New Front and Rear Heavy Duty Bumpers
 

So guys, I got a question. Anyone here got any ideas as to what steel I should use for the '84 when i get home for the front and rear bumper. I have a custom bumper on the truck that came with the truck, but its only 18 gauge steel and kinda flimsy, and it cracked when i got hit @ 45 mph while i was at a dead stop during this last summertime and i had to weld it and repaint it, it held up but not as well as I like (btw the honda that hit me....well...its engine was through the radiator and all smashed up, he drove it under my truck XD, American Made Vehicles: 1, Non-American: 0.
So, that day I made a list of what all I wanted to do to the truck so I get it to where I want it. I am checking them off slowly lol.

1) The one im at now, which is the bumpers in front and rear. I want something that is meant to take a hit on the front and rear on the farm from rocks on the ground(like a front skip plate that I can remove or something) and road and not fall off or something. So, with that, what would you guys recommend for thickness of steel, what all you would recommend I do so it holds up and does good against wear and tear. I also have floodlights on the stock bumper currently and I want to integrate them into the front bumper, maybe even add more than just two to the front.

2) That was the front, now onto the rear: I have both a gooseneck, and a bumper pull trailers and I need something on the rear bumper that can take a hit from someone like what happened this summer, but be able to pull alot of wieght. Something that will really protect my frame and body, cause both of these are in perfect condition nearly. The bumper on there now currently has two spots for work lights in the rear, I want this to be a part of the new one, and maybe even add more lighting to the rear, as I will have this thing out late at night with a trailer, lights to see help tons lol.

Thanks guys, tell me what you think I can do that will look good, but do the job I want it to do.

If you make the bumper too strong, it will no longer protect the frame. The weaker of the 2 will bend with a hard enough impact.

X2 on what he said about frame strenth. Plus you're neck will also be hurting after a good impact since there is no give, just straight force from the impact to the frame to you. I'd rather have to do a little fix up work after a crash then have neck problems or damaged discs.

Here is a thread of a rear bumper hitch,
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ion-input.html

I used a chunk of frame steel from a semi to make my front bumper.

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...1269481035.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...1269481037.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...1269481038.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...1269481040.jpg

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...1272576987.jpg

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...1272760988.jpg

Thats how we recycle, I like it.

Thanks, im hoping itll keep the rest of the trees at bay lol

These pictures are from last summer when i attempted to put a Cheby Dana 44 under my '65 to go 4x4.

The front bumper is 1/4" thick plate with 1/4" angle iron ran across the back to stiffen it. You can just see it running side-to-side in the 2nd picture...near the bottom of the bumper. This bumper is held onto the frame with four 1/2" or 5/8" (can't remember) Grade 8 bolts. I didn't make the bumper, it's original to the truck back when it was a tow truck.
The only modification I'll make when I swap it over to the 95 F150 frame is to run some 1/4" flat stock from the bottom of the bumper back up to the frame on a 45 degree angle as a strap to further stiffen the bumper.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ictureid=64662

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ictureid=64661

This is the best rear bumper picture I have. It's also 1/4" thick plate steel with the same design as the front, it has some 1/4" angle ran along the back of the plate near the bottom to stiffen it up. I did manage to bend the passenger side corner backing into a guard-rail when the truck slid in the snow/ice one winter. This sucker is directly welded to the truck frame LOL It "used" to be the back of the tow truck body. My neighbor welded in a 2" receiver tube that is over-built. The bumper was cut, the tube slid in the slot, then welded to the bumper on all corner. And the top of the receiver is welded to that angle iron running across the back of the bumper. The receiver tube is about 36" long I think (Bought from Northern Tool, any length you want!) There is some 1/4" flat stock bolted and welded to the truck frame hanging straight down with some 1/4" c-channel running from side-to-side underneath the receiver tube with the tube welded to that also. The only modification I would do for this is run some 3/8" flat stock up to the frame to stiffen the bottom even further.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ictureid=64663

The truck is buried in the snow, but tomorrow I'll do my best to crawl underneath and take some more technical pictures.

