Currently, I am bumperless in the rear! :O

I'm planning a bumper build much like some of the ones I've seen on here.

I'm going to go with either 1/8 or 3/16 steel. I called the local scrap yard and to get a 5 foot piece of 3/16 steel is about $57
I know the price of steel, brass, copper, ect has sky rocketed lately but I'm just wondering if that sounds like a good idea to you guys.

Should I go with 1/8 or 3/16??? I would like it to be as heavy duty as possible without lifting the front end of my truck up! Lol. What thickness do most of you guys go with when building a bumper?

 

go with 3/16" minimum IMO you need it to at least serve it's purpose...and $57 for 5 feet of what kind of 3/16??? 2x3 box, 3" channel, 2x2 box, 2x2 angle etc ....you did not say what kind so hard to say if you are getting a decent deal or not...

 

Not sure what size/shape piece of 3/16" steel you are pricing out, but I find the prevailing price in my area for new material is just under $1/lb. Not sure your intended use, but I have found that either material thickness will do the job. 1/8" wall tubing (assuming you are speaking of that shape) will tend to dent a little under trail abuse. 3/16" wall will usually not dent, at least this is what I have seen with sliders. I run 1/4" wall tubing in my rear bumper (2-1/2" square tube) and it has held up fine despite being banged and dragged over all sort of rocks. With brackets, it weighs in about 100 lbs:

 

Oops! My bad!

3/16 thick
4'' square tube
5' long

 

That is about 48 lbs, so you are about $1.20/lb.:
http://www.jimssupply.com/square%20rec_tubing.htm

But not out of price range, especially for a short piece.

 

Thanks 4Crawler!

Do you think 4x4 is square enough though? I know I wouldn't want to go any smaller then 4x4, but would 5x5 be ideal??? What do you think?

 

No idea on the tube size you need.

I went as small as I could and still accommodate 2" hitch receivers inside in order to gain as much departure angle as possible. My old bumper was made out of 5" tall tubing:



http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/4R_bumpers.shtml#Rear

 

Hmmm, I like the look of that!

I'm going to find out if I can get a piece of 4'' wide x 5'' tall x 5' steel... That would look better than just the 4x4 I think...

What are the dimensions of the one you have picture there?

 

I think that old bumper was 3"x5" rectangular tube and I think it was 3/16" wall.

 

Alright, awesome! Thanks for your help! I think I have my heart set on 4x5 right now... I called the local scrap yard and they don't have 4x5! Its a special order item and the shortest piece they can order is 25! Sheesh! I don't need to make 5 bumpers! Lol

Looks like I might be taking my business out of town... oh well!

 

My front bumper is 3/16s thick. That is the minimum if you are welding or bolting on tow points for offroading. 1/8 is just not heavy enough. The frame you are bolting or welding onto is actually thinner than that, so make certain you have alot of attachment points on the frame. You don't want a solid bumper pulling its bolts out of your frame. 4crawler is right, heavier is better if you are going to be abusing it.
Had a bad experience once of bumper coming off due to poor welds, so make sure anything that is going to see heavy yanking/pulling is WELL SECURED and welded properly.

 

By the way, local scrap yard wants way to much money for that piece. They likely paid someone $.08 per pound for that and are trying to rip you off. You could buy that new from a steel dealer for that much. Check out a few welding shops in your area, see if they have scrap they want to sell. They only get scrap price for it, better to sell to you and make more. For $60, they will likely do some welding for you too!

 

I just bought a 5 x1/34 x 3/16 6 feet long piece of "C" channel and 2 feet of 2x3 flat of the same thickness and I had to pay $100 bucks for it. That was the cheapest I could find in the area. The prices ranged from what I paid and up to $118 for the same material.

I don't know much about steel material but I was kinda shocked at how expensive it was. As soon as my welder gets here ( on order), I'll be building my own bumper.

 

Yep, steel is way up in the last few years. Used to pay $38 for a 20' stick of 2x2x0.120 wall tube. That went up to $78 about a year and a half ago, then dropped to around $60 and is now up over $80. Funny thing is my steel yard used to get Japanese steel, then when the price started going up, it was Korean and now the latest stuff is from Mexico. I guess it costs too much to ship across the Pacific now, so the Mexican stuff is less expensive.

 

My rear bumper is made to match my 4Crawler sliders with 2 runs of 2x2x.120. It has dented very slightly, and it took the full weight of the truck to do it.

My front bumper is 2x4x.120" - if I was doing the rear over, that is what I would use. Being more than 2" or 3" thick will make the mounting difficult and you will have to sacrifice some departure angle.

 

I'm happy I work at a boiler tube bending shop right now...I can get pretty much any wall thickness and width for free. If I have time, I might use the tube bender to bend some stuff up.

I like the 2"X0.180 its some nice stuff...and its not even half of the thickest tube in the shop!

 

Got pictures??? I'd love to see what they look like!

 

I buy the seconds metal that has a kink, bend or some other blemish. It cost .45 cents a pound, and 90% of the metal is usable. Works for me at a fraction of the price. I would be broke buying full price metal.

 

Check into some 2x4 .188 wall tubing, thats 3/16. very strong...

 

The main piece of my bumper is 2x4x3/16. The sides are 2x4x.120. I have tow/recovery points in it and do tow with it. A couple of days ago I was rearended and all that happened was skuffed paint. Remember 2x4 steel is true dimentions not like wood 2x4s that are smaller. 4x5 would be HUGE!

As you can see it can/has helt the full weight of my 4runner. (Bumper not finished)


The bumper with sides on. (still not finished)