I have wanted to ditch the stock bumper on my truck before I even ordered the truck. One thing or another kept coming up and I never got around to buying the one that I wanted. Fortunately for me a friend from work is an amazing fabricator and welder and we hatched the plan to build exactly what I want.
Six months ago I removed the front bumper from my truck. I purchased 2ea 4x8 sheets of steel (1/4" and 3/16") and was ready to start working on it. Wouldn't you know that things kept coming up and we never got time to work on it. We both decided to just take a week off from work and get the bumper built. We started on it this past Monday and as of today we are about 85% complete.
Day One:
We started with the mounting system to the truck. The center section of the bumper housed the winch plate and was made completely of 1/4" steel. We used gussets as much as was required and I think that I can safely say that I can take on any 4 legged animal in Georgia and win. At the end of the day we ended with an extremely strong center section and a good foundation for the rest of the bumper.
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Day Two:
We got a late start on Tuesday, mostly because of a put stop at best buy (a whole other story). By the time we started working on the bumper we came up with a few different ideas for the center section and additional mounts. Once complete we started mocking up the bumper out of cardboard. It went surprisingly quick and before the night was over we had all the cardboard transferred onto the steel and cut out with the plasma cutter. With the end of the "design" phase complete we were ready to start building the next day.
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Day Three:
Wednesday was our longest day, no side trips today. Bottom line, lots of welding (all done by my buddy), some grinding and re-welding, and finally more welding. At the end of the day I was extremely pleased, almost enough to stop right there. I figured I just needed to hit somebody to get some blood on it, mount a skull and call it good.
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Day Four:
Thursday wasn't really a working day, I had an appointment 2 hours away so I really just got a chance to road test the bumper. I never knew something as simple as a piece of steel could put the fear into people. It was like they were moving out of my way, wither that or all the stupid people in GA decided not to drive around. When I got home I started the initial grinding of the bumper to smooth out the welds and get a more rounded look. In hindsight, I should have swept up all the dust from grinding, I am sure I had at least 5 lbs worth. What does 5lbs of steel recycle for these days?
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Day 5:
Today we were tackling the light buckets and all the finishing work. I didn't get a chance to take any good pics after today's work, got dark before I knew it. The light buckets were supposed to be the most difficult thing but they turned out being pretty easy. Once we were done grinding tonight you can't even tell that they weren't just part of the bumper. I wanted to leave the pipe sticking out though, I could have made a bazooka or something. >
Even better, it could have been an impaling tool.
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Tomorrow brings more sanding, mounting the lights and hopefully the baja style bar. Once it is all said and done I need to either get it powdercoated or Line-xed. I am extremely happy how this bumper is turning out and can't thank my buddy enough for doing all the work.
Six months ago I removed the front bumper from my truck. I purchased 2ea 4x8 sheets of steel (1/4" and 3/16") and was ready to start working on it. Wouldn't you know that things kept coming up and we never got time to work on it. We both decided to just take a week off from work and get the bumper built. We started on it this past Monday and as of today we are about 85% complete.
Day One:
We started with the mounting system to the truck. The center section of the bumper housed the winch plate and was made completely of 1/4" steel. We used gussets as much as was required and I think that I can safely say that I can take on any 4 legged animal in Georgia and win. At the end of the day we ended with an extremely strong center section and a good foundation for the rest of the bumper.
Day Two:
We got a late start on Tuesday, mostly because of a put stop at best buy (a whole other story). By the time we started working on the bumper we came up with a few different ideas for the center section and additional mounts. Once complete we started mocking up the bumper out of cardboard. It went surprisingly quick and before the night was over we had all the cardboard transferred onto the steel and cut out with the plasma cutter. With the end of the "design" phase complete we were ready to start building the next day.
Day Three:
Wednesday was our longest day, no side trips today. Bottom line, lots of welding (all done by my buddy), some grinding and re-welding, and finally more welding. At the end of the day I was extremely pleased, almost enough to stop right there. I figured I just needed to hit somebody to get some blood on it, mount a skull and call it good.
Day Four:
Thursday wasn't really a working day, I had an appointment 2 hours away so I really just got a chance to road test the bumper. I never knew something as simple as a piece of steel could put the fear into people. It was like they were moving out of my way, wither that or all the stupid people in GA decided not to drive around. When I got home I started the initial grinding of the bumper to smooth out the welds and get a more rounded look. In hindsight, I should have swept up all the dust from grinding, I am sure I had at least 5 lbs worth. What does 5lbs of steel recycle for these days?
Day 5:
Today we were tackling the light buckets and all the finishing work. I didn't get a chance to take any good pics after today's work, got dark before I knew it. The light buckets were supposed to be the most difficult thing but they turned out being pretty easy. Once we were done grinding tonight you can't even tell that they weren't just part of the bumper. I wanted to leave the pipe sticking out though, I could have made a bazooka or something. >
Even better, it could have been an impaling tool.
Tomorrow brings more sanding, mounting the lights and hopefully the baja style bar. Once it is all said and done I need to either get it powdercoated or Line-xed. I am extremely happy how this bumper is turning out and can't thank my buddy enough for doing all the work.
