- Joined
- Jan 20, 2008
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- 33
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- 173
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- Grand Junction, Colorado
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I recently added a Warn winch to my Landcruiser and needed something to replace the stock front bumper. It's been awhile since I've done any fab work and I'm a bit rusty, but I decided to break out the tube bender and fire up the welder. The build isn't 100% perfect, some of the welds look pretty poor and I don't think it's all perfectly straight, but it's good enough.
My goal for the build was to create a bumper that was light-weight (to a degree) and offered good front-end protection. I had a lot of scrap and extra tube in the garage, so I used what I had. The main tube and center hoop is 1.5" Schedule 40 pipe and the rest is 1.25" HREW. Yep... I'm using PIPE!
Here's the stock bumper and what I had to work with after installing the winch and winch plate.
I had a piece of tube that I bent up a few years ago for my old 4Runner, I didn't like the way it was turning out so I put it aside and started another. This old piece of tube had 4 bends in it and after setting it up on the Landcruiser, it looked like a good fit... except for it being a bit short. I chopped it in the center, sleeved the inside and added 5". I checked it again and it looked good!
Next I took a piece of plate steel and build the frame side mounts. I took the hole saw to it and made a place for the main tube to sit, the punched out the holes to bolt the mount to the frame. I added another long piece of plate up top, to box in the frame side mount. I also drilled some holes to mount the bumper from the top. Next came the bottom stringers, they tie into the ends of the bumper on the bottom and were welded to the side frame mounts. It's starting to look like something!
Next up was the center hoop, again out 1.5" pipe. I didn't want any part of the bumper to block the headlights, so I followed the lines of the grill, just on the inside of it. I also didn't want the hoop to sit out too far, so I kicked it back a bit. Picture of the frame mounts too.
The last main parts of the bumper were the headlight hoops. I wanted something a bit lighter than the main hoop, so I went back to the 1.25" HREW. I bent up the headlight hoops, notched them and just as I started to tack them on, I ran out of gas.
I got as far as I could, but had to end there for the day.
I'm about 75% done, still have some more metal to add, grinding to do and finish welding up my tacked joints. There are also light tabs that will go on, to mount the HID's. Hopefully some black paint will complete the look and pull it all together. I'm pleased with how it has turned out so far, hopefully it will provide the protection I want and last a long time. I'll update this thread with pictures of the finished product after I refill my MIG gas.
My goal for the build was to create a bumper that was light-weight (to a degree) and offered good front-end protection. I had a lot of scrap and extra tube in the garage, so I used what I had. The main tube and center hoop is 1.5" Schedule 40 pipe and the rest is 1.25" HREW. Yep... I'm using PIPE!
Here's the stock bumper and what I had to work with after installing the winch and winch plate.
I had a piece of tube that I bent up a few years ago for my old 4Runner, I didn't like the way it was turning out so I put it aside and started another. This old piece of tube had 4 bends in it and after setting it up on the Landcruiser, it looked like a good fit... except for it being a bit short. I chopped it in the center, sleeved the inside and added 5". I checked it again and it looked good!
Next I took a piece of plate steel and build the frame side mounts. I took the hole saw to it and made a place for the main tube to sit, the punched out the holes to bolt the mount to the frame. I added another long piece of plate up top, to box in the frame side mount. I also drilled some holes to mount the bumper from the top. Next came the bottom stringers, they tie into the ends of the bumper on the bottom and were welded to the side frame mounts. It's starting to look like something!
Next up was the center hoop, again out 1.5" pipe. I didn't want any part of the bumper to block the headlights, so I followed the lines of the grill, just on the inside of it. I also didn't want the hoop to sit out too far, so I kicked it back a bit. Picture of the frame mounts too.
The last main parts of the bumper were the headlight hoops. I wanted something a bit lighter than the main hoop, so I went back to the 1.25" HREW. I bent up the headlight hoops, notched them and just as I started to tack them on, I ran out of gas.
I got as far as I could, but had to end there for the day.
I'm about 75% done, still have some more metal to add, grinding to do and finish welding up my tacked joints. There are also light tabs that will go on, to mount the HID's. Hopefully some black paint will complete the look and pull it all together. I'm pleased with how it has turned out so far, hopefully it will provide the protection I want and last a long time. I'll update this thread with pictures of the finished product after I refill my MIG gas.
I'm using a JD Squared Model 3 tube bender with a 1 5/8" die. That size die bends 1.5" Schedule 40 perfectly... or 1 5/8" tube. Pipe is measured by the ID while Tube is measured by the OD, so the OD of both is quite similar. This way I can do pipe and tube with one die. I build bumpers and sliders with pipe because it's cheap and heavier wall, then use HREW or DOM for cages. Best of both worlds. 
