Something to make if you're bored, and have a plethora of quarter inch plate lying around!

Time to go import hunting

 

I think it looks great Do you plan on putting a winch in that thing? I'm a machinist and we used to do a lot of fabbing awhile back and I got to do some custom work but mostly now we're just a small job shop and we don't have a fulltime welder anymore. We have a guy that comes in for us part time when we need him and he's the best welder I've ever seen.

 

GOOD GOD!!! that thing is huge! dare i ask what prompted you to make something like that? looks good though, but i would be afraid of bottomin out the truck, and gettin hung up, and if i got in a wreck, i would be afraid of hurtin the truck, and findin another one to bolt the bumper to, i dont even think you could hurt the paint on that thing! by the way, like in the above post, do you think that ya could make me a winch bumper like that, but not as tall?!? have been lookin for somethin like that for years, but havent found one!

 

Kista & Evilbeast...

Yes, I have a 12Klb winch for it, and I've already fabricated the mounting tray out of 1/4" plate, however I've not mounted it yet nor cut the necessary rectangular hole for the rollers, just because I was receiving pressure from my wife to get "superbumper" off the dolly in the driveway and onto the truck. So, I cut it back 8" (it stuck out much further, originally), and reprimed and painted it to get rid of the red color. I had initially painted it red to match the pinstriping I've done as well as the interior, but decided it was too large and too gawdy. I also have the under-winch-shelf mounting for a long air tank, which will hold compressed air for emergency service should things blow up along the way. I have the tank and the mounting, but like the winch I've not gotten around to installing it yet. Trying to appease the Mrs. You know how that goes

Here are the original threads:

Bumper finished in red, much larger:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...hlight=bumper+

Bumper assembly process:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...hlight=bumper+

I am by far one of the worst welders, but believe it or not I did this with a 120V flux core wire welder (mig-like toy), which I had to shut down quite a bit because I kept trying to do the quarter inch plate in one pass. Which it would do if I went slow, but I had to stop every so often because the machine would get too hot. I don't have 220V in the garage yet, which is why I didn't get to use my Lincoln 170T, which is a properly sized welder for a project like this.

The "driving lights" are actually headlights out of an isuzu trooper. They were the most rectangular, flat headlights I could find, though they are rather large. I boxed those in with 1/2" square rod miter cut like a picture frame. This should protect the edges of the isuzu lights should I bump something gently (like a parking post, etc). Obviously a hard impact and they will get broken. I do have another set, though they are a little yellow, I didn't get to clean them up yet like I did these.

The bumper is solid mounted (welded) to 4" angle iron, also 1/4" thick, which slips over the frame stubs in the front and bolted with 5/8" bolts right through the existing holes. I have another mounting apperatus I made which won't be hard mounted to the inside of the bumper, but instead the angle iron bolted to the frame will have a pivot, and the bottom of the bumper will tie in through two shock absorbers. The idea is if I do bump something, the bumper will rock and offer some "give" as to minimize the damage. I didn't install it as part of this bumper only because I had pressure to get it out of the driveway, and I hadn't worked out the shock part well enough to actually put it on a vehicle. The bumper could depress in, and not spring out unless you grabbed it, and pulled with all your might. Shocks are just that - not springs. I could use coil overs or something along those lines, but now we're talking money and the shocks I had were the old shocks from the rear of the truck which I just replaced. Good idea, poor execution. And I'm cheap

My influence was a bumper much like this (except solid and had a grill guard) mounted on a tow truck I saw at a local quick check. I delayed my morning coffee 10 minutes and whipped out the tape measure and measured the guy's tow truck bumper. His reaction was kinda funny when he came out with his coffee, and saw me measuring his bumper We chatted a few minutes, I measured one last thing, and off he went and I headed in for my coffee. Anyway, that was the influence. I have already made the grill guard, I just haven't welded it to the bumper yet, and probably won't do so until the spring sometime, as I have more projects to get off the driveway surface. I've only made the main hoop so far, I have two angled headlight guards to make as well, just haven't had the time for it. The grill and headlight guards will be made out of smaller materials, 1" square tubing for the uprights, and round 1" tubing for the cross pieces. Then the top of the square tubing will be ground to match the roundness of the crosstubes, so it looks intentional.

