i'm looking for ideas on:
1-mounting a winch
2-covering everything up
3-shackle points





thanks,
Jason

 

any ideas?

 

my build-up

 

1. use cardboard mockups for starters (saves time and material in the end)

2. mount winch low as possible w/o losing precious approach angle
3. mount winch on the front cross member you have there which is the strongest since it's mounted to your bumper.
4. mount shackle hangers on the same plane as the frame.
5. access to tube benders? if yes try to build some hybrid stuff.

good luck

 

i have a pipe bender, and already f-up'ed one piece, the bender sucks, but i'm worse. tomorrow i'm getting some 45 and 90 weld "L's", i'll come off the top tube with 45's at both ends, then 90 at the corners.

 

any more?

 

Are you using pipe in your pipe bender or tube in your pipe bender?

 

pipe, sch40

 

i ran into a problem, i want to cover up the right and left sides with sheet metal, but my welder just burns through it, any ideas on how to finish this up. i want to mount turn signals on the sheet metal

 

What kind of welder do you have? If you have a mig welder which is the most common you can weld that sheet metal if you turn your heat down real low and use a fair amount of wire it wont look pretty but it will make a bead and hold the sheet metal you will just neet to take a grinder to it afterword so it will clean up real nice. Good luck

 

its a mig, and i had the heat on the lowest setting, i tried some left over 3/16" its alot more work, but it will work(i think)

 

looking good

I am about to fab my front, on my 97 4 Runner

 

try adjusting the heat as people mentioned

but if worse comes to worse, maybe hit up a local welding shop to spot weld the sheetmetal panels fabbed up

might be worth paying the 50 bucks or whatever, to help the finished work come out real nice

if it were me, (I am pretty experienced - have various welders)

I would do it myself, god knows, the first stuff I fabbed wasnt the best!

maybe practice on the same sheetmetal and tubing - stuff that isnt part of your bumper project, then once you lay down some nice beads, weld on your finish sheetmetal work

 

You'll have to stitch weld it. Hit the trigger. Weld for 0.5-1 sec. Stop. Let cool for a second. Repeat.

 

thats my problem, i was holding too long, i'm still a beginner at all this, this is my 3rd project, but i'm getting better.

 

finally finished

 

what do you all think?

 

looks pretty good, how about some better shots. 3/4 view, etc. its kinda hard to see what it actually looks like.

 

i'll redo the skid when i'm ready for a winch, it sticks out further than i would have liked, but it's just there to protect my radiator and tranny cooler for now

 

i would think that skid would need some extra bracing behind it to be effective... ???
is that in the works for when you re-do it? your planning on just using the stock recovery points im assuming?
the rest looks pretty sweet though.