type of metal for bumpers
 

i have access to a mig weld and i have been toying with the idea of making bumpers for my 4runner. for now i am just going to do some practice welds.

my girl friends brother welds parts for nuclear reactors and he says he can source the metal for me. but when i say "steel" he says "what kind?" im sure there are very specific alloys that he is working with and he wants to make sure he is getting me the right stuff. Is there a specific/proper name for the type of plate/tube everyone uses? thank you YT.

nothing special needed for bumpers just regular hot rolled plate which i think the technical classification would be A 36?

Why not use aluminum? I know welding is tougher and kinda hazardous. The benefits would:

lighter weight
more resistant to corrosion

I think for the tube bumpers and sliders, DOM (Drawn over mandrel) or HREW (Hot rolled electric weld) is mostly used.

when i go to build my front bumper i want to use DOM tubing, but im not sure what sizes and thickness's would be the best???..

im thinking like 1 3/4" but idk how thick it should be to be fairly stout..

of course its going to have lots of bracing

For when I go to fab my rear bumper, new flatbed (look at my avatar and you'll see why I'm building a new one), and roll cage this winter I am going to be using structural grade HREW 2" by 0.125" (1/8) thick square tubing for attaching the bumper, and framing the bed, 2" dia. by 0.25" thick round for the headache bar (I think it's called a headache bar, all the new terminology is giving me a headache at least.) and some smaller round tube for the rest of the cage. Grade A36 hot-rolled steel plate for the gussets. I have a big piece of random hot-rolled C channel that's going to be the actual bumper. I'd use DOM if I could find it cheap, I find it easier to weld (I'm a mediocre welder at best so don't quote this), but the local metal supply only does cold and hot rolled and DOM is an expensive order-in. HREW is pretty strong stuff, I have an uncle who built a huge road trike (V6-something, beefed up motorcycle front-end, and at least half a ton of steel tubing, it's about 12 feet long, JD tractor seats :hillbill:. I'd ask him for pictures, but just seeing it gives me nightmares for a week.) out of it. For the bed decking itself though, I'll be using oak (or pine if the frame is too heavy, though I may replace the stock leaf springs) planks, but that's for a thread I'll have to post when I go to do all this.

Hope this newb helped.

Nope, A 36 is a hardened tool steel. any 10 series steel is plain carbon HR plate

Only 5 years old I would hope they got it figured out

People seem to get most metal specs all messed up

1.5 by 4 inch rectangle tubing works great for a bumper/winch mount.