My from scratch LX450 rear bumper build

[Wheelingnoob]

Well since I missed out on Churn Creek yet again (Our local cruiser long weekend trip) I thought I would do something productive with my weekend. I have been slowly collecting parts for the rear bumper, my budget has been very tight so its been slow. None of the parts are exotic, I do not have a plasma cutter or other toys just a good 5" angle grinder and Hobart 175 mig.

I now have two pivots from Summit machine: (Thanks Jason!)

http://www.summitmachine.com/store/i...hinge-kit.html

Clevis mounts:

http://www.atozfabrication.com/store...is-Mounts.html

Two De-sta-co 2000lb clamps:

http://www.wainbee.com/suppliers/des..._latch/323.pdf

I had liked parts from many different rear bumpers and decided since none had them all I would make my own.

Day 1


So I started by removing my rear cross member, it was badly twisted and dented from the PO and her tearable driving record.

Frame cleaned up.

Testing Brackets.

Looking good.

Test fitting again.

Good Strong attachment points.

That's the end of day 1, I did hold everything in place with a few spot welds and sorted out how and where the recovery points would end up but ran out of time.

A note on the materials, the main beam is 4x2 tube with 3/16th wall, the frame brackets are all 1/4" plate and the L piece is 4x3", the side wings are all 3/16th plate and its tied into the frame to make a boat side for lots of protection.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Day 2

Started by cutting the holes I needed for the recovery points. Took me a wile to figure out how this was going be done but it worked great in the end.

One more because I was happy how it turned out (20min total to do it not so bad)

Back on the truck with the recovery points.

Tacked into place.

Yep once this is finish welded it will be beefy.

Jumping ahead about 5 hours here, in the mean time I measured and drilled the holes for my carrier pivots as well as started trimming the sides to work with the plate I wanted to use. This has been by far the hardest part of the build. Myself and my dad spent a good 4 hours testing and re testing parts to try and make it work and look right. We are still working on it. The issue is the lines do not match between the frame rail and the rear body so it puts everything off. We are still working on this parts and trying to get out heads around it.

Here are a few pictures to show what we are trying to accomplish.

We did have the upper side piece in for a bit but that is not in the pictures.

Hope to get a bit more work done on it this week.

 

[Funner]

Man I wish I had welding skills and equipment. Or just the equipment and a lot of grinding disks.
What is the pivot mechanism you are going with, is it for a jerry can mount or are you doing the tire swing out?

Good luck

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Man I wish I had welding skills and equipment. Or just the equipment and a lot of grinding disks.
What is the pivot mechanism you are going with, is it for a jerry can mount or are you doing the tire swing out?

Good luck

I am doing both, one pivot on each side one for a tire and one for the jerry cans. I plan to make a spot for my hi lift and 5lb propane bottle as well. Right now I'm just working on the bumper, the swing out and all that will come once the bumper structure is done.

Only one way to learn, I did it the same way. Got a welder and scrap metal and started to weld. I'm not a good welder by any stretch but I can stick to pieces of metal together.

 

[Flank]

Good lookin so far, can't wait to see where it goes. Love the source for fab parts you listed, great resource. Had I to do it again, I may have invested in the tire carrier kit instead of sourcing individually.

Man I wish I had welding skills and equipment. Or just the equipment and a lot of grinding disks.
What is the pivot mechanism you are going with, is it for a jerry can mount or are you doing the tire swing out?

Good luck

Funny thing about welding is that it seems like alchemy until you try it. It seriously took about 10 minutes to learn the basics when taught by someone who knew what they were doing, then it is just practice and learning settings. You can rent a 110 Mig setup very inexpensively from like Home Depot or something. Take a weekend and practice on some scrap. A lot of steel yards sell scrap for around $.50 a lb. Miller and Lincoln also have how-to videos.

 

[adventr]

Looking good! Be sure and let us know how you like those spindles from Summitt. Those look nice!

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Looking good! Be sure and let us know how you like those spindles from Summitt. Those look nice!

Thanks, coming from you that's a big complement after seeing yours lol.

