jkeith.w
Official Vendor
what's ridiculous is the raw cost of steel - until that changes, $1K isn't crazy, unfortunately.
**NEW 3rd Gen 4R "OEM+" Front Bumper Prototype**
- Thread starter rickashay
- Start date
what's ridiculous is the raw cost of steel - until that changes, $1K isn't crazy, unfortunately.
jkeith.w
Official Vendor
**UPDATE**
Sorry again for the delay. Like I said earlier, lot's going on but making progress nonetheless.
Just renders below before I prep the files for the fab shop. This is more complete than any previous version so a couple details to point out:
- Side rail gussets added to fully box in the bumper for strength; voids cut for weight savings
- Hitch receiver tube added with rear gussets
- Front skid plate redesigned to have multiple bends; an aesthetic choice from a design perspective to give more soft edges to help improve the real-world looks
- Most weldable areas are notched and puzzle together; this makes it easier than IKEA to build the plates on the truck and gives dedicated areas to lay welds (hopefully reducing average weld times and to help with product consistency in the real world - hard as a WIY product)
- Raised center section to be more even with recovery points
- Slotted various holes to help with fitment issues on trucks that are not straight on the frame ends or bodymount bushings
A couple notes:
- I found a way to cut production costs with less bends needed in key components, however I would have had to loose the tie-in to the front bodymounts. I feel that keeping this tie-in point will ensure there is less foreward flex of the bumper chassis during hard winching (and an impact) and therefore decided to go the way of more strength vs. cost reduction. Just something I wanted to point out as I spent a considerable amount of time working through this and even redesigned the whole bumper without the bodymount tie-ins - but in the end I think this is the right direction for the product.
Some current revision renders:
Untitled by Addison Rickaby, on Flickr
Untitled by Addison Rickaby, on Flickr
Front skid removed for hitch receiver and winch bolt access:
Untitled by Addison Rickaby, on Flickr
Rear side with gussets:
Untitled by Addison Rickaby, on Flickr
front receiver FTW.
rickashay
New member
Thanks for chiming in and glad you are liking the design. I too cannot wait until I can nail down a prototype and be confident enough to put it out there for the initial Group Buy.
Cheers! Appreciate it.
It's insane! At least commodity steel costs are heading back down now... hopefully this translates in the near future.
Funny how I never even considered it originally. But now that I've changed the design to accommodate it, I'm really happy it's there. So many uses and it definitely will make our bumper stronger than it was before with all that center bracing. Win-win and stoked that the forum suggested it!
MountainBiker
Member
This is awesome progress!
Some questions:
- are the shackle plates hollow with a skin welded on each side?
- do you have an estimated weight?
Some questions:
- are the shackle plates hollow with a skin welded on each side?
- do you have an estimated weight?
MarkamisPrime
New member
Bumpski
Waiting on updates.
Waiting on updates.
rickashay
New member
Re-drawing files for Prototype V2. I am supposed to have them by Feb 15th and then it's off to the cutter for round 2 (which will actually be installed on my truck shortly after).
Thanks for the bump!
MTRunner00
New member
take my money. This is FANTASTIC!
Looking forward to this very much.
Looking forward to this very much.
octanejunkie
Elite Member
I am in the market for a low-profile winch mount front bumper and prefer the non fat lip look, even though I drive a 99; I'm not opposed to replacing the bumper in it's entirety.
Do you have a potential production timeline and do you need a field tester in CA that will wheel and winch with this bumper?
I'm ready to cut my frame down up to 2" (coastal offroad) so HMU
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Do you have a potential production timeline and do you need a field tester in CA that will wheel and winch with this bumper?
I'm ready to cut my frame down up to 2" (coastal offroad) so HMU
Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
rickashay
New member
Thanks for following along!
You and me are in the same boat. My truck is a 2000 and I always liked the simple “Viper Cut” that I performed on my old 98’ 4Runner back in like 2010. I will be rocking a 98’ upper bumper to go with our manufactured lower bumper on my 2000 4Runner here shortly. The 96-98’ upper bumper is very tight to the 4Runner and allows great approach angle right from the factory. Strength wise it leaves a lot to be desired (same with all variations of the OEM 4Runner bumpers) but I like the low weight aspect of it knowing the strong winch mount and recovery points we are building below it.
We will need some test units in the field and will be running a “Prototype Group Buy” of about 10 units very soon. I want these to be in operation for a month or two (to gather feedback) before we then move to production bumpers. We will post with more info soon on this small Prototype run and the requirements that we will have for it.
**BUMPER UPDATE**
New files were completed around Feb 20th. We are currently in que to have the Prototype V2 bumper cut with our manufacturer. I am expecting the bumper to be cut next week and then shipped to me.
We are also having our prototype V1 sliders cut at the same time. I will start a new thread for those as well. We will also be doing a small prototype run of them also, in a similar format to the bumper.
Thanks for everyone’s patience.
Addison
snydmax
New member
**NEW 3rd Gen 4R "OEM+" Front Bumper Prototype**
Put me down for the proto group… timing is perfect as we are looking to add a winch to the wife’s’98 limited DD as we venture a bit further into the wilderness.
Had the ARB on the list but like this option to maintain as much stock appearance as possible
Edit… proto sliders too!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Put me down for the proto group… timing is perfect as we are looking to add a winch to the wife’s’98 limited DD as we venture a bit further into the wilderness.
Had the ARB on the list but like this option to maintain as much stock appearance as possible
Edit… proto sliders too!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
99SC4Runner
New member
rickashay - Any update as to when the prototype kits will be ready?
I do my own welding and have built a Move bumper for a 2010 Dodge Ram 1500 lifted Crew Cab 4x4 pickup I had. I can certainly provide info on the welding of your awesome looking bumper kit.
I'd be super interested in the UB3R and LB3R units.
PM sent!!!
Please put me down for a prototype group buy as well.
I do my own welding and have built a Move bumper for a 2010 Dodge Ram 1500 lifted Crew Cab 4x4 pickup I had. I can certainly provide info on the welding of your awesome looking bumper kit.
I'd be super interested in the UB3R and LB3R units.
PM sent!!!
Please put me down for a prototype group buy as well.
Last edited:
octanejunkie
Elite Member
Send you a PM for the proto bumper group. Looking forward to the requirements
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Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
AnotherDude
New member
This is the post I've been waiting for! Keep checking back every few days for updates on the bumper. Very excited to see a working prototype. Appreciate your hard work on this
rickashay
New member
Thanks for the interest everyone (and the PM’s). We will post up here soon with our requirements for the group buy.
**UPDATE**
Prototype v2 Bumper landed at my place last night. I’ll grab some photos tomorrow of the components before I start building it up (hopefully next week).
Jester_805
New member
Looking forward to the pictures of v2!
octanejunkie
Elite Member
rickashay
New member
Soon! Want to get it assembled and on the truck first this time.
In good time
**UPDATE**
Started welding the bumper together yesterday. I made an error in one of the components that will have to be modified as it interferes with the body. Simple fix but it ended up taking me some time to remedy it in the garage before I could continue assemble. Overall it went together beautifully compared to V1. As expected there are a couple very minor and easy tweaks I need to make for the Prototype run but we are very close. I spent about 1.5hrs actually assembling and welding and the base bumper is almost fully together.
Should be significantly less fab time on these if you are A) welding them yourselves or B) paying a pro welder to do it for you. This is largely due to the pre-bending and keying of most components (higher cost on the manufacturing side) but should relate to a final product that fits nicer, and also is actually quite time/cost effective if you look at it as a completed product (once assembled).
Trying to finish it off this weekend and get some photos of it up and actually on the truck.
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