i'm having a helluva time finding a heavy duty bumper made for an 89 f150. they have tons for more recent models but none for this year. for those of you with older f-150s what do you have on the front of your truck. I want something NONtubular, that i can mount a winch on. I love the TJM and the ARB bumpers but, as i said, they dont make them for this year.

Thanks

Keith

 

What about a Warn winch bumper? www.warn.com

 

Make one yourself.

 

i like the warn enforcer bumper, but don't like the chrome, is there a black version? am i just missing it? i'd love to make my own, but dn't have the means or skills to do such a thing. i will eventually take the time to learn though!

keith

any other heavy duty bumpers out there?

 

I searched for almost a year - mail order, local shops, even a specialty commercial truck outfitter that's local to me - nothing I liked.

For whatever reason, I find tubular bumpers ugly. Don't know why, just do, and that's all I could find.

So I made one. While what I did was absolute overkill in every sense of the word, it was a fun project, and it is something an amatuer can make. While I used a plasma cutter to cut out all the pieces, one could use a sawzall or an angle grinder with a cutting blade instead.

I used a 120V,20A Lincoln flux-core welder, didn't even use the gas hookup. The Lincoln Electric SP125 sells for under 500 bucks at both Lowes and Home Depot, and both stock the flux-core wire you'll need. Now, I made mine out of 1/4" plate, which was silly and unnecesary, but if you build yours out of 1/8" thick steel, you could even get away with a $300 Lincoln Electroc "Pro-core 100" welder, for about $320 at Home Depot or Lowes (or slightly cheaper on ebay).

If you make the bumper like mine, without curved edges, its easy to weld together, and a fun project if you want to learn to weld. About 12-13 years ago, I wanted to build a sports car from complete scratch. I started off with various suspension parts, steering column, seats etc from junkyards, then welded together a steel structure which slowly became the chassis and roll cage. 12-13 years ago, I couldn't weld. I practiced and practiced and after a fair amount of practice I'm able to weld now. Certainly not making as pretty welds as someone who welds for a living (which I believe is an art, actually), but well enough that everything sticks together with good strength. Unlike a professionally, I just have to grind my weld beads a little more than they do But over time even that gets better.

Not trying to push you into this direction, but you did say you wanted to learn at some point, and something like a bumper which can be a simple welded together rectangle might be a good first project if you keep your bumper design simple. 1/8" thick sheet steel is probably one of the easiest materials to weld, because you can turn the current up all the way on the hobby-class mig welders, and you'll get good penetration without blowing large holes in the material. I feel thinner stuff is more difficult to learn with, though now I can flux-core weld as thin as 22ga with decent results.

There are two tricks to flux-core mig welding. Clean the weld seam religiously with your angle grinder, making a "bevel" where pieces are to mate, and lay the bead in that bevel. Works much better. And second, while you're welding, if it sounds like bacon, you have it right.

If you want a lower cost option, an arc-welder is about $250, though typically such units are for thicker materials (you can weld 1/2" plate easily with an arc welder), or even use an oxy-acetelyne torch. I've learned a lot of different less costly welding methods over the years (because it is fun actually), and I find flux-core mig welding overall the most convienent. No gas bottles, no hassles, just a $500 unit with a large spool of appropriate welding wire, and go lay all the beads you want until the spool of wire is empty. Open side door, swap spool (5 minutes), turn on machine, and lay more beads. It smokes more than using a shielding gas, but I find the hassle of dealing with the various gas suppliers more of a hassle than welding outside to prevent smoke buildup.

And welding is a useful skill in the do it yourself automotive world. As your truck rusts (which it will, unfortunately), you can repair suspension mounts, frame horns, even cut out and replace patch panels in the wheel wells. You can repair broken lawnmowers, make a trailer hitch (I've made two, one for my truck, one for my lawnmower). Even welded together a simple flatbed trailer for my riding lawnmower to haul peat moss, patio bricks, etc as necessary. I've repaired pool ladders, fixed old nasty porch railings, made a steel bird feeder pole (which doesn't sound important, but it supports six birdhouses as per my wife's requirements) and made a steel squirrel shield.

Welding, even with cheap equipment, is a really useful skill. Does take a lot of practice but it just seems me "to weld" pile gets larger every year. Makes a lot of projects and repairs that much more doable.

Anyway, just some thoughts... and if you want to see what's involved in making a bumper, step by step, before you decide if you're ready to try it, feel free to look at my pictorial.

Click here: http://www.midimonkey.com/~frederic/ then on the right side in the reddish box click "Superbumper", "Engine Run Stand", "Console Table" or "Turbo Manifolds".

And again, I'm not trying to push you into this direction, merely illustrate it's a doable option for the "average man". Years ago I spent TONS of money with various body shops welding in patch panels, floorboards etc. All because I had it in my head that I can't weld, I'm a computer dork.

But you know what? Computer dorks can weld too. So can ballerinas. Like everything else, it just takes patience and practice. I even showed my wife how to weld, and while she's not particularly "into" it in any sense of the word, her first welding bead looked pretty darn good!

 

http://www.ranchhand.com/

 

Whatever you do, don't make one yourself!! I did that. Then decided I needed a better welder (bought a Miller) needed a torch (bought a Victor), bought a tubing bender, bought a grinder. Next thing you know, I built a ladder rack. I'm working on a rear bumper. Went out in the yard and made a trellis for my gourds thats 20' x 22'. Built smaller trellis for flowers and vines. Made tables for my shop equipment. Made a picnic table. I keep welding and I can't stop. SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!!!

But seriously. Do it youself and you get just what you want plus you learn a new hobby thats very helpfull.

 

When you start making birdhouses out of mild steel, I'll listen to all you have to say

 

Frederic you are DA MAN!

You and your projects simply impress the hell out of me!
And then you make me nearly wet myself with that birdhouse line...lmao!
Keep on truckin!
Popa Tim