Builds "Red Lobster" Build (1 Viewer)

[pandathrust]

Yesterday I finished welding the remaining gussets, stops, and tabs onto the bumper and finally got the tire mounted to see how it looks.

The 35 looks so small mounted up there i need 37s already... It's exactly what i was going for though.





I'm happy with how it turned out. The tire matches the hatch perfectly to make it seem at home up there.



Here the swing out is fully opened and hitting the spindle stopper.



I had some concerns about the tube bending in extreme cases like when wheeling or in a crash. It barely moved when pushing as hard as I could against the mount without the gussets, but after they were welded on the tire doesn't move at all. They really stiffened the hoop. The tire only moved a tiny bit when hitting the speed bumps on the way home at about 30 mph.



Last thing to do is drill and tap a hole for the HDPE plastic support spacer in between the swing out and the bumper, then it will be ready for painting in a few days.

 

[jcardona1]

Nice work! I'm in the process of building a single swingout 4x4Labs bumper too, but I'll be putting a ladder on it. I'm also making my own tire carrier, so this gives me some good ideas. Your spindle - did you have to cut it down? Mine sits really tall out of the shell. I should have cut it down before welding it in place. Wonder if I got a spindle for a different bumper...

 

[1973Guppie]

love that red color, nice work!......

 

[pandathrust]

Nice work! I'm in the process of building a single swingout 4x4Labs bumper too, but I'll be putting a ladder on it. I'm also making my own tire carrier, so this gives me some good ideas. Your spindle - did you have to cut it down? Mine sits really tall out of the shell. I should have cut it down before welding it in place. Wonder if I got a spindle for a different bumper...

Thanks! I didn't cut mine down at all. I ground the side down a bit to fit over the inside weld though. I just followed the build thread that Luke posted up a while back. Did you set your spindle up with the 3/4" space between the first groove and the bumper shell?

love that red color, nice work!......

Thanks. I like the color a lot too.

 

[jcardona1]

Thanks! I didn't cut mine down at all. I ground the side down a bit to fit over the inside weld though. I just followed the build thread that Luke posted up a while back. Did you set your spindle up with the 3/4" space between the first groove and the bumper shell?



Thanks. I like the color a lot too.

It's sitting a bit higher than 3/4" because the spindle stem was too long. I'll be using some spring pull-pins as the stopper so I'm not worried, it just looks a bit funny

 

[scrowley]

That's weird. I would't think that it would flex at all. Are the bearings still good or is the square tube literally flexing all around. I'd contact Luke about it, he'd probably have some suggestions on how to fix or atleast minimize the problem.

Here are a few pictures of the latch you asked for.



And a few of the hooks that I ended up making. They look pretty stupid i'll admit it, but they get the job done really well. The latch clamps down really hard and doesn't budge a bit.

HMMMMM. Thanks. I wonder if I added one of these in the middle it would keep the bar from twisting...? Rather than chop off the setup to replace with a 2x4 instead of 2x2

 

[pandathrust]

HMMMMM. Thanks. I wonder if I added one of these in the middle it would keep the bar from twisting...? Rather than chop off the setup to replace with a 2x4 instead of 2x2

You could add one in the middle, but I'm not sure how much it would help. It might be worth it in the end to just remake the swing out. If you do decide to keep the 2"x2" and decide to buy the same latch that i have, you'd either have to weld it onto the swing arm or drill new holes in between the 4 ones that it comes with. I just barely was able use the holes that came predrilled with my 2.5"x2.5" square tube. Just so you have an idea, my swing out is 1/4 wall and can hold my 35 and me (about 190lbs) standing on it without any bending.

 

[pandathrust]

I finally got the bumper all painted up and set up the way I want. I decided to go with the dark gray metallic paint instead of black. I'll be changing the sliders and front bumper over to the same as soon as they are built.







I also made a little license plate holder out of 16 gauge and a small led light off eBay. Turned out well and should keep the popo off my back.

 

[danadog]

Nice looking build! I am partial to the color!

 

[pandathrust]

Gonna have a few more boxes from Luke coming in the next couple weeks. I liked the labs rear bumper so much, I decided to drop the ARB and buy a 4x4labs front bumper.

 

[dirtyboots]

Brilliant, excellent work. I really like how it's centered and tucked high. Did you plan on locating the tire so you could see out of either side / circles in pic below, focal point on solid yellow circle?

