DIY 60 series 4x4Labs rear swing out bumper in your driveway guide. You got this (1 Viewer)

[dbbowen]

Hi all. Ive done a few other posts like this in the past... like how to LS swap your 60 series in your driveway, or how to coil swap your 60 series in your driveway... and I really have a lot of fun doing these how to threads with tips and photos and what not and figured since I'm already making this bumper I might as well add to the expanded 60 series driveway universe with this thread. We have a lot of really great vendors making really awesome stuff for these trucks and these threads are a great way to show that the avg joe can diy.

This thread will be written from the viewpoint of the novice or beginner welder and fabricator that doesnt have all the fancy tools that a pro shop might have, so those more experienced people can kind of skip through parts it. The goal of all of my DIY threads is to show folks who might be on the fence about doing something like this on their own how it really is achievable and to go ahead and take a stab at it. Ive had countless folks message me after reading the LS Swap thread and that they were successful with their swaps after reading the thread and asking questions on Mud. I hope people find that same success with this bumper.

These weld together bumper kits are GREAT first or second welding projects. At this point ive welded together countless front bumpers/sliders/rear bumpers/bash bars/etc for people, none of them being from 4x4labs, and they are NEVER for my own vehicle. This one is for my own truck.

This thread will have a hyperlinked table of contents similar to how the LS Swap thread is; and will cover the main bumper assembly and welding, welder and welding tips and tricks, tools and stuff, and all of the attachments for the bumper such as the ladder attachment/cooler and gas can holder/tire carrier/bike rack holder/fold down table.


This thread looks like a lot and the posts are really long, but Im trying to be super detailed and not miss anything. Building this bumper isnt that difficult and ill try and point out everything along the way.

Also keep in mind, this is just a bumper you are building. If you are off a smidge here or there... its not the end of the world and everything will be fine. I made a bunch of mistakes making my bumper and it ended up turning out great! Cut yourself some slack

Thanks for reading!

Table of Contents:
-Unboxing the main bumper components and why the 4x4Labs kit is so easy to assemble
-Removing the OEM bumper, crossmember, and tackling the rivets
-Frame brackets, recovery points, and the main center bumper section
-Positioning and welding the side wings & shaping the corners
-Hitch and new crossmember
-Spindles
-Swing out arms part 1
-Swing out arms part 2
-Gas Struts
-Tire Carrier Attachment
-Completed Tire Carrier
-Ladder
-Bike Rack Extension
-Bike Rack Extension in use photos with bike rack and cargo carrier
-Ladder Mount Basket (single can basket)

 

[dbbowen]

When you first get the kit, you will receive bunch of small parts. Dont let this intimidate you. Compared to the other DIY kits ive done for late model tacomas and 4runners... this is like not even half of the amount of small parts that come with those.

** A huge reason I went with this specific kit, and i think its perfect for a beginner welder is that all of the tubing is pre cut and notched. Everything that needs a notch has been done already. All angled cuts are done. All bends are done. You are literally just lining stuff up and welding. I built a ton of kits from coastal offroad and those require you to cut down parts to fit, notch tubing, etc.


This is the entire bumper and swing out arms. Its kind of crazy how simplified it is compared to the coastal offroad kits.

Everything is already bent and notched for you. Literally all of the real fabrication is done for you already. Holes all drilled and deburred. Dimple dies already dimple died. Everything. Its awesome.

The supplied bolts and stuff are all nice and tidy, and the spindle bearings look great

Lastly, the latch is nice and beefy. I had a dual latch swing out on my old 80 and it got really old really fast. Nice to see this one only has one latch

Just as a little side note, heres a coastal bumper i did for a friend a while back. Its like 3-4 times the amount of pieces

 

[tmxmotorsports]

Just finished one up on an 80 well thought out bumper alot to it.

 

[dbbowen]

Just finished one up on an 80 well thought out bumper alot to it.

I agree. I just added another photo to the last post to show a 5th gen 4runner bumper from a different company and it is night and day different!

 

[tmxmotorsports]

Have a customer bringing in a 3gen 4runner for a DIY front bumper install doesn't look all that beefy

 

[dbbowen]

Have a customer bringing in a 3gen 4runner for a DIY front bumper install doesn't look all that beefy

Its hard to tell just looking at pics online on which bumpers are stronger than others unfortunately.

 

[Lucky1386]

Excited to see how this goes together. 4x4 Labs make one of my fav bumpers!

I would love to see some pics of the bike rack you mentioned as I don't see anything on their website.

 

[dbbowen]

Excited to see how this goes together. 4x4 Labs make one of my fav bumpers!

I would love to see some pics of the bike rack you mentioned as I don't see anything on their website.

When it gets here ill post it up. It isnt a rack, but a second centered hitch thats spaced out so you can use a normal bike rack and not have it interfere with your spare tire, and your bike will swing out on one of the swing out arms. Its pretty sweet and lets me keep my 1up bike rack

 

[Dubs2017]

Very nice. Following this for sure.

