FJ55 Rear Swing-Away Bumper

bryancostanich · 03-23-09, 12:08 AM

Hi all,

I've been looking around for a good bumper for the FJ55 and I haven't come upon much. I want a swing away with the following features:
-> holds spare tire
-> holds two cas cans
-> some accessory mounting (love to put a hi-lift and a shovel on there at a min.)
-> would like it to protect the rear quarter panels (have like the 2x4s pushing forward)

anyone seen anything like that for the FJ55? i'm thinking i might have to buy a 4+ and have a fab shop modify it. Or i might just design it myself and have a fab shop create it. but honestly, i'd rather just find one.

any thoughts?

Luke111 · 03-23-09, 05:31 AM

IPOR (Iron Pig Offroad) make a great 55 bumper and tire carrier and I'm sure Lance and his crew could set it up
to carry a couple of gas cans.
Here's a pic of the IPOR bumper on my truck.

Lou

eventhough · 03-23-09, 05:53 AM

I second IPOR. I have their rear bumper that I modified with their parts for a dual swing-out. If you have a 35 inch spare and want to put two gas cans on there you will be TIGHT for room without blocking your brake lights.

txjake · 03-23-09, 08:27 AM

thats a sweet bumper.....

bryancostanich · 03-23-09, 11:20 AM

i can't tell from the pic, does it push forward to protect the rear quarter panels?

bogus one · 03-23-09, 12:15 PM

You could always just build your own

bryancostanich · 03-23-09, 12:36 PM

you have dimensions/plans for that? it would be a good base.

Lil'John · 03-23-09, 01:22 PM

Personally, unless you find the exact bumper you want, you will be better off outsourcing it to a local fab shop. You will probably save money in the long run especially if you take into account shipping costs.

In this picture of mine, I'm setup to do a bi-swing design. With as heavy duty as the spindles are on mine, I could have done a single swing but I intend to use the two design to support a "canopy" so I can sleep inside the 55 on trips

I'm still up in the air on how to design my holders. I haven't extended my bumper forward because I plan to cut the rockers up and have them reinforced with thicker metal

The little wings are to "fool" people into thinking it isn't a 2x4 bolted to the back

FWIW, my bumper was $80 in steel plus $100 for the spindles plus about 6-8 hours of labor(can't find my invoice on it)

bogus one · 03-23-09, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bryancostanich

you have dimensions/plans for that? it would be a good base.

No, I didn't get that organized.

Main bumper is 4x6 1/4" wall. Swingarm and tire mount is 2x2 1/4" wall. Jerry holders are 1/4" plate.

I just started measuring and cutting. If I had it to do over again, I would have made the arm about 4-6" longer and spread the cans a little.

bryancostanich · 03-23-09, 03:53 PM

@liljon - where'd you source those spindles?

Lil'John · 03-23-09, 04:05 PM

I want to say they were Faultline Fab units but I won't swear to it. I got them through Don at FC Fab. They are around 2.5" diameter

bryancostanich · 03-23-09, 04:22 PM

you got a link? google didn't help me on faultline fab or FC fab.

bryancostanich · 03-23-09, 05:48 PM

looks like Iron Pig Offroad carries a bunch of the pieces. I did a quick sketch of what i think i'll draw up. once i have something a little more formal, i'll post on here for review/comments.

i figure since i'm going to be designing it, i'll add everything i want, so i'm also thinking i'll add a swing-away ladder (in front of the tire carrier) so that i can get to my cargo rack, and kind of a cooler/accessory holder on top of the gas tanks.

what do you all think:

Lil'John · 03-23-09, 08:45 PM

Looks like Don let his website go... but FC Fabrication phone number is: (209)-430-4954 Odds are he won't pick up his phone since he has a lot of projects going on right now... but please leave a message and a number and he will get back to you.

I can't seem to find Faultline Fabrication info.

mookie · 03-24-09, 08:26 AM

x3 on the iron pig offroad bumper.....Lance will build you anything that you want and will also sell you the parts to build your own if you want to. i'll try and get a pic of mine (that he built) when i get home today. it's a single swingarm type that holds a tire, one jerrycan and a highlift jack.

cruiserbrett · 03-24-09, 10:21 AM

splindles can be had from luke at 4x4Labs.com I have used them and they are nice!

