In an effort to make my bumper look better, I came up with the idea of putting a second tow hook on my 62. Its a stock bumper but to get the hook on I would have to make a hole in the bumper. Someone recently told me that if you cut through chrome the finish is ruined and it starts cracking and rusting. Is this true and if so is there any way to seal the metal from rusting?
Cutting through chrome
- Thread starter www1221us
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Chrome is applied via an electric plating process. I have seen poor quality chrome applications flake when damaged so you may very well experience this if you cut your bumper. Since I'm not an expert, why not call a plating company that does chrome and ask them the same question?
As far as the second tow hook goes, you don't really need it for recovery (one will suffice very nicely) so why go through all of the effort, especially if it may compromise the condition of your bumper?
Just a thought (or two)
-dogboy- '87 FJ60
As far as the second tow hook goes, you don't really need it for recovery (one will suffice very nicely) so why go through all of the effort, especially if it may compromise the condition of your bumper?
Just a thought (or two)
-dogboy- '87 FJ60
I did this on my 60. I taped off the area I was cutting to reduce chipping, etc. After I made the cut I sealed the edges with silver model paint (enamel paint). It seemed to hold up OK for me for three or four years before I made a winch bumper. However, my truck is garaged kept, and we don't get much rain and have low humidity. It it gets too bad you can always have the bumper stripped and re-chromed or powder coated or something.
- Thread starter
- #4
I realize that theres no point in doing it recovery wise, I just want to do something to make the bumper look a little better... eventually Im going to fork over the money to get a good bumper, its just that $20 is a whole lot less than $700. Question... if I were to bang some dents out of the bumper, do you think the chrome would crack? What did you cut it with? Would a recipricating saw work?
- Thread starter
- #5
I was looking at the back bumper and I noticed that the back frame is getting kind of rusty. Its only surface rust but I want to get it out before it becomes rust through. I searched for rust proofing but I really dont quite understand how to do it. Anyone have any tips on rustproofing...
I have bent the hell out of my factory bumper and never saw any chrome flake off at all.
www1221us said:
I used a hole saw and twist drill bits and a reciprocating saber saw (not a sawzall). Some pics of a very dirty bumper are below. You can see a little rust on both original and my mod, and some flaking of the chrome on the original hole. I should note that this bumper is not OEM, but an aftermarket one I purchased.
www1221us,
Can't help you with Cuttin' Chrome... but I recently rehabbed my bumper. A PO had broken the rivets and welded the bumper brackets on to accomodate a winch. The position of the welded-bumper didn't jive with the recovery hook and its absence always bothered me. So, a little fender, er a, bumper bender later(FJ62 skids into trailer hitch of 4Runner) inspired me to fix it all up.
My repair to the ding in the bumper isn't perfect, but I was able to pound it out using a smooth framing hammer and a length of 2x4 beneath it. I also worked it a bit with a big rubber mallet. It looks pretty good (read that as, I see it, but probably nobody else does).
When I took the truck to the local body shop to have them help me clean up the PO's welds, I inquired if they could fix the bumper. The guy said they won't touch chrome for fear of it cracking, etc. My fix doesn't seem cracked yet and it's been a couple months.
Hope that helps, and I do sympathize with you wanting to get your bumper looking better.
Oh yeah, as far as rust proofing/repair, etc. Get yourself a sanding/grinding disc for a standard drill. (I got one labeled "rust stripper" from an AutoZone) Go to town on the rust until you see just metal. Clean any shavings/chaff/dust and then paint it up with RustOleom. There are also some more industrial products for marine applications, but their application is quite a bit more involved.
Good luck.
Can't help you with Cuttin' Chrome... but I recently rehabbed my bumper. A PO had broken the rivets and welded the bumper brackets on to accomodate a winch. The position of the welded-bumper didn't jive with the recovery hook and its absence always bothered me. So, a little fender, er a, bumper bender later(FJ62 skids into trailer hitch of 4Runner) inspired me to fix it all up.
My repair to the ding in the bumper isn't perfect, but I was able to pound it out using a smooth framing hammer and a length of 2x4 beneath it. I also worked it a bit with a big rubber mallet. It looks pretty good (read that as, I see it, but probably nobody else does).
When I took the truck to the local body shop to have them help me clean up the PO's welds, I inquired if they could fix the bumper. The guy said they won't touch chrome for fear of it cracking, etc. My fix doesn't seem cracked yet and it's been a couple months.
Hope that helps, and I do sympathize with you wanting to get your bumper looking better.
Oh yeah, as far as rust proofing/repair, etc. Get yourself a sanding/grinding disc for a standard drill. (I got one labeled "rust stripper" from an AutoZone) Go to town on the rust until you see just metal. Clean any shavings/chaff/dust and then paint it up with RustOleom. There are also some more industrial products for marine applications, but their application is quite a bit more involved.
Good luck.
Hey there I also cut through my front bumper of my 61 to add a second tow hook. I used a small hand-held grinder with a cut-off disc and it worked great.
I never sealed it in any way and it did rust on the exposed edges but I will eventually upgrade so I wasn'y too bothered by it.
HTH...
I never sealed it in any way and it did rust on the exposed edges but I will eventually upgrade so I wasn'y too bothered by it.
HTH...
If a bumper is bent in on one side, is it possible to use a come a long to pull it out so it is straight again? Has anyone done this? If so, what did you attach the hook from the come a long to on the bumper?
- Thread starter
- #11
Thanks for the info... About the rust, its rusted where the bumpers attach to the frame, the only place on the frame. The back bumper screws were actually rusted together. They snapped when I unscrewed them. To prevent rusting of more screws I got some 1/2 in screws with galvinized lock washers and regular washers with galvinized nuts. Do you think that will prevent the screws from rusting together?
2mbb... That looks pretty good!
2mbb... That looks pretty good!
- Thread starter
- #12
Finally... I got the back bumper off. Alot of the rust is behind the metal plate here. I cant really get to it because of the hitch. Any Suggestions...
take the hitch off...
