember.
beef up the xmember, then get another set of nuts above it, to bolt onto it.

I would bend the tube, or do plate. I'm a fan of plate bumpers, tube bumpers look goofy to me.

 

I'm a fan of plate too but i also like my stuff light... so we have a conundrum.

If you do tube i would bend it, it offers more structural integrity, unless you plan on gusseting every joint. Then it will look like something out of mad max heheh

 

He could make it out of 1/8th for the non-structural stuff, and then like 3/16th for the front and sides.
As long as he's not rubbing it up against the back of cars (like me), then he won't have problems.
Besides, more weight is better on the front of an IFS rig. More specifically, it keeps both tires on the ground.

 

Are you using a wire feed or stick welder?

 

its a wire feed, from harbor freight... but i do have access to a real welder too. just been using what i have at home.. reason im going with tube is i like the look of the badland bumpers so im going with something like that, but i also want to make it my self.

 

Try turning your wire speed up a little bit on the overheads.

 

its all the way up to 10 but spatters and sometimes doesn't weld when the wire hits the metal. kind of sparks and spatters a lot.

 

Oh thats a bummer. Just thought i would offer that because i've found that quite a few people have a misconception about wire speed.

 

i just need to get a real welder and not the cheap one i have,

 

A poor welder always blames the welder for the bad welds.

I will give you the benefit of that excuse this time.

You might want to round off those sharp corners

 

That may be true most of the time, but it is also completely true that good Weldor or not, a great welding machine makes being a good welder so much easier. Even a great Weldor can' make up for a POS machine.

If you are on a budget and will be welding anything 1/4" or better, try the Lincoln AC225. Its a bomproof classic design stick welder. Its the welder that I learned on.

Definately beef up the front crossmember. Padgett Fabrication builds a great Front Crossmember kit. Its made lasercut, CNC formed from 1/4 plate, and uses 4 bolts in the front, and 6 bolts on the bottom. There is also a receiver option for the front. Heres one mounted on my 87.





Please note, the pictures shown was the prototype. The production part is lasercut and CNC formed.

 

Don't winch off that as it won't hold and you'll mess up your truck and/or kill someone.
This welds have no penetration and are attached to sheet metal for the most part. Cut it off and start over with a "real" welder, whether that be the machine, the person or both.

:wabbit2:

 

Indeed.

 

X2 I agree with Wabbit. Try again.

 

where is a good winch point then? i plan on adding to the side mounts for it , and also adding something that comes from bottom side of the frame and goes to it.... point me in the right direction if im doing it wrong.