Lil'John · 03-24-09, 10:26 AM

Now that I've seen them, my spindles are the 4x4labs ones.

bryancostanich · 03-24-09, 11:39 AM

there isn't much in the way of specs on the IPOR web site, it appears that the 4x4labs spindle is much heavier duty, compare:

Fabrication Products
Iron Pig Off Road : Toyota 4WD experts

is that true?

Luke111 · 03-24-09, 09:21 PM

Either one will do the job , you may want to rethink mounting the ladder behind the tire carrier as you would have to move your bumper farther out from the body to make room. Here's a picture of mine and an earlier IPOR version and there's not much room for a ladder, and a picture of Lucy_FJ55 bumper that MAF produced with the Jerry can holder at the base of the ladder and of course a lot will depend on the tire size you plan on running.

Lou

Here's what Lucy_FJ55 says about his bumper:

I have been thinking of bringing the rig into a local fab shop to have them alter the rear bumper. I would like to incorporate a license plate holder and more of a tube cage welded to the lower ladder that would more securely hold down the gas can. I have a nice FJ40 OEM license plate holder that I plan on mounting to the ladder/gas can cage. Should look cool. I would also like for them to remove the old latching mechanism, that uses a camming lever and seperate pin to unlock and open the swing-out portion of the bumper. I have seen some cool latches, with no parts to lose, that should be easy to source and work well. I also would like them to weld/install a hydraulic shock to help keep the swing-out open (on hills, in general, etc.) I'll keep you all posted on those mods.

bryancostanich · 03-24-09, 09:53 PM

yeah, you're right. even if i cleaned up some of the extra space that's there (your tire carrier seems to hang pretty far away from the taigate), it would still be kind of weird.

thinking out of the box, i could also turn the ladder sideways, put it to the right of the jerry cans and then put a platform at the top to step on.

a spring pin would help lucy's problem of the swing not staying open a lot better than a shock.

bryancostanich · 03-25-09, 12:22 AM

I'm thinking something like this:

the ladder would be to the right of the jerry cans, and go up to a small platform of some type.

thoughts?

Luke111 · 03-25-09, 05:57 AM

That just my work, now how much is going to cost you?
The IPOR bumper was designed by Lance (owner) but it's produced by a large fabrication company, laser cut and machine formed, nice stuff!!
One off stuff can get pretty pricey, as most shops charge by the hour. My custom front bumper cost about $900.00 (back when I had money to spend)

Lou

bryancostanich · 03-25-09, 11:03 AM

well, the only way to find out is to draw it up and get a quote at a fab shop.

nice front bumper

Luke111 · 03-25-09, 04:14 PM

You may spend less by having IPOR add the ladder and jerry can holders to one of the 55 bumpers they stock. I know shipping may knock it out of the park ,but it would not hurt to check.
Now you have me thinking about a ladder

Lou

tyama · 03-25-09, 07:09 PM

here's mine i did a few years back. It's pretty stout and heavy, heavy. the rack is cheesy but i've been too lazy to rebuild it as it fit's me. You might want to think about weight as it will cut your mph down. I'm getting below 10 with front bumper/ winch and rear bumper & 33x10.50's. No need for a ladder as I can climb on the rack and the tire. I use both the old slee spindle and the ipor. both are nice. You may want to measure the top/bottom measurement of your bumper and get the spindle shaft cut to fit your bumper so you can weld the bottom of the shaft to the floor of the bumper tube. You've got some nice drawings, ty

bryancostanich · 03-25-09, 10:27 PM

what's the width on any of your bumpers? i'm doing up some drawings and my 55 isn't here right now :(

also, what's the height from the top of the bumper to the bottom of the tailgate window. and height from top of bumper to roof?

Lil'John · 03-26-09, 04:04 PM

Mine is 60" wide and ~3.5" to bottom of tailgate(aka stock frame rail distance)

Don't trust myself to measure anything beyond those because it is then eye balling it on my part

bryancostanich · 03-26-09, 04:54 PM

haha.. thanks. i appreciate it.
-b

mookie · 03-27-09, 05:02 AM

here's mine....ipor

tyama · 03-27-09, 10:12 AM

Here's what i measured:

bumper width: 64"
top of bumper to bottom of tailgate- at tailgate bottom: 3"
- at tailgate window lower edge: 28.5"

Top of bumper to roof driprail: 44.5"

hth, ty