My bumper jorney

[Jgunner]

Looking good. The satisfaction that comes from doing it yourself far outweighs the hours sunk into it.

I would second the suggestion about using something thicker for the tire support; I used 2x2x.120 for mine, and there is quite a bit of flex while holding a 35" tire. Enough so that it has me considering a do-over of the whole project in the future.

Yeah, looking back i should have gone thicker, but i will try it out. This is also 2x3, so a little stronger in the vertical pressures, but same for horizontal. I can get a lot of thst out by triangulation of the tire mount. It won’t be strait up and down, it will be out a little from the swinger base. Gussests can aid in taking out some movement. Hope its enough. My end at the clamp is all 3/16 , but crossbar is just 1/8, although i can support it with another bumpstop in the middle and also another clamp if i could figure out a way to use it. Going to take it slow and hope it is enough. At least with metal, its just a cut and weld away from rebuilding.

I need lug nuts for my tire plate, i should go get them today.

 

[inkpot]

Why run an exposed bearing in that spindle setup. It will get full of dirt and water. Sealed is only a couple of $ more. We use brass bushings to avoid all that,

 

[Jgunner]

Why run an exposed bearing in that spindle setup. It will get full of dirt and water. Sealed is only a couple of $ more. We use brass bushings to avoid all that,

My buddy ran a brass bushing, it has wore out a couple times. This has a seal, its just not installed. It will get installed when i finish it. Dont want to ruin the seal.

 

[Jgunner]

Also, i have a boot that will go on the castle nut on the underside. “Should” keep both sides clean.

 

[inkpot]

Really hard to screw up a brass bushing unless it is designed/applied wrong. Tailgate swing is only going to do a few 1/4 turns per week/month.

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

@Jgunner great job. This reminds me of the delta vehicle systems bumper they just showed off a couple weeks ago. I really like the design. It appears the pieces are laser cut? Someone is bound to ask at some point. So I will be that guy for once. Would you be willing to share the files for cutting and what kind of cost is involved? I already have a homemade bumper with swing-out holding a 40" spare, but I'm sure everyone would like to know. I have even thought about making a new bumper myself after seeing Deltas designs and now yours.

 

[nukegoat]

Really hard to screw up a brass bushing unless it is designed/applied wrong. Tailgate swing is only going to do a few 1/4 turns per week/month.

Bronze is probably better

 

[Jgunner]

@Jgunner great job. This reminds me of the delta vehicle systems bumper they just showed off a couple weeks ago. I really like the design. It appears the pieces are laser cut? Someone is bound to ask at some point. So I will be that guy for once. Would you be willing to share the files for cutting and what kind of cost is involved? I already have a homemade bumper with swing-out holding a 40" spare, but I'm sure everyone would like to know. I have even thought about making a new bumper myself after seeing Deltas designs and now yours.

I would be willing to sell them for cheap. Directions and all. Our machine wouldn’t cut a single line for breaks, so by hand i cut all of them, a grinder but i can go get it fixed. Just depends on the machine.

I bought a guys design for 100 off here for my front i have not built yet.

 

[Jgunner]

Really hard to screw up a brass bushing unless it is designed/applied wrong. Tailgate swing is only going to do a few 1/4 turns per week/month.

I am not a fan of his design, so i am sure that is 90% of the problem. This is what i own and i am married to it now, for the most part.

 

[Rifleman]

What size tire are you planing on mounting on this, and if you're planing on adding anything else you may want to replace that 120 wall tubing you made that arm out of. The weight of a factory 16 inch Aluminum rim, along with a stock 265/16 tire has a combined weight of about 50 pounds. If you're planing on adding say one 5 gallon fuel can, and one 5 gallon water jug you've just added at least another 80 pounds. And that's not even counting the weight of the steel to make their mount out of, or the tire mount too. I could be wrong, but even with the gussets you've added, i think with that thin of tubing you may of underestimated the amount of sag your going to encounter once you start putting weight on that long of an arm.

 

[Jgunner]

I plan on allowing for up to a 37”. Figure 120#’s im going to mockup a design and see how firm it is with tac welds, if i feel its flexy, to the next size up tubing it goes.

If a 120# tire/wheel is bouncing around, figure 3-4x that weight will need to be held to not flail about. Right now, with my weight on the single bar swung 90* it flexes pretty good, but not as much as i would have thought. Plus, its only 1 bar right now and that was not clamped in.

 

[Jgunner]

Oh, not running anything but a tire. No fuel, water or tools. Just a tire.

 

[Pascoscout]

I put the strut on mine to hold it open, rethinking that idea after having it a while. For one it won't stop the arm the strut will just tear apart without a hard stop. I welded a tab on the pivot and tried several stops on the bumper. Right now it's a 1/2" bolt wrapped in rubber tube but even that moves if the arm hits it full speed. Going to look at welding a tab to the bumper next. The strut also applies enough force on the arm to push it out of alignment when closed which can make the Destaco clamp a real pain to open.

The strut seemed like a good idea but a T handle with a few angle options like you are talking about will probably be much better in the end.

 

[Jgunner]

I put the strut on mine to hold it open, rethinking that idea after having it a while. For one it won't stop the arm the strut will just tear apart without a hard stop. I welded a tab on the pivot and tried several stops on the bumper. Right now it's a 1/2" bolt wrapped in rubber tube but even that moves if the arm hits it full speed. Going to look at welding a tab to the bumper next. The strut also applies enough force on the arm to push it out of alignment when closed which can make the Destaco clamp a real pain to open.

The strut seemed like a good idea but a T handle with a few angle options like you are talking about will probably be much better in the end.

Ill be makinh a hard stop on the pivot side, prob 3/8” or 1/2” material, it will ugly up the bumper, but function over form is my thing.

 

[Jgunner]

Worked on it some today, so far so good with minimal flex, but i have more in store for rigidity. Think i am running out of gas, damn welder was acting funny when welding today, time for more mig mix. Guage is broken, just flow meter works, think its time to get a new guage. Stops and gussets start tomorrow, weather has been good, minus getting rained out today a few times. Hence the rust, but i have solution for that, so the rust will be short lived.

 

[Jgunner]

Even though its hot as hell, put a little time in under tge easy up.

I need to finish mounting my bumper to the truck. The wing mounts are only 1/4 done, stops installed and t-pins(whatever they are called, some sort of pin) and weld it up.

Since i cant weld in the lower gusset, ill have to make little plates that go inside to fill it in.

 

[Rifleman]

I see in one of your photo's, what looks like a 5 gallon gas can mounted inside your passengers compartment. During a crash I think it would be a poor idea to have 5 gallons of highly flammable fuel inside the passengers compartment. I hope for your safety, you don't plan on leaving that can there.YMMV

 

[Jgunner]

I see in one of your photo's, what looks like a 5 gallon gas can mounted inside your passengers compartment. During a crash I think it would be a poor idea to have 5 gallons of highly flammable fuel inside the passengers compartment. I hope for your safety, you don't plan on leaving that can there.YMMV

Its actually a tool box i received as a present.

 

[Jgunner]

Well, while the rear is at powdercoat, I decided to fab up my front. Still deciding if i want hoops or not, maybe one low pro, maybe a jungle gym! I dunno!!!

 

[Jgunner]

Its not bolted in and sitting low on passenger side, fyi.