Are you planning on putting something in the space below the tire where the line is? That's amazing that's a 35, it does look small. Thanks for sharing and taking the time to post up your work!

 

[pandathrust]

Brilliant, excellent work. I really like how it's centered and tucked high. Did you plan on locating the tire so you could see out of either side / circles in pic below, focal point on solid yellow circle?

Are you planning on putting something in the space below the tire where the line is? That's amazing that's a 35, it does look small. Thanks for sharing and taking the time to post up your work!
View attachment 1016105

Thanks, I appreciate it! I didn't really think about that when I started making it as i kinda figured the rear window would be useless with the tire up there, but I was actually surprised at how much I could see out the window on either side of the tire when I took the first drive. I don't really think i can put anything below the tire because the tolerances are so small. I was thinking a hi lift might be able to fit there, but i don't really like the idea of doing that, and don't think it would fit anyway. My brother is putting a small 14" light bar in between the hoops under the tire on the bumper on his 62. I might do the same if it will fit. The 35 is actually probably closer to a 33 because it is super bald. I think the whole bumper will look better with a 37 mounted up there.

 

[jynx]

Haven't been over to see how the bumper turned out, I like it. I dig the single swing out and the color combo is sweet. I am keeping in touch with Luke to see when he gets the bugs worked out in his 3rd gen rear kits. i think I would prefer a single over a double swing-out.

Also looking forward to seeing how your front build goes.

 

[pandathrust]

Haven't been over to see how the bumper turned out, I like it. I dig the single swing out and the color combo is sweet. I am keeping in touch with Luke to see when he gets the bugs worked out in his 3rd gen rear kits. i think I would prefer a single over a double swing-out.

Also looking forward to seeing how your front build goes.

Thanks Matthew. When I started I didn't really know how it would turn out, but I'm really happy with how it came together. I like Luke's bumpers on pretty much everything he makes one for. I'm sure that when he finalizes everything it will look great. Here's a good looking labs bumper for a 3rd gen made out of an 80 shell https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/3rd-gen-4runner-4x4-labs-rear-bumper.786155/. I too prefer the single centered tire over the double because I really have no need for a ladder and like the look of the centered tire. And I wanted to cover up the whole rear window with tire, instead of just part of it. Hopefully the front goes together just as easily as the rear, but with Luke and his guys behind it all, I'm sure it will.

 

[Box Rocket]

Looks great. sub'd

 

[pandathrust]

Came home this weekend to a box full of metal pieces that will eventually make up my 4x4labs front bumper. Every thing looks great as usual with Luke. Gonna get started on it next weekend because this weekend the Georgia Cruisers are headed up to TN to Adventure Off Road for a weekend ride.

 

[fjfodee]

Been leaning towards one of those myself.
Can't wait to see the end result. Nice work!

 

[pandathrust]

After a few weeks of waiting, today I finally got started working on my 4x4 labs front bumper. The fit up was fairly straight forward with a few bumps along the way, but I ended the day with the majority of the bumper welded. I still have the hoop/horizontal round tube and recovery points to weld into place, but that will probably get done next weekend. I started off the day by getting the frame mounting rails welded up and then proceeded to weld the winch plate and the hitch tubes into place.



Then I welded some end caps cut from some spare 3/8" plate to the end of the frame mounts.



Here I'm making sure everything went on to the frame rails easily.



Close up of the end caps tacked into place



After grinding the welds smooth on the end caps, I tacked the wings into place. They ended up perfectly level which was something that I was a bit concerned about since there is a lot of play in what you can do with them, but it was pretty easily accomplished by grinding the pieces to fit the desired angle.



Then the bumper end plates went on.



That approach angle...



I tacked the gussets (added one more on either side) into the shell.









I pretty much welded 90% of the bumper today and I have to say it is coming together better than I hoped for. Still have to decide if I want to add the horizontal bar below the main hoop, or leave it off. I've already got a 14" light bar to go in that space, but I'll have to decide that when I mock it up. I am planning on grinding the welds down and shaping the curves a bit tomorrow and then I'll be back to work on it hopefully next weekend as well.

 

[Junkyardbiker]

Is there something to be done with this bumper about covering the pinch welds and the filter/drier handing there?

 

[pandathrust]

Is there something to be done with this bumper about covering the pinch welds and the filter/drier handing there?

The AC dryer is relocated up higher and the rest of the main support is cut off right below the front fender line. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do to cover up that cut out area as i don't want dust and mud to get into the engine compartment.