A couple more pics of the bumper… nearing completion, I have the appt. with Line-X this friday - that is a surprise.
Another Side - Gained a decent amount of departure angle.
Showing the trim pieces I made to replace the fender flares. The bumper is completely tied into the OEM fenders with a sheet of fabric reinforced rubber. Plenty of room for flexing and makes it look truly integrated.
Another angle (yes, the rivets will be painted over so they are black):
Showing the spindle assy. and the hold mechanism:
Another angle:
Driver's side - latch assy. with ammo can / aux water or jerry can holder:
Rear View:
Massive T6 Aluminum Skid underneath - the Aux fuel tank rests directly on top of this.
Close up of latch - Rubber bumpers - delrin slide pad and safety cord (having a new one made)
Fill nozzle for six fuel tank - still waiting to machine a trim ring for this.
Notice the tow hitch has been relocated and placed through the OEM rear crossmember and fully gusseted on the inside.
Latch Assy.
Rear hatch closed - the fill nozzle for the Aux tank is completely hidden and covered by the overhang of the rear hatch.
Eberything is beefed and gusseted to truly last. The whole bumper was coated with an anti corrosion textured powder coat, all 10.9 metric hardware and grade 8 SAE hardware, tow points are made out of water jet cut .75" mild steel welded directly inline with the frame. The 20mm ammo can is removable with a couple bolts and holds a full sized jerry can or scepter can perfectly with the lid off. The backup cam is relocated to the rear license plate holder.
Anywho - I snapped those shots real quick with my crappy cell phone. After the line x Friday, I will get the DSLR out and get some good day time shots. The cell phone shots do not do this justice.
Overall, I cannot even guess how many hours I have in just the rear bumper project, it turned into much more than I initially imagined. Everything is completely custom and one off, there are no CAD files of this, no possibilities of reproduction… I made the initial mock bumper out of card board and cut individual pieces on the water jet and bent up what I had to.
Cheers all, Im off for a run!