Trimming an ARB for better clearance w/pics

[J-money$$$]

Brian2sun and I decided to try and high clearance our bumpers. We did his first last week and i was extremely happy with the results. I decided to go ahead and trim mine today. For pictures of Brians check his build thread.

So here is what were are given. An ARB, this bumper isnt too bad to start with. Mine has been raised up for a 1" body lift on my mounts so it fits nice and tight with the body. The main issue i have found with this bumper is the 90º bend on the bottom of the entire bumper. That flat plate catches on everything and will stop the truck. It wont slide over rocks very well and ends up bent like the passenger side of my bumper

So let the cutting begin. I followed the bend in the bumper on the sides and took that all the way around. In the middle i measured up one inch from the bottom and cut. I also cut the d-ring mounts 1" up. If you cut any more you will leave the d-ring mounts useless. I may cut the whole bottom off later, but for now this is a huge improvement. I used a sawzall and angle grinder I got the whole bottom edge off in one piece

The rest of the pics just close ups of the trimming. I am going to weld angle iron and 1/2" .120 square tube to the bottom edge for rigidity in just a few minutes. Pics will come of the finished bumper in an hour or so

 

[J-money$$$]

well i took my sweet time finishing this up and am really happy with the outcome.


First off i had to trim the mount at the bottom. I just cut each side back about 1/2 inch and welded plate on to the end. this is mainly cosmetic. With the bumper cut the front of the mounts show and i think the plate adds a nice look.

And here is a pic showing the completed mount. You can see the plate I added. without it you can see in the mount a little. It didnt look bad without the plate But i had all the stuff out so i figured i would take my time

Side view

Another from the side to show where i trimmed the side off

Here is where the main advantage of the trimming is. Look how the bottom edge of the bumper is angled now. It is going to really help from getting hung up on the bumper

and the final product. Im stoked on it. I think it looks better than a stock arb. they should have made them like this. Now you can see the front of my bud built in the middle. I still need to make a little filler/skid plate to go from the arb to the bud built. I gained 1" in the center of the bumper and about 2 on the wings, plus the wings will be able to slide over stuff now

 

[brian2sun]

Nice man. If you make a plate to go from the ARB to the Bud, make me one too... please.

 

[BrianSD_42]

this makes your truck look even more bad@ss

 

[Hepar]

Wow. That looks really good. Now go test it out and give us a field report!

 

[BigFishAllDay]

J-Money,

Thanks for doing a detailed write-up on this man. I think I'm sold now. That came out looking cherry, and I completely agree about this mod improving both the performace of the bumper, and the looks (it looks much cleaner w/this mod).

The plating on the bottom of the mounts is a nice touch too.

Now I just have to talk myself into cutting up a nearly-new ARB. I wasn't lucky enough to get a deal on mine and had to pay full pop for it.

Do you have any photos of where you welded on the square tubing along the bottom edge for re-enforcement?

 

[Pikeman]

Looks really good. Glad to see you always looking for ways to improve what you have and sharing inexpensive DIY mods with everyone. Trying to figure out when you went to Light Forces on your bumper though since last I remembered were the Hella you had on.

 

[J-money$$$]

Thank you all for the comments. I think it looks great. Ill smash it up this friday night

and just to answer a few questions:

Now I just have to talk myself into cutting up a nearly-new ARB. I wasn't lucky enough to get a deal on mine and had to pay full pop for it.

Do you have any photos of where you welded on the square tubing along the bottom edge for re-enforcement?

I paid full price for mine too a couple years back. It was easier to chop mine because i had dented up the bottom edge pretty bad and the where i cut i lost most of the dents in the bumper. I was to the point that i was going to sell this ARB cheap or cut it and make it work. I havent taken any photos of the square bar i added, but i will get some and post them up shortly. This is pretty easy to do. I need to make a filler plate/skid before the trip to the 'con.

And pikeman I always try and show cheaper DYI projects because im a broke college student... and I have had the lightforces for 8 or 9 months now. I sold those hella 700's that i put a 55 watt hid kit in. They were too bright and were harsh on the eyes on long night runs. So i went with LF and got the wide angle filters. I couldnt be happier.

 

[Pikeman]

I have wheeled with you a few times then since you got them. Guess I didnt notice because i was used to seeing lights on your bumper. Yeah when you were behind me with those 700's that one time it was killing me. I may or may not be there Friday, not sure how I feel about night wheeling especially on a new to me trail. Also if I end up with my kids or not. If not enjoy yourself at CB.

 

[Big John]

Great job J. :bravo: Now cut all that crazy looking monster tube off the top and you will have a great looking bumper.

 

[t4r4life]

i really need to do this

 

[J-money$$$]

I agree with cutting the monster tube off, Brian and I have already talked about it. We were thinking about trying to just looks the funky upright brackets and replace the entire center piece with a regular stinger. Im sure it will happen eventually.

and t4r4life You need to do this

I should be able to get some pics of the backside now that its getting darker. i tried to earlier and the bright sunlight was making it impossible to get a half descent picture

 

[J-money$$$]

I agree with cutting the monster tube off, Brian and I have already talked about it. We were thinking about trying to just looks the funky upright brackets and replace the entire center piece with a regular stinger. Im sure it will happen eventually.

and t4r4life You need to do this

I should be able to get some pics of the backside now that its getting darker. i tried to earlier and the bright sunlight was making it impossible to get a half descent picture

 

[Big John]

