Dj's front and rear bumper build!

[djtc]

Hi guys , i've had my 4runner since september and it hasn't been on the road yet cause of my busy university schedule and work. So now that I have the week off and a little more free time I thought I would document this build to give others ideas on how they can build their own bumpers.

I'll first start off with the front bumper then move on to the rear.Both bumpers are going to be plate bumpers with the front housing a Smittybilt xrc8.

I'll try to post all the sizes for the sheets and brackets as well.

Front bumper:
Structural supports will be made out of 1/4" (bolt on)
Front plate will be 3/16" and the rest will be 1/8"
5" spot lights and 2" round turn signals will be frenched into the bumper.

Keep in mind that I'm doing this without any plans or expensive tools.Basicly just a grinder,drill and my lincoln 180 welder.

This is my 2000 runner

You'll want to grind off/cut the weld on the back side of the stock bumper plate and you'll be left with what you see here.(sorry for the bad pictures)

Took the main supprt idea from a couple of builds and incorporated them all in to one.Each rail will have 6 bolts plus the winch plate that has 2 going through the 1/4 angle.

There will be a 90 degree plate going under the frame rail that will attach to the 2 tow hook mounts.

The end caps will be covered by a 1/4" thick angle .Two nuts will be welded on the inside of the fram rail ends.

Cutting a piece out to clear the a/c line

The anlge doesnt sit properly on the rail so i'll have to cut into it so its a true corner.You can see the hole on that will serve as a mounting spot for the main support plate.

90 degree angle dimensions:3"x4" legs (4" going down-3" going along the rail)
1/4" thick
31.5" in length.

Stay tuned for more soon!

 

[Gerdo]

A nice start.
A few things that I have learned.
*Optimize approach and departure angles by minimizing material under the frame.
*allow ~5/8" gap between the front bumper and the body.
*allow 5/8" or bigger gap between the rear bumper and the body.
(I have 5/8" gap on my rear bumper and it does contact the body causing small dents)

 

[dtc81]

I love home built stuff. Definitely will be following this. You're welding that 3"x4" angle to the frame correct? It's common to weld on bumpers that will see winch use, but I like the idea of a solid bolt on build. Can't wait to see what you come up with as this is in my truck's future.

 

[djtc]

Thank you for the tips ,the main support pates were just cut tonight and I noticed the top sits way too close to the body so i'll have to trim that down.Also, the lower front corner of that plate is going to get a 45 deg cut to maxime the approach angle.I just dont have the winch yet so its though to see how everything will fit.

Yes the angle will be welded on to the frame. The bumper itself will be a bolt on item.

 

[dtc81]

good deal. Definitely +1 on what Gerdo said on the body to bumper gap. I built my rear bumper at a scant 5/8" between body and tube and found these trucks have a pretty flexy rear section!

 

[white_n_slow]

Subscribed. I'll be putting together a rear bumper and tire carrier whenever I get some maintenance items out of the way. Always on the lookout for some ideas

 

[djtc]

update:
For some reason I couldn't upload all the pictures I took on potobucket.Here are a couple of them.

Main support brackets and winch plate

Showing the two side mounting points.

Front plate :Top is 36" wide -Bottom 32" wide with 8" inches of height.

Side wings

Yes those lower corners will be hacked off at 45 deg.
Do any of you guys have tips on how to make a 4.5" hole though sheet metal other then buying a massive hole saw?

Thats all for now!Hopefully i'll be able to finish it by the end of this week.

 

[white_n_slow]

good start. You could always just attach some fangs to the vertical supports Or yeah, maybe cut them off

 

[zgensler31]

Ive never worked with metal really before but we use a 4 inch grinder to cut circles in ceramic tile. Just from the top. Lol

 

[Whitson Metalworks]

Looking good! as for those 4.5" holes, even a massive hole saw is going to ruin your day, especially if using a hand drill. you could try one of your more worn cutoff discs, the smaller the better to get a tighter turn/cut. Or, drill a ton holes around the circle and connect the dots with a metal cutting jig saw blade. I plan on building bumpers too pretty soon so post up what works best!

 

[djtc]

Ya i was think of drilling the contour and following that with my jigsaw. Ill see...maybe ill find somebody with a plasma.

 

[tacojeff]

A jigsaw should be able to cut 3/16" plate in that tight of radius without drilling a bunch of holes, you will need to go slow though.

 

[djtc]

So I need your guys' opinion on the mounting points of my bumper.I'm just a little paranoid of the pulling force this bumper will experience with a winch.I've seen many bumpers built on here and other forums with only a couple of bolts running through the frame but I just want to make sure I can pull by myself without having the fear of my bumper ripping off.

So my bumper has 6 bolts retaining it on each frame rail(12 total).One of my worries is how the force will be transfered.The winch will stay up top and all the bolt are mounted pretty low.The rear bolt worries me the most since theres about an inch of metal transferring to the back (see picture bellow).

I was thinking of welding a vertical support that would attach to the two side mounts ...for lateral forces.

I would have to run 1/4 plate to reach that support from the 2 bolt side mount.

Maybe some of you guys that have winch bumpers can chime in on how theirs are mounted.

Let me know what you guys think, I want to do this properly.

 

[BigBluePile]

Cool!!!

 

[djtc]

Any opinions other then the one posted above...

 

[Gerdo]

I only see two bolts on that one side. Where are the others?
As i see it now, there is one bolt in front of the side brace. Then it thins out below. With a good yank or hard winch, I think the top is going to pull away and peel where it thins out.

Also are the bolts that are going thru the frame just thru drilled?
If so, when you try to tighten them down, it'll crush the frame. This is not a good way and will fail.

 

[djtc]

There are the two that you see +the other 2 in the tow hook location + 2 that will be mounted to the welded crossmember(these are not mounted yet,shown in picture).The bolts are going through the frame and both side are support by a metal plate which is the same size as the frame heigh.The plate will spread out that pressure point caused by the bolt.

 

[djtc]

Here is the tow hook mount,it just tacked in at this point.

 

[Gerdo]

So this is fully welded to the frame?
And it will have some bolts thru it mounting the bumper?

The "weak" spots that I see are:
*The angle welded between the frame wont resist the bottom twisting back unless you weld another leg to make it a U channel.
*The thin spots where the tow hook is will tend to bend.
*The frame thru bolts will still never tighten enough to add strength. These need to have a thru tube welded thru the holes and welded to both sides of the frame.

I know that this is down the road but I would/did add side supports from the side frame mounts to the side wings of the bumper.

 

[djtc]

I was planning to weld another leg to the angle to make it a U. For the part that thins out, I was thinking of adding another pice of 1/4 strip mounted horizontally to add strengh.As for the side wings i had panned to weld some tubing to both wings.

Ive seen other bumpers with 3 bolts per frame(tow hook mounts and one through the frame end), how do those resist winch tugs?