 

[Spook50]

Still my #1 choice if I can ever get the money up to get one. One of these days.....

 

[dbbowen]

Still my #1 choice if I can ever get the money up to get one. One of these days.....

Dude. The weld together kit is pretty amazing. I can’t afford the fully done and painted one while having a toddler but the kit is very reasonable

 

[Spook50]

Dude. The weld together kit is pretty amazing. I can’t afford the fully done and painted one while having a toddler but the kit is very reasonable

I have a dream of the dual jerry can and spare tire swingout with the quarter panel protection

Hopefully through next year my budget will improve. If I can make the time to finalize my gauge regulator and start selling it that would be a HUGE help I expect.

 

[onemanarmy]

Thank you for doing this!

All of your other threads are favorites of mine

 

[dbbowen]

Thank you for doing this!

All of your other threads are favorites of mine

The threads are actually pretty entertaining to write so happy to oblige!

 

[dbbowen]

The first step in doing the bumper is getting your old one off. This sucks. Theres no getting around it.


I used @Idaho Savage 's thread when he installed his 4x4labs bumper and kinda followed it when i was doing my frame prep here.

4x4 Labs Rear 60 Bumper Install How-To with Photos

Hi All, Well I'm happy to finally be able to contribute something to the 60 forum. As some of you know, I was lucky enough to purchase my 62 from a fellow Mudder and it's been great. Shortly after purchasing the truck, I contacted Luke at 4x4 Labs and changed my order from a 100 series rear...

forum.ih8mud.com

Before you even start doing this, soak your bolts in the back for your bumper and hitch in penetrating fluid if you dont want to break them all off.

The best tool for this job is a plasma cutter... but since you are probably like me and dont have a plasma cutter... there are other ways to get the bumper off and get the frame prepped for the bumper. The special tools youll need are a big impact gun, sawsall, angle grinder with a grinding disc ,cut off disc and flap disc, cold chisel, and big ass hammer.

First you need to get your chrome bumper off. Theres two ways of going about this. If you want to keep your bumper or trash it. Mine was all dented up so I trashed it. If you want to keep it, youll need to unbolt everything, most of the bolts will be rusted shut. It will be a hassle.

Or you can just cut off the carriage bolts like this with an angle grinder and cut off disc. Just take little bites out of it at a time until the whole top is off and then hammer them down into the bumper.

This is what you are left with after the chrome bumper is off. A lot of dust and rust and dirt and a rear crossmember.

After your chrome bumper is off, youll need to get your hitch (if you have one) off . If your truck is anything like mine, these will all be rusted shut. All of mine snapped off when I used the impact on them.

Next youll want to cut this crossmember out and get it flush with the frame rails. You wont be able to cut it perfectly flush with the sawsall at first, but you can take off the majority of it, then use a combination of the sawsall and the cut off disc to get it flat to the frame rails. Then use a flap disc to smoothen it out

Once you get the crossmember flush with the frame rails youll need to start working on these 5 rivets on each side. They all need to be removed. How you do it is up to you. The easiest way is with a plasma cutter, but I do a mix of cut off disc, hammering, and drilling.

I like to cut little bites out of the rivets with a cut off disc in multiple directions in a cross hatch pattern, then use a cold chisel to hammer the bites out. If you use a cut off wheel on these, please be VERY mindful because the grinder likes to get grabby in these and if you arent paying attention can lead to an accident. ESPECIALLY if you are forced to cut on the wrong side of the disc.

Once you get a bunch of the mound of the rivet off you can come back with a grinding disc or a flap disc to get them completely flat. From there you can either try hammering them out from the side you just flattened, that works sometimes. If that doesnt work, you can try hammering in a pry bar between the two pieces and prying it off. If it doesnt work you can try cutting and flattening the other side. If that doesnt work you can use a starter punch in the middle of the rivet, and drill it out with a 1/2 inch drill bit. Theres a lot of different ways to skin this cat. Some people use air hammers but Ive got neighbors so i didnt go that route.

Once you get those 5 rivets out you are pretty much home free. You should be left with this. The crossmember cut flush with the frame, and the 5 rivets cut out. From here youll just want to hit your frame with a wire wheel or flap disc to get it all cleaned up because youll be sliding parts in and out of this C channel.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

At least on the 80 series you don't have to mess with them damn rivets just cut tye back of the frame off and frame rails at an angle.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

Got me thinking ahead about the c channel and it's rivets.

 

[dbbowen]

Got me thinking ahead about the c channel and it's rivets.

Man. I really wish I would have done the c channel replacement while I was in here. It’s on the list and this would have been the perfect time for it. Mine are pretty beat. I might add it to the last post honestly

 

[tmxmotorsports]

Now would definitely be the time

 

[dbbowen]

Once youve got your frame all prepped you want to go ahead and slide the hook looking pieces with 5 holes in them into the inside of your frame. Align them with the frame rail holes and leave them for now. On the outside of the frame rail you will use the super thick recovery point and these two pieces will sort of Sandwich the frame by using the upper two and the middle bolt holes in the X pattern on the frame.

