so right now i've got smittybilts front and rear on my 86 and i was thinkin about changin up the front a little bit.

i was gonna cut cut the top loopy thingy off, bend up a little stinger that sticks just barely above the hood weld it to either the top or bottom bar, not sure yet, and then weld some support tubing to the other bar that the stinger is attatched to.

i will post a pic up of the doodling i was doin for my idea
let me know what you guys thing

 

 

Good Idea but IMHO i think it would look a little wierd with the smaller tubing, but you never know, you should make it a winch bumper, thats something you dont see everyday!!!

 

ya my friend who might be helpin me with the welding was tryin to talk me into that, it seems simple enough.

all i would have to do is cut off the mounting brackets and weld some longer ones on there and then weld a winch plate in and throw the winch on it

 

Ok, what are those unicorn bars/ booms (stinger) for? I see them all the time, yet I can think of a purpose beyond obstructing vision or preventing deer from coming through the windshield.

 

if you go down a steep hill, the weight is transferred to the front of the truck causing the back to become "lighter," and if the hill is steep enough the truck might go end over end and wind up on the roof. The stinger prevents that, I have marlin crawlers on the front of my truck and it doesnt ubstruked the view at all, you see the very top of the bar and thats it

 

jheyne, I would try and use more than the stock mounting holes, in the front crossmember on your frame there are 4 threaded holes, you may want to find a way to use them too, just a little more insurance to make sure that the bumper doesnt rip off during a winch pull

 

I'm I only ever see them on truck that certainly don't spend much time off road. I can see it being useful in a Samurai, but in an extra cab? I don't see that being terribly likely unless you are on buggy trails or a really bad driver.

 

Last time I chopped into one of those bumpers (several years ago) it wasn't very thick wall tubing. Maybe they're not so bad anymore but if that's still the case I wouldn't even bother and just sell it and start from scratch.

 

one theory behind a stinger is to also protect the engine and radiator in the event of a roll over. Easier to drive it off the trail back to the trailer/home under it's own power.

 

Who cares, it just looks cool.

 

ya i want it for the protection in a roll over and i wheel in a place with a whole crap load of trees so i don't want to be rollin into a tree then smashin my radiator.
i've rolled a truck before so i kno what thats like and i don't kno that it would help much there.
but they do look really cool.

so do you guys think my design would hold up?

 

no it would'nt. those bumpers are too thin of metal. get a real one or make your own.