Here's my 85 F350:

1/4" thick, 5" wide C-Channel welded to the frame. The receiver tube is welded on every side of the tube that could be reached. Those D-Rings are OVERKILL. My neighbor said the last time we welded D-Rings this big, they were on a tri-axle Mack dump truck. Buyers Heavy-Duty Forged D-Ring — 1 in. Dia. w/ Weld-On Bracket | Rope Rings | Northern Tool + Equipment
The receiver tube travel thru that crossmember and is welded around that crossmember also.
I'm confident I could hook up to anything and be fine. This hitch won't be the weak link.
My word of advice, over-build it. Then you won't get too mad when you regret not getting something slightly thicker or some other similar story.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ictureid=53086

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ictureid=47151

hey Johnboggs...When you used the semi frame for the bumper, did you have to cut and weld it to those angles on the sides or did you have it heated and bent that way? I like the design of it, the brushguard addition is nice too. Im also looking for something that I can either weld on or bolt on to the bottom of it so I dont hurt the undercarriage any if i happen to hit a rock or something while moping about on the farm, like a skid plate of sorts. Also, I have floodlights in the front on top of the stock bumper, I would like to integrate them into the bumper, Boggs, you got any way to throw in a spot to put these lights? Blueoval, the design of the bumper is great. I am thinking about taking that kind of design and using it for the rear end, except I will never have a pintle/ball combination on there, I want to have it set for either a 2" ball with the biggest shank possible, or a 2 5/16" ball with the biggest shank possible (I dont remember the shank sizes). But what I do Need is some sort of place to put my two work lights I have in the bumper right now. can you guys think of anything that would work for that? The bumper now has two cut out slots for the lights, with platforms to mount them inside the bumper.

When you say overbuild it. Do you mean like using 1/4" steel all the way around? What about thickness of the mounting brackets that bolt to the frame? I want this to be removeable as well, just in case I have to work on it or something. I will get ahold of some pictures of the bumper I have now and throw them on photobucket so you guys can see what I am looking for in a better built bumper.

i plan on building front and rear bumpers for the 250 sometime this year. i was planning on useing 3x6 1/4'' wall rectangular tubeing with a front drawbar. as for the rear bumper, im really not sure yet

I'd say use 1/4" at minimum. And run as many gussets and supporting strap as you can because the 1/4" will flex and bend as plate alone. My front bumper has pushed back many frozen snow banks with a running start of 10-15 MPH and WHAM!! Worst thing I've ever done is I sheared off the 1/2" bolts holding it to the frame. The front bumper had no effects.
It is 1/4" plate, and that angle iron across the bottom is actually 3/8" flat stock, not 1/4" angle I thought it was. The sides of the bumper also wrap around as you see in the picture, so that adds to the strength also.
After looking at it closer today, the only modification I would do to this front bumper is make the C-Channel that slips inside the truck frame, longer. That way it extends farther into the truck frame and could have 4 bolts per side.
But that's impossible because the 80-86 frames are closed on the front. I wouldn't hesitate to cut the front off of my own truck frame to make it open C-Channel as the front bumper will definetly add that strength back. Matter of fact, that's what I'm going to do with the 95 F150 anyways.

Here's the front, showing the C-Channel attachment method where the bumper C-Channel slips inside the truck frame and is bolted. 2 bolts per side, with a total of 4. 1/2" thread Grade 8's now, after I sheared the Grade 5's...

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ictureid=64715

Going to the rear...
As it turns out, there are stiffener plates running from the bottom of the bumper up to the frame. Sweet. As you can see, the bumper is welded to the truck frame. Bolting would be better, following the C-Channel method used on the front. That receiver tube really stiffens it all up too. The only thing is that the outer edges/corners can bend with this 1/4" plate bumper. As seen in my first post, the passenger side bent in. Not too much you can do there, unless you run stiffeners from the outer edge of the bumper back to the frame, like on a 45 degree angle. You could use that to hang mudflaps off? Dunno, thinking out loud here....

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ictureid=64718

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ictureid=64719

I have no rear shots of it, because there is spare parts piled right up against the truck...and I can't even see the bumper LOL

From these pictures, you might be able to use some od the ideas towards your bumpers...I don't know if you're looking for a flat/plate style or not, but what the heck? The more good and bad ideas you're exposed to, the more ideas you can think of to improve your ideas!

It's always nice to see what works and what doesn't. That really helps improve your final decisions on designing something.

I REALLY like John's bumper, I keep scrolling up to look at it!