Use these bolts circled here in red and the washers. There are only 6 of them and they are for the two upper bolts and center bolt on each side.

At first only put the one bolt in towards the front of the truck on each side, use a washer on each side, and finger tighten it. This will hold the inner plate and the fat recovery point in place.

If you notice in this next photo, you have a body mount that is not flat with the frame. For the two rearward bolt holes, use a washer in between the frame and the big recovery piece to TEMPORAIRALY take up this space. When you actually install the bumper you wont use the washers because they will sandwich the frame, but while you are mocking up everything use the washers for spacing. This is super important.

Once you have all 6 of those bolts installed finger tight, go ahead and install the lower two bolts on the frame rail using four of the 6 bolts here

Now you are ready to slide on the large formed main part of the bumper. The Recovery points will slide through the holes on the bumper shell and will locate the shell onto the curved hook looking pieces you bolted to your frame.

From the inside, you should end up with something resembling this.

You can see on the left side there is a pretty large gap. Im almost positive somethign was dropped on my bumper during shipping, but you can try using a spreader clamp if yours is bent like mine was. There is very slight wiggle room with the frame mounts and you can shimmy it all around to get a better fit up with the frame mounts to the actual shell. Get it as close as you can. I kinda screwed this up on mine and its all fixable.


Find a repeatable spot on the wheel well and measure to the bumper shell to ensure the bumper is squared up with the body of your truck. Do this on both sides and make sure its all square. Everyones 60 series will be different and everyones frames will be a little twisted or not twisted or slightly off. This will ensure that your bumper is lined up with the body of YOUR truck.


Its kind of interesting, 4x4labs builds these things in Jigs to ensure accuracy and that each bumper is exactly the same... but the thing is no ones trucks are exactly the same, so in theory The DIY kits can be better fit to your truck than the premade ones.

Next DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE TERMINAL OF YOUR BATTERY in your truck...



Lightly, and i mean lightly tack the frame brackets to the main shell. Make sure you put the tacks in spots where you can cut them off if you need to. Just enough to hold it together.



With the bumper still attached to your truck, tighten up all the bolts, and then remove the two nuts on the body mount near the rear wheel well of the truck. Mount the short side of the Z bracket on that mount and then put one nut and a washer on it and tighten it tight, but enough where you can just rotate the bracket around. (this next photo isnt mine)

From here you will take your side panels and test fit them. They will go ABOVE the Z bracket and rest on it by the wheel. Put your remaining bolts from the below photo in the holes to hold them in place and use a jack stand under the side wings. Try and line up the rear corner to where you dont have any huge gaps. Mess with the z bracket orientation to make sure the side panels are spaced a little bit off of your trucks body sheet metal, but still line up with the corner of the center bumper section and the side bumper panel. You arent tacking or welding the side wings at this point. you are only making sure that your large center bumper will line up with the wings okay. Check each side, then remove the side wings. If the side wings dont line up, break your tacks and re adjust the center.

On mine I had to space a decent gap out on the corner to make sure it all lined up since my center was slightly bent from shipping. Not the end of the world.

If your side wings lined up okay, go ahead and throw down some hefty tacks on the frame to bumper brackets as well as the recovery points. Make sure its tacked everywhere. Once its tacked. Remove all of your bolts and remove the center bumper assembly and get it on the ground or your welding table.

Before going any further, you want to go ahead and fully weld out the frame bracket and the recovery points. This will help avoid potential warping later... but you still need to watch how you weld now.


To avoid warping only weld one little 4-5 inch section on one side, then one little 4-5 inch section on the other side. Then put the welder down and walk away for a little while. You can come back and weld again once its cooled down enough to touch by hand. This part sucks ass and takes forever but you will thank yourself for it later. Bumpers will and do warp if you put too much heat into them. Ive made this mistake before. Save yourself the headache.


Anyways, get you some good welds down on the inside. You can see the start stops in my welds here. If you weld this whole thing in one go your bumper will be curved from warping.

For the recovery points you want to get a torch and get the thick metal as hot as you can before welding. This will help with weld penetration. Torch it until its super hot, then crank your welder settings up. When you weld these focus the weld into the thicker metal and slightly pause to build the puddle, then swoop down into the thinner metal to tie them together, since your welder settings are cranked up dont pause too long on the sheet metal or you risk blowing through it. The thick metal is very forgiving and will make you feel like a professional welder.

Once you have the entire inside brackets welded up and the recover points welded up (weld inside and outside) let it cool and install back onto the truck with all of the bolts from earlier and tighten them all down. do not use the washers between the recovery point and the frame that you used earlier as shims. From here on out you wont use those anymore.