I finished building my front bumper though still will add a tube from the stinger hoop down to either corner of the bumper near the headlights and also something on the underside which will go from the corner of the bumper hoop down to the frame rail. I bought Auto Zone LED turn signals and made brackets to mount them to existing bolt holes I found at the radiator support.

Originally I was going to use box tubing and a winch set up, but figure I am going to do an ARB locker soon so if I still need a winch I will bolt on a front reciever.

So a week ago I was up my friends garage and I eyed the roll cage hoop that we took out of his 69 Camaro (we had replaced his entire cage).

I took his old hoop, sectioned in 18 inches in the middle to get it to be the right width, then added the stinger which I bought from a roll cage company along with two other pieces of tubing which will be used when I add other tubes to the bumper.

This is what I figure it cost me:
-$55.00 for stinger hoop and 2 four foot sections of tube (which will soon be added)
-FREE roll cage hoop that was to be scrapped
-$15.00 paint cost
-$20.00 LED turn signals
-Whatever the electricty, stainless hardware and welding supplies cost - which I already had on hand
-$12.00 piece of 1/8 inch scrap aluminum which I bought at the salvage yard and serves as a skid plate /brush plate. Eventually I will do something else which will work with the factory skid plate as well - not sure what I am going to do

So about $112.00 I have a front bumper

This also gave me the opportunity to snip down the bars on the safari rack that originally bolted to the front end which Heath (and others including myself) did not like, didnt work well visually. It had been function built to transport surfboards. I now have braces into the cowl panel and it works well, I may make new braces, or add light mounts into them in the area of the windshiel, but this will wait until spring.

 

 

was going to paint the aluminum plate but then figured hey, this makes it look all radical like a Nissan Xterra, or a Subaru Outback or Volvo Cross Country, I think I will leave it.

 

 

dont those lights in that spot ruin the point of the stinger?

 

I was thinking the same thing. You'll wreck your lights before the stinger sees any use, won't you?

 

yeah they are cheap lights

if they get jammed up, that is fine but I do want to make hoops to jet out in front of them, to protect them etc

bumper will still have stuff added, as mentioned, the other thing I was thinking, is bolting in a plate, to kick them back

 

The purpose of most stingers is to provide radiatior and engine protection in a roll. How do those lights get in the way?

 

The stinger protects the radiator in a roll and also is supposed to help with end-over-end rolls if it is supported properly.

Bumper looks much better than the brush guard tim. I am so happy to see those support bars gone!

I would suggest supporting the side with braces diagonally to the frame in case of a side corner impact.

 

Only the really really long ones help to prevent endos.

I'm just saying, the guy really doesn't need to go to all the trouble of moving his lights after doing all that work.

Looks good, but the Safari look it had with those bars from the rack was pretty cool.

 

I will be doing that Heath - that is one of the upgrades that is planned

Also not sure what to do on the top side,,,,

I will post a pic of my idea

thanks for the feedback

 

my concern with this is blocking the headlights,,,

what do you guys think?

 

P.S. Heath secretly loves the brush gaurd, he just sent me a PM wanting to buy it!

oh also P.S. means 'post script' for those of you who didnt know

 

In my experience, you won't notice any degradation in light from those bars. I've seen many many bumpers that have beams in front of the lights, and no real difference in lighting...

Plus, you have those 4 daylighters, if you are in a completely dark area (only place you'd notice any difference in the light anyway) you can switch those on.

 

I have laid these bars in place and they jet out in front of the daylighters, so it should offer them ample protection

think this is a good look? I think it should make the assembly alot stouter overall

 

More important than the look is that you seriously need support, so yeah, i'd say do it! As is, if you were to have a serious impact in front, i'd worry about your stinger bending in.

 

look is definitely secondary

just didnt want to block the headlights at all if you guys thought that would be an issue

but I guess it really wont be

 

ric's bumper has bars like that, I haven't heard him complain about the lights...

 

Don't sweat the lights. The biggest aggravation I had was reflection on the backside of the bumper bars.

What does that attach to?

I think the lights on the roof will be more of a factor in the endo than the stinger.

 

what does what attach to?

the tube bumper itself is welded right to the front frame

is that what you mean?