See the front bumper...i dont need a front drawbar lol.I do know Im going to put some sort of support beams from the frame to the bumper to stiffen it some more.

I like Johns too. THats what I had in mind, but i would cut out four holes in it for my lights in the front. Im tired of the goofy looking way it looks with them sitting on top of the bumper.

Btw...anyone need a stock front bumper....damn near new condition. From 1984 XD. THere aint any rust or anything. As you can see in my profile picture. Thats what the bumper looks like up close. I am gonna give it away because I will no longer need it after I get this one on. I have a spare anyways.

Blueoval, keep thinking out loud please.

i second that, im gunna copy that one..lol

When I made that bumper I cut 4 wedges out of the frame and heated it up nice and hot and bent it. Then I welded up where I had cut the wedges out. After that I found myself a chunk of brass and held it behind all the holes while I filled them in with weld and ground em smooth afterwards. Weld wont stick to brass so it makes it ideal for using as a backing while you fill in holes.

I almost cut holes in it to put some big fog lights in it and a small hole to mount the block heater plug in but I didnt want to risk the structural integrity of the bumper.

I used the bumper to push a dead 87 F150 quite a ways, so it must be halfway decently strong LOL

Thanks fellas, ive got to do some tweaking to the brush gaurd part so that its actually level all the way across.

i DO have some HEAVY tow hooks to add to it one of these days:

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...1276950260.jpg

and a couple more for your viewing pleasure lol
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...1/Image033.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...1/Image025.jpg

lol yea you did a pretty good job. id like to find a hydro. winch to mount in mine.

I like it lol. If its strong enough to do that. Well Im going to have to do that kind of a design but it will have floodlights (x4) and more brushguard to it. But I definitly look forward to getting this thrown on the front end. Now I need some more ideas for the rear bumper.

Are you really sure you want to cut out holes for your lights....
I would just mount them on top.
The less cutting you do with the steel, the stronger it will stay. If you start introducing large holes, then you hit a rock or tree....then say the whole bumper starts to torque, then I'll bet the steel plate will crease in a line going thru that hole.
Drill holes...not as big of an issue. Geez, my frame has a ton of holes from the factory to bolt on various body configurations and hitches and crap.
Now, if you do cut holes for your lights, maybe you could box in around them in the back and frame them out like you would do with windows in a house. Weld 1/4" flat stock or angle and box the hole in on the back side. That might work...and it would give you something to bolt your light on...

I like the hydro winch idea. Is the power steering pump strong enough and doe it flow enough GPM's for such a unit? I'm going to run a belt-driven hydro pump on mine anyways...but just asking...
I'd like to plumb my truck for hydraulic quick-connects at the front and rear bumpers, and also have the ability to use hydro winches. Very strong winches!

See I was thinking about cutting holes in the bumper for the lights, but reinforcing the area around the holes of the lights for the lack of strength, maybe a small section around the the area, idk its an idea. The floodlight idea: When I cut the holes for the lights I will weld small plates of steel onto the bumper right below where I cut the holes for the lights and enclose them somehow so they are not getting the effects of montana winters and whatnot. The PO did this with the rear bumper thats on the truck, he just didnt and support to the outside parts of the bumper, its solid, but will bend on the outside past the mounting bracket. . I thought about a winch, but I dont want to wiegh down the front end more than I already plan to, plus...I have military grade tow straps that are 30 feet long....I think 12 of those ought to pull just about anything out.

BTW Blue Oval, the power steering pumps are not strong enough to handle a hydro winch. These older model Ford power steering pumps were built to turn the truck only, and thats bout all.

they have a hard time even doing that. if i get a hydro winch, ill run a PTO drivin pump and put central hydros on the truck. then i could run all kinds of equipment off my truck.

You are correct for the most part, I can give a testament to their credit, the pump in my 84, is from 1984. Sticks sometimes but I can still swing a 22' gooseneck and jack-knife quick if I have to. So, they do have some longevity to them, but thats about all they could do.

yea mine is cranky some times, im about to start running regular hydro oin instead of power steering fluid

I think your plan of attack on the bumper holes seems pretty good Aune, sounds like you'll be in good shape.

