User Tag List

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 03-08-2021, 11:57 PM #1
mavrick1903's Avatar
mavrick1903 mavrick1903 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 512
mavrick1903 is on a distinguished road
mavrick1903 mavrick1903 is offline
Member
mavrick1903's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 512
mavrick1903 is on a distinguished road
Bumper: what lessons did you learn?

Getting ready to pull the trigger on a Coastal Offroad DIY bumper. If you’ve done a DIY or any other bumper upgrade, what would you have done differently given the hindsight?

I’ll be adding a extra cutout pair for a third set of lights to accommodate fog lights (still need to choose those)

Planning on three hoop.

What else?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
mavrick1903 is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 03-09-2021, 04:28 AM #2
montijo505's Avatar
montijo505 montijo505 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Rio Rancho, New Mexico
Posts: 2,052
montijo505 has much to be proud of montijo505 has much to be proud of montijo505 has much to be proud of montijo505 has much to be proud of montijo505 has much to be proud of montijo505 has much to be proud of montijo505 has much to be proud of montijo505 has much to be proud of montijo505 has much to be proud of
montijo505 montijo505 is offline
Senior Member
montijo505's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Rio Rancho, New Mexico
Posts: 2,052
montijo505 has much to be proud of montijo505 has much to be proud of montijo505 has much to be proud of montijo505 has much to be proud of montijo505 has much to be proud of montijo505 has much to be proud of montijo505 has much to be proud of montijo505 has much to be proud of montijo505 has much to be proud of
Quote:
Originally Posted by mavrick1903 View Post
Getting ready to pull the trigger on a Coastal Offroad DIY bumper. If you’ve done a DIY or any other bumper upgrade, what would you have done differently given the hindsight?

I’ll be adding a extra cutout pair for a third set of lights to accommodate fog lights (still need to choose those)

Planning on three hoop.

What else?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Check clearances on everything. The hoops have to be at a pretty steep angle to clear the hood when opening. Ask me how I know.....

It’s really not too hard honestly. It was my first welding project and hasn’t fallen apart lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
montijo505 is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 03-09-2021, 06:53 AM #3
aemravan aemravan is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Charlotte
Posts: 1,528
aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute
aemravan aemravan is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Charlotte
Posts: 1,528
aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute
Have someone help you line the pieces up before tacking them in place. Overall it was super easy for me, but a couple of my pieces ended up not exactly flush with thr others. Didn't matter for me bc I'm going to end up doing body filler and painting to color match, but it will add some work for sure.

Also, before I got my bumper on I didn't realize that the two square light cutouts are offset height wise from each other. Knowing this I would have properly opted to not have one of them.

If you are on factory fenders you will have the wings of thr bumper stick out a little. If this isn't your cup of tea you can cut, trim and grind them the way you want before doing thr final weld. I think mine ended up so far out because I didn't force thr wings towards the car enough while tacking in place. I foced them up to follow the curved fender line with a jack, but not in. In my case it was perfect for the Tacoma swap. The bulge fenders now lime up beautifully.

Overall it wasn't bad at all, but plan on having to spend quite a bit of time welding and then grinding.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
__________________
2003 Limited V8 4runner - 37's, Tacoma Front End swap, ARB locked front and rear , LC200 rack swap
aemravan is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 03-09-2021, 11:01 AM #4
eleven14 eleven14 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: KC
Posts: 390
eleven14 has a spectacular aura about eleven14 has a spectacular aura about
eleven14 eleven14 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: KC
Posts: 390
eleven14 has a spectacular aura about eleven14 has a spectacular aura about
Quote:
Originally Posted by aemravan View Post
Have someone help you line the pieces up before tacking them in place. Overall it was super easy for me, but a couple of my pieces ended up not exactly flush with thr others. Didn't matter for me bc I'm going to end up doing body filler and painting to color match, but it will add some work for sure.

Also, before I got my bumper on I didn't realize that the two square light cutouts are offset height wise from each other. Knowing this I would have properly opted to not have one of them.

If you are on factory fenders you will have the wings of thr bumper stick out a little. If this isn't your cup of tea you can cut, trim and grind them the way you want before doing thr final weld. I think mine ended up so far out because I didn't force thr wings towards the car enough while tacking in place. I foced them up to follow the curved fender line with a jack, but not in. In my case it was perfect for the Tacoma swap. The bulge fenders now lime up beautifully.

Overall it wasn't bad at all, but plan on having to spend quite a bit of time welding and then grinding.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
Sweet build but the tolerances between your bumper and fenders are nightmare fuel for my anxiety lol.

Not sure what level of flex you'll encounter but if that were my Shrockworks bumper, it would likely impact fenders the first time you stretch out one side.

Last edited by eleven14; 03-09-2021 at 11:07 AM.
eleven14 is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 03-09-2021, 12:23 PM #5
aemravan aemravan is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Charlotte
Posts: 1,528
aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute
aemravan aemravan is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Charlotte
Posts: 1,528
aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute aemravan has a reputation beyond repute
Quote:
Originally Posted by eleven14 View Post
Sweet build but the tolerances between your bumper and fenders are nightmare fuel for my anxiety lol.

