Dissent offroad modular front bumper (15 Viewers)

[ylexot]

When you are taking pix and measuring, could you grab these details too? Pic from the top looking down and measurement between light bar and grill. (We LX folk may not be able to use a bar as we have to get our fingers to the bottom of the grill to release the hood.

 

[r2m]

I will likely be adding fender guards to mine.

If the option is available, I'll be doing that also. I've always liked the look and appreciated the extra protection in tight spots on the trail. Our rigs are just a little too expensive to repairing if some simple protection can be added.
My LC is a daily driver and I am not incline to let it become a battered rock crawler. I don't mind trail "pin striping" but draw the line on dents.

 

[benc]

Sorry guys, didn't get home from work till after dark. Try and get some daylight pics tomorrow

 

[benc]

A couple day light pics. Not the best, but better than the last.

 

[bluecruiser]

That is a great looking bumper. Nice work.

 

[ntsaint]

Very nice

 

[TheForger]

Amazing fabrication work!

 

[Get outside]

It looks good but I also have to say I prefer the astetics of the first version better! I'll make my case at a later time and I'll play with these pictures on an photo editor and see what I come up with! I may have some special requests if you are willing to take them. Don't wanna be a huge PITA either.

 

[ntsaint]

Stinger for me...all day long and twice on Sunday. Easy easy.

 

[benc]

As much as I would love to to build each one of you guys a bumper to your specs, its just not possible at these prices. What I have had to do is come up with a bumper that appeals to all of you but is still wallet and production friendly. I will be building jigs for the options that I am offering which will be the new design grill guard, a small stinger and a full guard for the lx. That means, if you would like something different I will have to do it custom off my vehicle. Which means more$.
If you would like something different let me know and we can talk. I hope you all can understand. Thanks

 

[r2m]

As far as I'm concerned, you're on the right track with a great design, especially since you are making it modular, that should generate greater appeal to those who want/don't want stingers, guards, etc.

 

[Get outside]

Ben, completely understand what you mean and don't want to be difficult or picky! On the very beginning I think we all agreed there was no way everyone would agree on what's the "perfect" design/way to build it.

That being said, I still want to share what I would prefer to see and we go from there. If it's something that can be incorporated into the build great! If not, again we go from there.
Thanks again for putting this thing together and specially for giving all of us a chance to put any input at all on the build!

 

[benc]

Ben, completely understand what you mean and don't want to be difficult or picky! On the very beginning I think we all agreed there was no way everyone would agree on what's the "perfect" design/way to build it.

That being said, I still want to share what I would prefer to see and we go from there. If it's something that can be incorporated into the build great! If not, again we go from there.
Thanks again for putting this thing together and specially for giving all of us a chance to put any input at all on the build!

No worries. Just let me know what it is you would like to see.

 

[Get outside]

This is a bit of what I was brainstorming. I know when building multiple pieces the easiest and quickest way to get it done is the more realistic and of course profitable one! The drawback is sometimes a product that can become a bit blend.
Please don't take any of this to heart, I don't want to come here and just piss you off. I like your bumper but if I can somehow persuade you to build it in a certain way sure I'll try, ha ha! I know I can sound very picky and type a, thanks to the restoration shops I've worked at.

Like I mentioned before I was sold on the way the first version looked. In particular how the risers where done on that one!
I know to accommodate the with/without guard something had to be done different.

The two risers shooting sideways I'm not a fan. No idea how you may put the kits together but would like to have those going straight up like before. I get you are trying to give folks the option for the longer light on the top tube. The elevated top tube looks cool!

That gets me to the next thing.
What I was thinking is make the D-ring point at an angle where it would have a smooth transition up to the risers. What this means : I can see in these pics how the d ring point goes up and before reaching the edge of bumper top it has a curve to finish it off. Nothing wrong there if you don't have the risers, but (IMO) after they are bolted on, it looks kind of out of place since they have different angles and are not really working together. It would look very good being a seamlessly transition and giving the impression like it was one piece going all the way up. You can see that better from the sides.

The blend look I said before is more about the tube sides. I thought maybe trying to mimic what you see on the grill guards out there today going around the lights and using the body contours more instead of just a big wide curve and down. Could look pretty slick. Look at the 3rd pic, but instead of going back to the riser you bend it down to the main piece. I played with some other pics I'll post, it may illustrate it better than words!

Thanks again for taking the time to listen to our opinions on the build.

 

[benc]

This is a bit of what I was brainstorming. I know when building multiple pieces the easiest and quickest way to get it done is the more realistic and of course profitable one! The drawback is sometimes a product that can become a bit blend.
Please don't take any of this to heart, I don't want to come here and just piss you off. I like your bumper but if I can somehow persuade you to build it in a certain way sure I'll try, ha ha! I know I can sound very picky and type a, thanks to the restoration shops I've worked at.

Like I mentioned before I was sold on the way the first version looked. In particular how the risers where done on that one!
I know to accommodate the with/without guard something had to be done different.

The two risers shooting sideways I'm not a fan. No idea how you may put the kits together but would like to have those going straight up like before. I get you are trying to give folks the option for the longer light on the top tube. The elevated top tube looks cool!

That gets me to the next thing.
What I was thinking is make the D-ring point at an angle where it would have a smooth transition up to the risers. What this means : I can see in these pics how the d ring point goes up and before reaching the edge of bumper top it has a curve to finish it off. Nothing wrong there if you don't have the risers, but (IMO) after they are bolted on, it looks kind of out of place since they have different angles and are not really working together. It would look very good being a seamlessly transition and giving the impression like it was one piece going all the way up. You can see that better from the sides.

The blend look I said before is more about the tube sides. I thought maybe trying to mimic what you see on the grill guards out there today going around the lights and using the body contours more instead of just a big wide curve and down. Could look pretty slick. Look at the 3rd pic, but instead of going back to the riser you bend it down to the main piece. I played with some other pics I'll post, it may illustrate it better than words!

Thanks again for taking the time to listen to our opinions on the build.

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The riser issue will be addressed and it should not be a problem to put the risers straight. If I remember right, you are getting the DIY kit? If so you should be able to place them as you want. As for the bends, if I had a $30,000 cnc bender I would be bending as you described. Unfortunately I do not and is not possible to get that tight of bends. One of the great things about this bumper is the removable grill guard. If someone likes the bumper but not my grill guard they could buy the bumper with the brackets and have it built locally.

 

[kelly saad]

I love your bumpers, they look great. Its your creativity that has sparked everyones interest, so nice work. Its art, I can appreciate it.

 

[benc]

Thanks guys,
Things have been pretty busy at work the last few weeks so have not been able to make as much progress as I would have liked. I have a small trip coming up next week but I plan to get the prototype to the shop when I get back on the 10th. If all goes smooth I should still be on track to start shipping out the end of February or beginning of March.

 

[grundsethp]

Benc,
Great looking bumper. So far this version is what I was looking for- a lighter weight bumper that will be designed to fit my LX.

For the lx version, I have been looking for a good turn signal fog light option. Here is an interesting option. Can this fit in the bumper?


http://shop.labrak.com/ARB-Bumper-F...RB-light.htm?fb_ref=Default&fb_source=message

Thanks,

 

[benc]

Those would look pretty slick! I will have to measure. I wish they had the measurement of the depth though.

 

[benc]

(Update)
So I'm back in town and plan to bring the prototype to the shop that will be doing the drawing and cutting Monday. The biggest hold up is not being able to round up an lx. So I'll put it out there again, anyone with an lx willing to come to NorCal so I can mess with grill guard ideas will get the bumper at cost. $350.
Hopefully I will be welding parts together late this week or early next