Alright guys, my bumper is finally done. I built it more oilfield style, and cut off the headlight brush guards cuz i didn't like the way they looked. I also bought a '99-'03 Grille shell in black and primed and painted it myself to save some cash (alot!). Ford wanted $350 for a painted grille, i got mine off ebay for $90 primed and I bought a $5 can of DupliColor Deep Toreador Red and some clearcoat and it turned out really good. I also put the H-D style headlights and corners in and a Precision Billet Grille. I have pics in my gallery if you care to take a look! I couldn't figure out how to post on the forum.

 

They aren't showing up in the gallery as far as I can tell.

 

I've been trying to get it to work, don't know what the deal is, my pics won't upload. Any help or advice as to what i'm doing wrong?

 

Upload 'em to photobucket.com and then you can post the images in here.

-rockstate

 

looking forward to seeing it once they're working.

 

photobucket is the only way to go anymore, easy to use and free-- can't beat that.

 

Before pic of the deer damage

 

With grille shell and H-D headlights

 

New bumper mounted, still needs painted, doing that as you read this.

 

Front pic of my '98 with the bumper installed. Like I said, I'm currently painting the bumper with spray-on bed liner and will post pics when it's 100% complete

 

That loooks goooodd. What's will the total cost be?

What gauge steel?

-rockstate

 

How much weight did that add to the front end? That is one tough looking bumper and of the type only found on 3/4 or 1 tons.

 

it actually doesn't weigh that much. It's probably less than 200lbs as i can mount it and unmount it in my driveway by myself. I weigh 250lbs and can stand on the front bumper and not sag it much. i don't notice much difference when i brake or anything, but the front end does feel much more solid with the extra weight up front. The 3.5" main tube is schedule 40, so it's about a 1/4" thick sidewalls. The tubing is .120 x 2", and i used 1/8" tredplate. Like I said, I can lift the bumper up and mount it by myself, so it's not that ungodly heavy. Total cost for me was about $75, but i got alot of the materials from the welding shop i worked at. I only paid for the treadplate and the spray on liner.

 

Damn, sounds pretty solid. I had to pay $600 for my Ranch Hand grille gaurd. I don't have any skills to make a bumper replacement though. Although, it seems like it'd be almost a bit easier than a grille guard. Mine weighs 112 lbs and is made of 12 gauge and is fully welded. It does its job well.

-rockstate

 

I like the grille guard look but as you can tell from the first pics my bumper was screwed! And as much driving on the highway that i do i knew it wouldn't be the last deer i ever hit! The benefits I found of making my own was that if it gets hit and bent up, I can cut off whatever gets bent and weld on new, no big deal. The high dollar store-bought ones once they get bent up, you pretty much just have to buy another one. Though they do look a little better than the one I made, but not many others can say they built something by hand for their truck!