Bumper build design...need some opinions...

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J

jdog35

10 Year 15 Year
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Feb 6, 2010
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Hey all. Please forgive my impossibly crude photoshop here...but my laptop and patience don't work well together for super-high-detailed mockups:)

The long and short of it is...which do you like better? I am really torn between doing swing outs or not. I love the looks of rigs with them, and it seems somewhat naked on the back without them. But I would love your take/opinion on each.

And yes...the ladder would eventually lead to a roof rack:)
pig bumper draft with no arms...webp
pig bumper draft with ladder.webp
 
On my 80 I have a bumper with a swingout for a spare and a highlift mount, and I think it looks OK.

On my pig I am going to have a bumper made but I think I want to keep the rear end cleaner looking. I plan on a bumper like your top one but keeping the lights in their stock position. I want to move my spare inside on a "stripper pole" mount that I can also mount a highlift on to keep it out of the elements.

I think they both look good. Maybe others will post up pictures of their rear bumper and let you know why they picked the style they did.
 
Thanks Sno. I blanked out the stock light location fully planning on housing everything in the bumper. I actually have a bunch of seals and new light housings that came with the rig even, but just wanted to keep it all down low.

The more I look at it the more I dislike the idea of using yellow/amber turn-signal indicators in the reflector position on the body. It just feels too busy I think. I might mock up another here with those as red brake lights, and have the oval lights closer to the edge on the bumper. Otherwise I'm not sure what to do with that area of the body with the mounts and holes and such.
 
having the lights in the bumper will keep a guy from being pulled over if his tire is so big it encroaches into the brake light zone. I'd keep my factory lights in place. If you decide to start w/ just the bar and figure on adding maybe in the future the swing outs, be sure to keep the bar far enough from the body so the swing outs uprights don't stick into the body(cause the pigs rear sticks out further in the middle than the top or bottom.) my first inclination was to get the bar as close to the body as possible for departure, but I may have pulled it too close to get my spindles on w/o them sticking out past the face of the bumper...HTH
 
Possible final draft having incorporated a lot of feedback and thought. Anything I'm missing guys?

Oh, it is to scale by the way. Bumper body is 7" tall and 5" wide. Oval LEDs are 6.25 x 2", rectangular LEDs are 5.3 x 3.4", and the round reverse LEDs are siting at 3" diameter right now.

The swing arms and spindle dimensions are a bit of an unknown for me. I have 3" scrap square tube kicking around that would make a great base for those arms I think, but I'm pretty sure the tube width has to be the same as the diameter of the spindle correct?

The goal is to be some-what modular in case needs or taste change. If I hate the swing arms, I have the lights in the OEM space to balance out. And if I keep them, I am covering my arse by having the lights in the bumper as well.

Any other thoughts on what I might be missing in this setup?
pig bumper final.webp
 
I would go 5' wide (vs. 5").

Sorry, just being a smart ass! Have you ever seen the movie Spinal Tap? The rock band wants a replica of Stonehenge for a concert, so they sketch it out on a napkin and write dimensions of 11" on it. The guy who makes it follows the dimensions. I have heard they got the idea for that segment of the film based on Black Sabbath making a big ass Stonehenge that was too big to fit in most concert venues.

Back to your bumper, looks good!
 
Here's what I did. I like having the spare in the center from a weight distribution standpoint, and I empty my cans at the same time, so as to help limit "the lean"
 

Attachments

Here is a very crude setup I built for my 55.I am a cheap ass,so I used some gate hinges that I now have to remove for spindles.I am finishing one on the 40 right now as well and bought a couple of spindles from IPOR that will work out better.Good luck
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Thanks guys!

Hey bogus...any chance you have more shots of that bumper setup (i.e. build shots)? And did you use 2x2 square tube for your arm? I only ask because, like I said, I've got some 3x3 I would like to use up, but logic tells me the tube width has to match the diameter of the spindle. Yes/no?
 
PabloCruise said:
I would go 5' wide (vs. 5").

Sorry, just being a smart ass! Have you ever seen the movie Spinal Tap? The rock band wants a replica of Stonehenge for a concert, so they sketch it out on a napkin and write dimensions of 11" on it. The guy who makes it follows the dimensions. I have heard they got the idea for that segment of the film based on Black Sabbath making a big ass Stonehenge that was too big to fit in most concert venues.

Back to your bumper, looks good!
Click to expand...

My favorite saying when someone calls me a smart ass...better than being a dumb one:)

The 5" measurement was the depth of the bumper front to back. I probably should have been more clear on that one. The overall width (end to end) is 65"...just over 5'.
 
no reason for tube width to match spindle diameter. Bogus has a thread on this. search bumper, or swing out...I used one of those spindle/bushings as a hinge that holds a rack w/8 solar panels-it's a sail about 9 1/2' by 9 1/2' that stands up to some pretty good winds. I have no worries w/ that spindle carrying that load.....just wish the collets looked nicer and had a more positive "lock" holding it all in place....
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Thanks lamb. I'm looking at either the IPOR or 4x4labs spindle as they seem to be the most popular/field-tested on here. I'm gleaning they are both about equal in this type of application.

I'm also kinda leaning toward that IPOR-style single-arm tire mount (i.e. no triangular braces). Any thoughts on that since your rig is famous for being battle tested and...well...BEEFY?!?
 
jdog35 said:
Thanks guys!

Hey bogus...any chance you have more shots of that bumper setup (i.e. build shots)? And did you use 2x2 square tube for your arm? I only ask because, like I said, I've got some 3x3 I would like to use up, but logic tells me the tube width has to match the diameter of the spindle. Yes/no?
Click to expand...

I'll have to dig for build pics. I'll see what I can do. The "arm" is 2x3x1/4. Yes, your tube width needs to match the diameter of the spindle.
 
C'mon, Bogus.why? just run a 2" hole saw thru the tube end and burn baby burn. I guess it might *look* funny if the tube were narrower than the spindle, but wider just means you gotta notch and bevel the end to bring it into the spindle. It's just steel:meh:


as far as swing outs go, I don't think there is a critical structural issue unless you need to support a 40" spare over 40MPH washboards. I think single or dual swing outs are a preference regarding how much work you want to do to get into the tailgate. I have been leaning toward the single swing for simplicity, but dual would allow for a pretty slick camping kitchen set up. The bottom line is, what do you see your swing outs doing for you besides just holding you gear? How often are you going to be in and out of the tailgate? How big of a spare are you going to need to keep? these are the questions I still haven't been able to fully answer for myself yet, and the reason my swing arms are still in concept mode.....
 
another thought is that you may well have to open up the cargo bay in a mall parking lot...the dual would stick out into the driving lane less...and if your spare sticks out a foot and a half, you'll need to be mindful of the POS cars parked next to your cruiser-and if there is a cruiser next to your cruiser, you'll need to be EXTRA careful;)
 
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