In my experiences, I've had a 4k pound rated come-a-long work better than trying to pull stuff with the truck. It comes to down to traction really.
Trying to yank bushes or stumps...I wrap the chain right around my frame, slack it, rev it up, and floor it. Only broken a couple chains to date...
But trying to recover something that is stuck, I've had poor results trying the "floor it and pull" method. You've got between 1 or 4 tires tring to move a dead load...and that recovery truck is most likely on a slippery surface also if the dead load is stuck in the first place.
1 wheel for 2wd open diff, 2 wheels for 2wd LSD, 3 wheels for 4x4 LSD rear/open front, or 4 wheels for 4x4 locked (and loaded :D)
Chaining up to a tree, or the recovery truck with it's brakes locked and wheels chocked, and using the come-a-long allows ALL 4 wheels on the recovery truck to stay "planted" and firm, while the winch does the grunt work.

Same concept as a person trying to pull a loaded sled uphill in the snow in winter...
You'll have better results at planting your feet and pulling with your arms, rather than trying to run up the hill.
Think about it this way, running means lifting a leg off the ground...which reduces traction by half and means that in order to equal out the power/strength of the pull method, each leg has to be double the strength as if you were just pulling.

Ever notice when driving in snow that you can control the car best if the wheels have traction. If you break traction by jamming the brakes, the car will likely "accelerate" in speed. But if you downshifted, engine braked, and lightly applied the brakes...that car will slow down in control.

Now apply that theory to bumper tug-of-war that the YouTube crowd loves. If Truck A has more power and less traction and Truck B has less power and more traction, then Truck B is gonna pull Truck A around the yard all day. As soon as traction is broke, the truck is "loose".
Have you ever tried taking off from a stop uphill in the snow? As soon as traction is lost, no matter how fast those tires are spinning FORWARD, the car is travelling BACKWARD. I've had lots of experience in that driving style :D

Hard to explain, but maybe the more I talk it out, the more clear it becomes?

As for the P.S. Pumps, thanks for the answers. I seem to remember reading about hydro winches running off the PS pump back when I was learning about Jeeps. There was a whole article in one of the magazines and I thought it was cool. The stock Jeep pump wasn't up to the task, but I thought they had swapped in a Ford pump and had OK results. Evidently not one from an 80-96 Full-size I guess. They eventually wound up with some expensive aftermarket PS pump and that worked well.

yea i would take a winch over pulling something out with a truck, its to hard to smoothly apply the load. with a winch its nice and smooth. as for hydro winches, they are more money to do, but id say there worth it if youll use it alot. they wont overheat and burn up like electric winches, and they dont put any load on your chargeing system. thats how i plan to go when i do it. also, haveing a wet kit on my truck would be pretty handy.

I was hoping my idea would work lol. Guess what, there is a warn winch add at the bottom of the page now XD! But as we were saying....the driving uphill in a snowstorm....I've never had that problem. Then again for some reason, i can just let the clutch out on my 6.9l and it will roll forward. If I loose traction....well...i lock up the brakes and put it in 4x4. then im unstoppable with 4 studded snow tires for the most part.

Good point Blueoval. I've had many of the same expieriences....my dads 86 6.9l...the one in my signature thats dead. we pulled that out with a F-150, a come-a-long and two wood poles. Its rear wheels were in the ditch. (Locking rear axle was nice to have lol). We chocked the F-150, come-a-long on the frame of both rigs....then we started to pull...my dad saw that rear axle move just a little bit and floored it after my older shoved the wooden poles under the tires while i was pulling for all my F-150 was worth at the time....it was a lot of fun i will tell you...30 foot wide road and i was sliding back and forth across it...thats fun XD!

Anyway guys, got any other suggestions for this thing on the rear? I got the front covered now. Im looking for heavy duty that will be able to pull 10000+ lbs.

Lucky you, try that with a 2wd peg-legger :D
Letting the clutch out in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd at idle just makes the tires spin helplessly for me lol
Truck only weighs 5700 pounds, and all that weight is on the front.

As for the rear bumper, what exactly do you mean about the hitch part?
I'm not quite sure what you mean about not running a pintle hook, but you'd want to have a 2-5/16" ball...?

I'd say run a piece of 1/4" x 6" tall C-Channel across the whole rear. Cut your holes for lights out, and weld a receiver tube into the C-Channel, then make supports off the back of the receiver tube that will bolt to the frame. Bolt the entire C-Channel to the frame. I would weld smaller C-Channel perpendicular on the bumper, so it rides INSIDE the truck frame a good 12-18". Drill and bolt. I think you'll be in good shape.

