I wanted to make a stronger bumper to replace the aluminum tube bumper on my '83, so I decided on a 4"x6" rectangular steel tube bumper that would double as an OBA tank. It's pretty much going to directly replace the OEM bumper but will be more squared and bulkier. (Yes, Slacker, you have dibs on my OEM.)
I'm an electrician and I suck at welding, but fortunately I work with Mel, who has 35 years of welding experience. We got pretty far on it at work today, here's some pics of what we've come up with so far.

4"x6"x3/16" Rectangular. Cutting the cosmetic angles on the ends:


The mounting brackets were my only contribution, not bad for an amateur:


Working on the ends:




Mel had the idea to weld the brackets onto plates instead of directly to the tube:


Where we're at to this point:





Next weekend, we will be working on the shackle mounts, hitch receiver, and air fittings. My question is, what size shackles should I use? I found a set of 3/4" at work and they look HUGE. Would the next size down be good enough or do I need the 3/4" ones? Remember we're only dealing with 3/16" tubing here. Thanks for looking!

 

looks good .... should hold a decent amount of air as well ...

 

Thank you for remembering me ... and let me know .

I knew you would replace that one ... New one is looking stout , cant wait to see it finished


.

 

Slacker, I'm keeping the frame brackets but the rest of the bumper is yours if you want it. PM me and we'll work a deal out.

During the week I can only work on projects at break time. I was able to get the welds ground smooth on one end. Should look good once finished:

 

Its looking good, looking forward to seeing the air hookups.

 

Cool, thing is gonna be huge
Did you figure out whAt your air capacity will be?
I am wondering though if the 3/16th is gonna be thick enough for Clevis mounts though, but from that shop it looks like you guys know what you are doing...
maybe mount your shackle mounts to a plate like the bumper mounts?

Either way, I would go with 3/4" shackles, that is Pretty much a trail standard.
I have 7-9, a couPle of big ones though I picked up over the years:

 

OC, not sure about the capacity, but it's got to be slightly larger than the run-of-the-mill air tanks sold at auto part stores and such. The bumper is 62-1/2" wide, which is 4" wider than the OEM. I extended the width to just over bed-width in case I ever want to add wrap-around armor. I'm guessing the current weight at around 50lbs, which I think the OEM frame brackets, at 1/4" tempered steel with a rolled lip, will hold just fine.

The reason I want to go with shackles is because I have a cheap supply of them via work. The guys who deliver parts and materials sell so much stuff to the company that they'll often give small items like that to us employees just for asking nicely.

I didn't know the hoops of the shackles came in different sizes, so maybe a 3/4" shackle with the smaller hoop will look better than the big ones I found.

As far as attaching the mounts, yes, we will be going with a backing plate like the brackets. Also mounting a hitch receiver tube to the bottom center.

 

This is gonna be awesome! can't wait for more pics..

 

This will look good with the new front one you're getting. I wish I could shake this flu/cold bug so I could spend some real time in the shop, I suck.
So what are you going to use for an air supply to fill the tank/bumper. Another idea of what I did once, I mounted my receiver tube vertically on the back side of my bumper so I didn't have it hanging down when the hitch was out. Yes I had to make a custom drop hitch but hey it's all custom anyway right. By the way the front bumper will have shackle mounts that are just under 1" thick/wide.

 

For now I think I will air it up with my garage compressor, but eventually probably get a Viair in the truck. The hitch I ain't worried too much about, I don't rock crawl or wheel too much so clearance isn't too much an issue. Besides, if I ever want real clearance I will make some straight frame brackets and notch out the back of the bed. No bobs, keeping the long bed for sure.

Oh yeah, Rory, if the mounts are about an inch wide on the front bumper, that'll be fine. I happened across a set of (4) 3/4" shackles yesterday, though they are Chinese-made and not the nice Crosby ones like we have at work. And I'm going to have my machinist buddy mill out the rear shackle mounts from some 1" flat stock, welded to a 1/4" plate, and then welded to the bumper.

 

Well, this past weekend, my boss actually made me work on company-related items (the nerve of some people), so I wasn't able to work on my bumper. However, last night one of the machinists brought me these:


And the other day, I found this at the metal store for $40. Figured it was a worthwhile expense being that we don't have the proper thickness of 2-1/2" square tubing at work:


Hopefully this weekend we can get the rest of the welding done!

 

Welds turned out pretty good. Better than mine

 

Sorry, but you paid too much. You could have gone here and got one for like $10.
http://www.defianttruckproducts.com/...ER+TUBES/0.php

That is where I got mine for my rear bumper build.

 

Man, I'm building this thing at work. On a slow weekend I get to build it on the clock, even. I had to buy the hitch and the steel for the shackle mounts but the rest of this thing is all scrap, including the main tube which was cut from a 20' section and gave me the idea for the bumper. My plumber buddy gave me all the air fittings for free, too.

I guess what I'm saying is hopefully I won't have to take out a second mortgage to cover the receiver tube...

 

Sounds like your cost will be very low for this build, that's cool! I just posted that info so that others will know that there is cheaper alternative. Just trying to save people some money.

 

Yeah, mostly just reimbursements for consumables aside from the hitch and shackle mount steel. Cool deal, thanks for the heads up anyway.

 

Oh crap. Well, Mel just came over and talked to me, and is upset because this bumper is for a Toyota. "I wish you had told me what that bumper was for because I don't work on foreign *trucks*", he says. Then he says go ahead and keep what we have so far, but he's not touching it again. So apparently someone told him what kind of truck I have, which I would have done too if he would have asked me, but I just figured everyone knew I had this truck. So now this is on hold til further notice.

 

was this guy in a cave since the 40's?

 

If by cave you mean 'domestic automobile manufacturing facility', then probably so. Mel really is a nice guy, but it's real easy to hate on the foreign competition when you work for a domestic manufacturer. Please, let's not delve too deeply into that topic. This is just an unfortunate setback on the build but hopefully not the end.

 

sweet, how old is this guy?

seems something like a 6 yr old would do.