DIY Hidden Winch Bumper (1 Viewer)

[lostih]

After much deliberation I decided to fab my own bumper for the 80. My goals were to keep it a simple, clean look, mount a winch, and not have the bumper stick too far out from the truck. This is what I came up with. I'm pleased with it. Fits a 9.5k winch. Mounts to the frame pretty easy. I built it in three pieces (center section and two wings). Sorry I don't have any pictures of it clean...as soon as it was done we had to take it out and try it

 

[half k cruiser]

I bet I know where the winch is hiding !

 

[LowcountryCruiser]

looks great man. I wanna build something like that, just gotta get a welder and learn first. was it a hard job?

 

[Tapage]

it looks good . . but in a related note, you want to see your winch when you are spooling in, when your line / rope it's stuck or simple when it's full of mud and you need to clean it ..

 

[lostih]

looks great man. I wanna build something like that, just gotta get a welder and learn first. was it a hard job?

Its a moderate job I'd say. I wanted to use as few individual pieces of steel as possible...so there are only three pieces used for the surfaces you see. I made the entire thing out of cardboard and then unfolded it on the steel and torched the pattern. I then took the cut steel pieces to a sheet metal shop and had them bend them for me on a press...cost $45 bucks (shop min) and worth every penny in terms of quality of finished product. Then it was just welding them up and grinding/sanding the welds smooth.

One thing I struggled with that was really dumb was getting the front contour of the truck's nose. I cut different shapes and kept cutting and testing until I got it about right. My friend pointed out that it would have been a lot easier to just turn the old bumper upside down and trace the contour that hugs the body on the cardboard. D'oh! That would be super easy...

 

[lostih]

it looks good . . but in a related note, you want to see your winch when you are spooling in, when your line / rope it's stuck or simple when it's full of mud and you need to clean it ..

Agreed. I am trying to decide about where to put a visual access point for the cable. I like it staying out of the weather but it would be good to have some view of it...I might cut a slot in the front big enough to see whats going on...just gotta watch for pinch points

 

[half k cruiser]

You could cut a slot in the top, like a rectangle, that would look pretty good and give you a view of what the line is doing.