Biggest consideration is receiver height. Figure out which trailer you'll be towing most of the time, and figure the ball height into where you locate your receiver. It doesn't have to be precise, because you may hook up to a different trailer. You can get different drawbars/ball mounts with 2,4,6, and I think I've seen up to 10" of drop. The issue is that the lower your drop is, the more leverage you're placing on that ball mount. Most people don't consider it and just run with it...

A pretty good number is 20" off the ground. That seems to be the average for enclosed trailers. Some trailers have adjustable tongues, some don't.

Then get some D-Rings for that bumper!!
Don't get the big ones like me that are 1" diameter, then you can't hardly hook up to any trailer because the safety hooks don't fit, DOH!! They are overkill anyway, get ones that are good for like 20k pounds and you'll be fine. I went overkill because they were only $2 more...and didn't consider the safety hook issue....

See i want to have something pulls a lot of wieght, the C-channel stuff is not that great looking. At least to me. The bumper I have on there now would be nice to have on there for the new one, but a thicker and better built one. I have a gooseneck stock trailer, my flatbed bumper pull is 22 off the ground and the current bumper is set up with the receiver tube like that. Thing is im stuck with this bumper, the damn receiver i bought got stuck when i put it into the tube... so the biggest ball it can accept is a 2 5/16" ball with a 7/8 shank = 7500 lbs. Pissed me off....

Not started working on it yet, but here the thread for my rear bumper.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ion-input.html

I decided not to weld it to the frame, so ignore that part... It will be held with 4 or 5 bolts per side. :)

You could cap the ends of the C-channel, like the front bumper on my '65. that might help the C-channel look better. I think the C-channel is strongest, due to the shape of it. Angle iron is stronger than flat stock. C-channel is stronger than angle iron, because it was 1 more side with reinforcement to reduce bending.

Do you have pictures of your rear bumper so we can see it? It sounds interesting, but I can't seem to paint a picture in my head of what I'm looking at.

Have you tried spraying some PB Blaster in the receiver, pulling the pin, then chaining up to a tree to pull it out. Don't wrap the ball, wrap the chain around the shank itself that enters the receiver tube, so it's as close as possible to being a straight pull from the receiver. If you wrap the ball, it will want ot torque the shank int he receiever tube and provide extra resitance.

Is the back of the receiver tube open? You could come-a-long to a tree and place a lot of pressure on it with the truck in park, then whack on the ball mount shank thru the back of the receiver tube. With tension applied, the whack forces should break it free.

I like Ohtayoni's tube bumper idea...that would look nice.

I wouldnt put alot of pressure on the truck while its in park. Be better off to set the Ebrake, or if your Ebrake isnt in the greatest shape, have somebody hold the brake pedal down. No point in straining the park gear, dont want to bust it....

My hitch is rusted into the reciever on my F250, I chained that thing to a tree and jerked the dog piss out of it and it didnt move an inch. I think a better approach would be to get it nice and hot with a torch and then try the comealong on it.

Good call on the park brake. Sounds much better than park on the transmission. Didn't think that one thru lol

Holy crap, how long has that hitch been in there that jerking on it didn't budge it?
Hmm...maybe 20' worth of slack in the chain and a running start? }>
Just kidding, I like your torch and come-a-long idea.

I have no idea how long that hitch has been in there. Too long apparently lol. I probly had a good 10 ft of chain, and when I say jerked the dog piss out of it I aint kidding. At one point I was backed up pretty much against the tree and matted it from there and still got nothing out of it. and YES I did remember to take the pin out LOL

:-X24 HAHAHAHA!!
:-hair :eek: Man that sucker is really in there....

Wow...that sucker is in there, mine is not that bad, it moves if i bang on the open end of the tube. I will get pictures from my younger brother, as I am in iraq as you all know. Its made of diamond plate steel that is incredibly thin. But my truck is a manual so i would have to use the E-brake either way, and its not in the greatest of shape either, so this ought to be fun, if i smash it all the way down where it dont click no more, it locks in place so i should be good. I am going to go overboard with the rear hitch so i can pull anything, anything and anywhere lol.