Right now I have the grill and headlight surrounds off and sitting on a plastic tarp, primer drying. I'm going to paint them black as well so the front is a little cleaner looking. My black grill is more of a dark gray color from the sun, so since the bumper is so nice and shiny, might as well do all of it. I should have taken off the bumper facia on the bottom of the grill and painted that too, but oh well. I'll get to that piece when I replace the radiator support in two weeks, and paint and put on the new fenders. These fenders are a little rusty in the wheel wells and kinda beaten up. I just have to do the radiator support *now* because there is very little left of it, sad to say. 11 years of NJ road salt has taken its toll.

As far as making bumpers for other people, it would be fun, but alas, I have to be honest and admit I'd not get to it for a long time. I still have an engine scattered in pieces around my garage I need to put together before I start losing parts and bolts. But it wasn't that difficult to make actually, one of the threads I linked above shows a few of the blow-by-blow pictorial I've created whereas you could easily duplicate what I've done.

Essentially, its two sections of 4" angle iron with two holes each to line up with the holes in the frame snub, welded to a large piece of 1/4" plate (thats the front plate of the bumper, which hits things in front of the truck first). Then off that are two angled pieces of 1/4" plate, the same height, tack welded to the front piece. Then I put a 1" square tube across the width of the bumper tying into the two side plates, and across the two angle irons making the bumper all one piece. Weld it alll together, cut out angles (or curves if you can) for the wheel wells, cut out a top out of 14 ga steel sheet, and you're good to go. How I did the top was put the bumper on sawhorses, lay the sheet on top and clamp it in the front, then trace it from underneath using a black sharpie marker. Then I cut it out with an ordinary reciprocating saw, then tack welded it every few inches to the bumper, then did final beads all around. Then spent several weekends grinding nasty looking beads since my welding is mediocre at best. Everything sticks, just that flux-core wire welding makes a huge mess. I have an argon setup for both my welders, I just can't be bothered dealing with the gas suppliers who want to recert my tanks every friggen time for $100. So, I grind in spite

I'd also recommend not making it out of 1/4" plate. I imagine that 1/8" plate would be good enough, and much easier to weld with a 120V welder. I used 1/4" plate because I had it left over from a robot chassis I was making, but never finished, so I recycled the plate before it rusted away in the back of the garage.

Anyway, thanks for the positive feedback, and that's the story of superbumper I was going to make a rear bumper with an integrated trailer hitch (class 4) but then I decided why bother. I have a gooseneck hitch in the attach to mount on the frame eventually, so when I have something worth towing around, I'll box out a hole in the bed, mount the hitch, and be happy with the additional attic space

PS: Evilbeast: BTW, the bottom of the bumper is 12.5" off the ground, which is plenty of space for anywhere this truck will be driven. Its a 2wd towing rig, so she'll never be lowered or lifted or outfitted with big mudding tires, or 22" spinner wheels with low profile tires. She's a basic workhorse, getting some upgrades slowly. Bumper was first. Interior and dash modifications have been in progress for a while, and once I figure out how to glue plastic well enough I'll be installing a pile of digital gauges (out of fancy GM cars) to go with the GM fuel injection that will drive the new motor.

The problem with the interior stuff, and the engine, is the two projects need to be completed at about the same time, and the engine building is seriously lagging. I had to coat, strip, and recoat the pistons four times to get it right. Aurrrrrrrrrgh!

 

Keep us updated frederic

 

frederic,

you have seen mad max waaayyyy too many times!

what the heck do the neighbors think?

now your tires look too skinny.

you really made me laugh tonight.

go to new york and care the hell out of the cab drivers!

 

Weld a ladder and handrails to it like a locomotive.

 

I like it I want one but not as big only up to the above the wholes