turkeykiller365

So, it all started on a rainy Pennsylvania night. Hanging out in the garage with some buddies, drinkin beer and talking trucks. I was telling the story of how my $500 ARB bumper got killed (40mph into a phone pole, rear end kicked out on ice), and it was decided that I needed a new one.
my old one.
Instead of going online and buying one, though, my one machinist buddy says "If you can weld, we could probably build a nasty front bumper". Long story short, we started making drawings and plans, and went to buy the steel a few days later. We used mostly 3/16 plate, but the main structure is a 1/4 inch thick 5x5 piece of L channel. There were also 2 pieces of 5/16 plate used to mount the thing.

We decided our new "fab shop" would be named "Shmuck Fabricating, Inc."




First we cut notches into what would be the top of the bumper, so that we could heat and bend the sides back at (I believe) a 20 degree angle. The next thing we did was to bend, and then weld, the front/bottom of each side, 6 inches wide on each surface. We did this to make sure the front would be as stiff and strong as possible, as well as protecting the area between the frame crossmember and the bottom of the bumper.



Test fit. Its really really heavy.


How I had to drive to school for 2 days during this whole process. Zip ties.


Temporary "bumper" (in the legal sense) along with new LED turns. This is the beginning of the mounting bracket for the bumper. And yeah, that front crossmember is bent from the aforementioned phone pole incident. We weren't able to bend it back.


Bumper comparison, new vs stock, 150 lbs vs 5 lbs.





Drilling holes is for little girls. We use fire.


Temporary mount. Turn signals on the bumper (very venerable).


And finally, mounted, in primer, sporting LED turns in the grille, PIAA spotlights, D-rings for chain, and of course the Schmuck Fab. Inc. Logo.



The purpose of this bumper is protection from small trees, other cars, signs, animals, people, and anything else that might get hit (kidding) and for something to mount those sexy PIAAs on.. Thinking OD green or flat black for the paint. Suggestions, comments, etc, greatly appreciated.

She claimed a few small trees over at my farm and didnt even dent at all. Woo!

toyota4x4907

Sure is a chubby girl Looks good, man!

wii_tarded

150#. dang. why did you want it to weigh so much?

turkeykiller365

We didn't really worry about the weight much, mostly just wanted it to be super tough. In my area, near misses with deer are a daily occurrence, so i wanted it to be able to hold up to that. Plus, ramming stuff is fun. Our goal was to make it meaty as all hell, and I think we succeeded. Also, extra weight in the front helps the 4wd in the snow.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

how is the alignment on this truck? that front crossmember looks like it is still fubarred from kissing the telephone pole

xxxtreme22r

I was thinking the same thing. But got to thinking does that crossmember there even affect the alignment?

Oh and where at in PA are ya? Oh wait just seen the Shopping center sign, looks like your down towards Harrisburg?

MYTOYOTA

Right on looks great guys, like the name of the shop too.

turkeykiller365

thanks guys. SFI is where its at. I'm in SW PA right outside pittsburgh kinda. The alignment is fine on the truck. I just recently got it done (when i got my new pirellis) and i dont think that the crossmember being all caddywhompass affected it at all. She tracks straight.

Rt3sAwesome

How does the front of the truck sit with your new addition?

turkeykiller365

it sits slightly lower, but I havent noticed a huge difference.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

There is no such thing as L channel!

Most often known as angle iron.

Why did you not pull out the cross member??

The bumper does look interesting

aviator

That is one beefy bumper mano... Looks similar to what I want to make for mine but 150lbs ?! since mine would be heavier since I want moose bars as well...

I think I'd have to consider alum. to save weight...

turkeykiller365

Aluminum would be really expensive. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Im averaging 18.2 mpg with the bumper. And thats around town. I might get 20 without it.

moltenone

nice job on the bumper,i like the led turns also.

Mark

Philbert

iTrader: (2)

That looks badass! How did you bend it once you cut the notches?

ThatGuy1295

I just built one of those. Dont think it weighed 150 though. Were you hiding the bricks LOL.

Good fix.






Not half bad for 5 hours



And the dawg says "did you say ball?"