I agree with cutting the monster tube off, Brian and I have already talked about it. We were thinking about trying to just looks the funky upright brackets and replace the entire center piece with a regular stinger. Im sure it will happen eventually.

and t4r4life You need to do this

I should be able to get some pics of the backside now that its getting darker. i tried to earlier and the bright sunlight was making it impossible to get a half descent picture

I was looking at a customers rig the other day that had one and all that crap could easily be cut off and plated over. Even if there was a plate nicely welded over each piece cut off it would look fine. All you would lose is the powder coat which I think is way overrated and you're way beyond caring about that anyhow.
I talked with an ARB rep the other day and he said they were working on a bumper without all that junk on top. I think that would be a good idea for them. In MY opinion, the ARB just screams Smittybuilt ugly:repuke: at me every time I see one.
I'm looking forward to seeing what you and Brian do with yours.:hungry:

 

[Nelsonmd]

I was looking at a customers rig the other day that had one and all that crap could easily be cut off and plated over. Even if there was a plate nicely welded over each piece cut off it would look fine. All you would lose is the powder coat which I think is way overrated and you're way beyond caring about that anyhow.
I talked with an ARB rep the other day and he said they were working on a bumper without all that junk on top. I think that would be a good idea for them. In MY opinion, the ARB just screams Smittybuilt ugly:repuke: at me every time I see one.
I'm looking forward to seeing what you and Brian do with yours.:hungry:

Since you are talking to ARB, have you asked them why they put the lip on the bottom? There's got to be a reason they added material to it. I would think rigidity, but couldn't they have bent it up instead of down?

Never seen one in person, so I'm just guessing here, but I'm curious about their reasoning.

 

[Big John]

Since you are talking to ARB, have you asked them why they put the lip on the bottom? There's got to be a reason they added material to it. I would think rigidity, but couldn't they have bent it up instead of down?

Never seen one in person, so I'm just guessing here, but I'm curious about their reasoning.

No I didn't. I'm gonna say rigidity as well though.
I know there are a lot of ARB lovers on this board, so I should probably get my flame suit on, but this would be the last bumper I would put in my rig. I was testing some newly installed lights on a customers 4th gen and when I took his rig out in the dark the headlights were shining on all those goofy tubes which really bugs me.
And… I found out you can't run a hawse fairlead on an ARB. This customer wanted rope (which is what I would want) on his new winch and we had to order him a roller fairlead with delrin rollers for the rope which cost him another $100.

 

[Nelsonmd]

No I didn't. I'm gonna say rigidity as well though.
I know there are a lot of ARB lovers on this board, so I should probably get my flame suit on, but this would be the last bumper I would put in my rig. I was testing some newly installed lights on a customers 4th gen and when I took his rig out in the dark the headlights were shining on all those goofy tubes which really bugs me.
And… I found out you can't run a hawse fairlead on an ARB. This customer wanted rope (which is what I would want) on his new winch and we had to order him a roller fairlead with delrin rollers for the rope which cost him another $100.

Haha, yeah, I have never been a fan either, but that was mostly because of looks (I don't like the big tubes either) and people's comments on the weight.

I went camping out in the eastern Sahara last year, and one of the Hilux's we took had an ARB on it. It looked pretty cool, but the coolest vehicle in our fleet was the gigantic LC with full length roof rack. I think it was a 60-series, but I don't remember for sure. That thing was a hoss.

 

[J-money$$$]

I found out you can't run a hawse fairlead on an ARB. This customer wanted rope (which is what I would want) on his new winch and we had to order him a roller fairlead with delrin rollers for the rope which cost him another $100.

im running a hawse fairlead and synthetic rope on mine. Its been on there for almost a year and i have used the winch probably 20+ times. It seems to okay. I know you cant pull at crazy angles with it, but i seem to have 45º or more in all directions.

i bought this beast back in the day when the only other bumpers out were shrokworks and tjm. Would i make the same purchase now. no, I would build my own.

I know that lip on the bottom was for rigidity, thats why i added small square tube and angle iron to the new bottom edge. I forgot to take pictures of that.

 

[TheeMikeB]

Resurrection... [MENTION=32837]J-money$$$[/MENTION]

Wondering how this is holding up? Thinking of doing the same thing for the exact same reasons. Wondering if you ever took the pics of the additional tube and angle iron you welded on too?

 

[J-money$$$]

Resurrection... [MENTION=32837]J-money$$$[/MENTION]

Wondering how this is holding up? Thinking of doing the same thing for the exact same reasons. Wondering if you ever took the pics of the additional tube and angle iron you welded on too?

Its been holding it up great. Went through another more recent round of trimming and chopping……. Surprisingly it holds up okay. All I can say is the plate on the bumper bends in when you decide to get in bumper car contests out wheeling. The chopped edges hold up just fine. Have not had any of the cut up parts bend too much. And i made the skid come up and connect with the bumper bottom for a nice smooth approach. Also I have cut the stupid D ring holders off and it really helps out You can probably notice that on the pics below. THe bottom photo shows the skid a little better. the top shows the cut off d ring mounts. I mounted the skid to the bumper with the 3 bolts you can see. I highly suggest to anyone chopping the ARB to cut the D ring tabs off. They really get you hung up. As of pics of the actual reinforcing I did. I have to pull the skid off for a photo…… Its just 1.5" or 1" angle iron welded across the bottom center and 1/2" .120 wall square tube along the bottom of both sides.


Also cut the top tubes off
I still plan on making a new hoop around the grill, but it will probably be like this for a couple years.




As of last night: