LX450 rear bumper build

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Had a question on another thread about overall cost in metal so far.

So far in metal I am at $210 with tax (13%) this is also in Canada so everything costs more so I'm sure metal does as well. I still need to get some more metal to finish the bumper its self then the swing outs so probably another $200 total.

Overall I would like to have this all said and done around $700.

Oh I'm also into it for about 20 hours so far.
 
Fantom said:
does that include the swing out hinges, locks, struts, etc? Those also add up. You'll realize, once it's all done, how much it really takes and why they cost as much as they do.
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Yes, right now I have $260 in metal, $213 in pivots, $28 in gas struts, $43 in destco latches. All that remains for material needs is swing out metal and paint. I shoud be very close to my goal.
 
Fantom said:
does that include the swing out hinges, locks, struts, etc? Those also add up. You'll realize, once it's all done, how much it really takes and why they cost as much as they do.
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Also need to point out I'm not only doing it myself to save money but I enjoy doing this stuff. I know exactly why they cost what they do, I also am doing it myself because nothing out there pre made was exactly what I wanted.

No point having the tool to make this stuff if you buy it pre made.
 
Day 6

Got back on it last night after work. I got the material I needed for the top plate and to also finish up the boat sides and tail.

I started on the finish pice for the rear of the bumper, the frame rails are actually 4.75"" tall and I used a 2x4 piece as the main bar so that left me with a gap on the bottom. I got a length of 2" x 3/16th and cut the angles to work and blend in with the side wings.

Marked for cut
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Then cut
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This is the difference in the frame to bumper tube I was referring too.
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I then cut the angle on the side wings to blend in together, I was very happy this all worked first time.
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I then moved onto the top of the side wings and trying to come up with something I liked there. I settled on this style I like the way it works with the larger mouldings that the LX450 has.
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I'm still working on the top plate that will close it in and then I need to work on the rear and making it look right when I bring it into the bumper beam.

I also was able to get my welder dialled in a bit better, I changed from my usual .030 wire to .035 and it made more of a difference in the settings needed than I though.

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I'm headed up camping this weekend so that's it for this week.

:cheers:
 
Fantom said:
Nice, should be very slick when it's finished.
I'm curious how many sanding disks you'll go through in the end. My front one cost me a lot in sanding disks, all cut and weld :D
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Yeah its going to be a couple, I will use a grinding disk to knock down the main stuff and the sanding disk to clean it all up. I have also been trying to make all my joints with a V so I can lay weld into them.

After last night I'm really looking forward to how it all comes together.
 
One thing you might want to be aware of is body flex, and the proximity of your body panels to your bumper steel.
I had a lot of body roll on my rig, worn out shocks and soft springs, and after the Rubicon trip I had some new dents and creases from the body coming into contact with the bumpers. I have new shocks now, same springs, and it has reduced that quite a bit.
 
Enigma said:
One thing you might want to be aware of is body flex, and the proximity of your body panels to your bumper steel.
I had a lot of body roll on my rig, worn out shocks and soft springs, and after the Rubicon trip I had some new dents and creases from the body coming into contact with the bumpers. I have new shocks now, same springs, and it has reduced that quite a bit.
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Yes I am keeping 1/2" or more gaps all round, in areas where there is a greater chance of contact I am leaving more room. The Shocks and springs should not play any part in the body hitting the bumper. Body mounts on the other hand do, I suspect that the Rubicon put a lot more twist on the frame and it made the body contact the bumper. Shocks and springs really play no part in keeping the body from moving in relation to the frame.
 
Enigma said:
True enough, as it's all tied together, but it was quite the floppy jalopy :)
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Yeah I know the feeling I had a SAS 4runner and when I first finished it I felt like I needed to drop a knee going around corners Sportbike style. 2 years later and 3 different suspension set ups it was ok to drive.
 
Enigma said:
True enough, as it's all tied together, but it was quite the floppy jalopy :)
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Try running a spring over on 30 year old leaf springs with a few add a leafs and some swampers! :hillbilly: King of floppy jalopy
 
Fantom said:
Doesn't help when the nuts back off on your shackles too :flipoff2: That was close to being very flexy
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Yeah that and I just found my passenger side missing one stearing knuckle stud and one caliper bolt, with the rest of the nuts and bolts loose! :hillbilly: Couldn't really hear the rattle and banging over the swampers, so it took me till the summer and me starting to roll down the window to actually hear the grinding and rattleing of the calliper to find out something was wrong! tighting that all up did help a little in the sloppy jalopy.:hillbilly:
 
Got back to work on it last night, I worked on getting the hitch receiver into the bumper and a proper support for it. It will be as strong as a Class 5 when done all of it is made out of 1/4" (it added 30lbs to the weight easy). But I wanted to know that is was not going to have any issues if I do tow something or use it for recovery. No pictures yet just picture a hitch receiver in the bumper, it took all night though lol.

I also got new materials for the side wings to get them fitting a bit better i.e. more room for body flex. It required a complete redo of the upper side wings in the process. I have not done anything more on the side wings other than hold metal in place and try and picture how I want it to be finish off. I think I have a plan in my head of what will work and look good at the same time. Just need to get a day to work on it.

I was hoping to have the bumper part of this done for the next meeting to get input but that's not looking likely.
 
Fantom said:
Sorry to hear about the delays, it ends up taking a lot of time. In the end, the fabrication time is not that bad, but the design and measuring (if you want it to look good and be functional) takes a lot!
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Yeah I would say 70% of the time so far has just been sitting there measuring and holding metal in place to figure things out. Its also very time consuming trying to get things to look right and follow lines then the duplicate it on the other side.

This week I needed a break so went to gym each night instead of working on it. Last night I felt sorted enough to give it a shot.

I was hoping as out wedding drew closer the bumper would be a good distraction. But I have now thrown in a Career change and added stress of having to start really paying for all the wedding things that are booked (Ouch). As long as the bumper is going smoothly its a great distraction but as soon as things become a challenge the stress of everything really piles on. I'm just going to slowly widdle away on it as I have time and not worry about having a deadline on it.
 
As posted on my other build threads, thought I would get Mat a bit of exposure.

Bit of an update, not a lot has been done, I did get the hitch receiver in place and a cross-member for it into the mix, its beefy all 1/4" square tube its added at least 30lbs to the bumper but its a good strong set-up.

I'm also looking into Options for tire carrier and Jerry can holders. Option are make my own and see how it works out of get something like this.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/merchandis...auging-interest-fuel-can-holders-options.html

And

https://forum.ih8mud.com/merchandise-storefront/597495-tire-swing-out-kit-canadian-made.html

They are both made locally to me so they are at the top of my list if I do not make my own.
 
Wheelingnoob said:
Also need to point out I'm only doing it myself because I can't afford the SLEE rear bumper and I enjoy doing this stuff. I know exactly why they cost what they do, I also am doing it myself because nothing out there pre made was exactly what I wanted.

No point having the tool to make this stuff if you buy it pre made.
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Fixed it for ya! :grinpimp:
 
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