Not sure what level of flex you'll encounter but if that were my Shrockworks bumper, it would likely impact fenders the first time you stretch out one side.
Thats just a dry fit lol, I'm not done trimming the Tacoma fenders yet. I'll end up with around a half inch gap fender to bumper.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
__________________
2003 Limited V8 4runner - 37's, Tacoma Front End swap, ARB locked front and rear , LC200 rack swap
aemravan is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 03-09-2021, 02:05 PM #6
Inv4drZm's Avatar
Inv4drZm Inv4drZm is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Kansas
Age: 28
Posts: 4,300
Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute
Inv4drZm Inv4drZm is offline
Senior Member
Inv4drZm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Kansas
Age: 28
Posts: 4,300
Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute Inv4drZm has a reputation beyond repute
Leave plenty of gap between bumper and body, 1" is fine. (More important on the rear bumper though, I think it flexes more back there).

Don't go crazy with the angle grinder to grind all the outside welds flush. I ground mine down a little too much and now there is a divot where I shelled out too much before each weld seam.

I like using my random orbital palm sander to flatten everything and rough it up before painting. Leaves a nice uniform texture and blends in grind marks and rounds sharp corners just enough.

Some satin black spray paint looks amazing, and can be stripped off with the previously mentioned sander and resprayed to look brand new whenever you want for basically free.

Don't burn yourself welding. I was moving from each side welding the inside of the bumper and rest my arm on a hot spot setting up for another weld.

Safety glasses or better yet goggles when grinding. After seeing pics of an angle grinder wheel broken off and stuck in some dude's eye online, and having a spark hit my eye (while I was wearing safety glasses) then going to the ER where the doctor brushed my eye with a needle to see if there was any metal left in the crater, you don't want to take any chances.
__________________
2005 4R Sport 4WD "The last of the V8s!" - Custom TIG'd SS Dual Exhaust - King 2.5" +2 LT. - ARB Front & Rear - 37's - Dana 60 - Build Thread
2005 Tundra 2WD Regular Cab V8 - Chopped Frame - Short Bed Swap
1977 Celica Liftback - LFX Swap - Build Thread
Inv4drZm is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 03-09-2021, 02:48 PM #7
P_nlsn's Avatar
P_nlsn P_nlsn is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Bryant, Arkansas
Age: 21
Posts: 145
Real Name: Parker
P_nlsn has a spectacular aura about P_nlsn has a spectacular aura about
P_nlsn P_nlsn is offline
Member
P_nlsn's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Bryant, Arkansas
Age: 21
Posts: 145
Real Name: Parker
P_nlsn has a spectacular aura about P_nlsn has a spectacular aura about
Quote:
Originally Posted by mavrick1903 View Post
Getting ready to pull the trigger on a Coastal Offroad DIY bumper. If you’ve done a DIY or any other bumper upgrade, what would you have done differently given the hindsight?

I’ll be adding a extra cutout pair for a third set of lights to accommodate fog lights (still need to choose those)

Planning on three hoop.

What else?


I love my 3-hoop Coastal bumper!

I see a lot of people saying "don't powder coat your bumpers if you plan to actually use them" - but I disagree. A proper powder coat is highly durable. Unless you plan to rake the entire bumper on every rock you see while doing some extreme rock climbing, the powder coat should hold up just fine. From personal experience - my brother having two bumpers powder coated, and then mine being powder coated - and each bumper getting put to use (definitely not mall crawlers - as evident by our trucks' paint - but admittedly not rock crawlers) - and are just fine. If you somehow happen to get a small chip (say from a rock while going down the road or something), it can easily be fixed with black nail polish - yes, that's right, nail polish - works great, can be applied with high accuracy, and matches that gloss look of a flat black powder coat enough to be unnoticeable

It was my first weld job ever and wasn't terrible. I did have some help from my brother and dad, who have welded before, but I still did a lot of it on my own. In hindsight, I went too crazy on the grinder, and not crazy enough on the welder. There were a few spots I had to reweld because I took too much off with the flap disk and you could see the crack of the joint. Also, I got impatient and ground the outside welds before welding the inside - HUGE rookie mistake right there, led to a lot of heat warping and joint cracks on the outside. Overall though, it still looks great. Once it was powder coated and I got it muddy, the thing looks b-e-a-utiful

However - be prepared for a lot of work to get the hoops on. It took 1 extra tube, a tube notcher, more cuts than I can count, and even more grinding to get mine where they needed to be

The first tube we cut too short, so we ordered a new one from Coastal and bought a tube notcher. Part of our struggle was being inexperienced - we had never actually notched tubing before - but there's also just so many angles that have to be taken into account so it fits right

What everyone else has already said is great advice - minus the "leave a one inch gap" one, that's a little overkill - instructions say 1/2", and that should be plenty for the front

