Got a barely used 110 mig welder recently. Was thinking about fabbing my own step bars for my "vertically challenged" passengers, and to be honest, it just sounds like a fun project. Soooooo.....

I'd like to make these myself. I just want step bars, not sliders, it's a 2wd. Strong enough to hold two adults, max, not support the weight of the vehicle. I'd prefer something simple, one long bar with 90's on each end, welded to the frame. Probably powder coat them black and throw some grip tape on 'em.

What "thickness" of steel would you recommend? I'd like to keep them as light as possible, while still sturdy to stand on. The rear portion looks like it would be mated/welded perpindicular to the frame. No problem. The front, however, would have to mount to a part of the frame where it bows in/narrows toward the engine bay. How does one cut/adjust for this?

Can you tell I'm new to this?

 

for starters size of material is really up to you, but that 110V welder is not exactly ideal for strength, its generally for sheet metal so if u choose heavy duty tubeing although the welds may look good they proibly wont have very good penetration.

 

You could probably use 0.120 wall tubing, that makes a fairly strong bar and that welder should be able to handle that thickness. Angle cuts work for the front frame brackets:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...it_HowTo.shtml

 

It has been made so.

Thanks for the advice, all!