The only thing I would add is about the hoops - cut them long, and just grind the crap out of them. Cut it to be sorta close but still long > hold it on the bumper to see what touches > grind that part back some > hold it back up there and repeat. It can be really tedious work, but it's what worked best for me

Oh, and one more thing - LOTS and LOTS of practice welding tubes. I practiced before doing mine, but tube welds are hard to make look good. Mine are good enough to hold it together and be strong, but just don't look too close cause they kinda ugly

__________________

+================================================= ==============+
4wd V6 '03 Sport w/ 340k miles (175k engine swapped @ 326k) // 3" Suspension Lift + 3" Body Lift on 35" K02's

@toto.runner // Build Thread // Engine Swap Write-Up

Last edited by P_nlsn; 03-11-2021 at 12:40 AM.
P_nlsn is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 03-10-2021, 09:27 PM #8
xtremewlr's Avatar
xtremewlr xtremewlr is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2019
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 815
Real Name: Todd
xtremewlr is a splendid one to behold xtremewlr is a splendid one to behold xtremewlr is a splendid one to behold xtremewlr is a splendid one to behold xtremewlr is a splendid one to behold xtremewlr is a splendid one to behold xtremewlr is a splendid one to behold
xtremewlr xtremewlr is offline
Member
xtremewlr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2019
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 815
Real Name: Todd
xtremewlr is a splendid one to behold xtremewlr is a splendid one to behold xtremewlr is a splendid one to behold xtremewlr is a splendid one to behold xtremewlr is a splendid one to behold xtremewlr is a splendid one to behold xtremewlr is a splendid one to behold
Personally, I went single hoop on mine. 3 hoops looks cool but if you do all or most of your own work on the vehicle under the hood, the hoops make it much more of a reach getting in there.



Like @Inv4drZm said, use spray paint instead of powder coating it. Powder coat is nice for show trucks but if you actually take your truck offroad, you're gunna hate yourself the first scratch to bare metal you get with powder coat. It's NOT an easy fix. Spray paint, or in my case Harbor Freight spray can bedliner, is awesome, holds up excellent and is very easy to touch up. Bedliner will actually fill in the difference in level from paint to bare metal, so works better than regular paint IMO. As long as you want black.

Prep is key to a nice, finished product. Take your time fitting each piece and planning on how it's going to be welded. Flat butt joints need to have the butt edges ground at an angle to allow for good weld penetration. Even some angled joints will benefit from an angle being ground into each side of the joint first. Make each joint as tight as you can but if you do have a gap, try to fill it if it's a little big. Getting solid welding rod in varying sizes is an easy way to fill small gaps and avoid burning holes in the edges and having to fill those.

I also had some fitment issues with the main uprights. I have a 1" body lift and even tho I ordered the bumper accordingly, it ended up being about 1/2" taller at the center. So I had to make adjustments to make it fit by taking out about 1/2" from each upright and welding them back together. Then I reinforced the butt weld with a plate over each weld. This is why verifying fit as you go is so important.









Use a floor jack with a chunk of 2x4 to get the wings into the position you want after tacking them in place on the center section. That's what I did here with a chunk of metal 2x4 I have.





When you are finish grinding, don't be afraid to break out the welder again and go over any divots or missed spots or a spot you just don't like after grinding. I did lots of small fill welds when I was finish grinding to smooth a spot out better.

And like @P_nlsn said, finish weld EVERYTHING before you start with the finish grinding. Inside and out.

Most important, have fun while you're doing it and make it a learning experience! This is the 3rd bumper I have built from Coastal and they are awesome.
__________________
2003 4Runner Limited 4wd V8 - Build thread on Tacoma World
FJ tcase swap, VVT intake swap, Solid Offroad motor mounts, Doug Thorley y-pipe, Bold Performance cat-back, ADS shocks F&R, Metal Tech LTHD springs rear, 1" body lift, 285/75/17 Toyo R/T Trails on Sequoia rims, Coastal front bumper, CAD rear bumper
xtremewlr is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Reply

Tags
accommodate , bumper , diy , lights , set

Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
I want to learn to weld, then end up building my own rear bumper: Where do I start? theoutbackdream Off Topic 27 08-10-2018 09:24 PM
Lessons learned for new owners..... montana_jeepn 4th Gen T4Rs 7 08-12-2014 08:55 AM
Hello to all, and lessons learned ALREADY jconusn 4th Gen T4Rs 6 06-04-2013 09:26 PM
How did you learn to work on cars? I want to learn more Anonymous4Runner General Discussions 17 03-27-2012 11:47 AM
44 Lessons ric Off Topic 4 11-08-2009 07:12 PM

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.2

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:24 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Feedback Buttons provided by Advanced Post Thanks / Like (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
***This site is an unofficial Toyota site, and is not officially endorsed, supported, authorized by or affiliated with Toyota. All company, product, or service names references in this web site are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Toyota name, marks, designs and logos, as well as Toyota model names, are registered trademarks of Toyota Motor Corporation***Ad Management plugin by RedTyger
 
Copyright © 2020