The Spindles look great so far, really nice quality. The main spindle is large 1.5" and had a flange sort of that you weld to the bumper. I'll post pictures in a few days once I get to that stage. But so far they are very nice, the CNC cap is a nice touch.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Day 3 (last night after work about 1.5 hours)

Really wanted to get the design of the side wings sorted out before doing anything else. I had an idea that a simple bend across the main plate would get me where I needed to be. So I measured and looked at it and decided to try bending the 3/16th plate (12x24") so I took a cutting wheel and made a cut about 2/3rds the way through the plate along the bend line. I was then able to bend the plate to the desired position and it worked a treat!

With the limited time I had last night I did not take pictures as I went just once I had it done.

Underside showing a bit of the angles.

Side protection, should help protect the flair (not done yet obviously)

Another angle

Cut line for my bend.......who needs a big ass press....

In this picture you can see the faint line where the bend was made.

That's it for the next couple days till I have time to work on it again.

 

[hawker7]

What do you use to cut such a clean line? Hand held grinder?

 

[Offroads4x4]

Looking great.

 

[FastCarGuy]

Very Nice!!!! Subscribed!!

 

[Wheelingnoob]

What do you use to cut such a clean line? Hand held grinder?

Yep steady hand and a good quality 5" grinder with a thin cut disk.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Funner]

Any thoughts on how much I could accomplish with a cheap 90amp mig welder ie Harbor Freight? I have no idea if it could join some of the heavier/thicker material, but if it could then I might start welding everything in my garage for practice.
Specs below


This flux welder is ideal for outdoor work since it doesn’t use an external shielding gas - the flux built into the wire shields the weld. Set-up is easy for gasless flux-cored welding and allows you to weld material from 18 gauge to 3/16" thick.
No gas or regulators required
120 volts, 20 amps, single phase input
Variable speed wire control
Thermal overload protection with indicator light
Weldable materials: Mild, low alloy steel (not suitable for aluminum or stainless steel)
Input: 120 volts, 20 amps, single phase, 60 Hz
Welding current: 60-120 AC amps
Rated duty cycle: 20% @ 90 AC amps
Wire capacity: 0.030" to 0.035"
Weldable materials: Mild, low alloy steel (not suitable for aluminum or stainless steel)
Includes: spare contact tip, hand-held face shield, wire brush/chipping hammer combo, spool of flux core wire
6 ft. welding cable with gun
6 ft. ground cable with clamp
Shipping Weight: 35.68 lb.
Specifications
Name 90 Amp Flux Wire Welder
SKU 68887
Brand Chicago Electric Welding Systems

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Any thoughts on how much I could accomplish with a cheap 90amp mig welder ie Harbor Freight? I have no idea if it could join some of the heavier/thicker material, but if it could then I might start welding everything in my garage for practice.
Specs below


This flux welder is ideal for outdoor work since it doesn’t use an external shielding gas - the flux built into the wire shields the weld. Set-up is easy for gasless flux-cored welding and allows you to weld material from 18 gauge to 3/16" thick.
No gas or regulators required
120 volts, 20 amps, single phase input
Variable speed wire control
Thermal overload protection with indicator light
Weldable materials: Mild, low alloy steel (not suitable for aluminum or stainless steel)
Input: 120 volts, 20 amps, single phase, 60 Hz
Welding current: 60-120 AC amps
Rated duty cycle: 20% @ 90 AC amps
Wire capacity: 0.030" to 0.035"
Weldable materials: Mild, low alloy steel (not suitable for aluminum or stainless steel)
Includes: spare contact tip, hand-held face shield, wire brush/chipping hammer combo, spool of flux core wire
6 ft. welding cable with gun
6 ft. ground cable with clamp
Shipping Weight: 35.68 lb.
Specifications
Name 90 Amp Flux Wire Welder
SKU 68887
Brand Chicago Electric Welding Systems

I honestly have no idea, I use a 220V Hobart 175 and find for this thicker material its about maxed out. I would like something like a Miller 211 or the like.

A welder like my Hobart 175 is a great first welder.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Day 4

I was able to get the passide wing done today after 2hours spent trying to get the bumper on by myself. Once I got the wing on and matching the other side (harder than you would think). Once I got them done I tacked the two wing plates so they would not move. Then I cut them off the main bumper so i could start on the swingout pivots. I tacked them into place and started triming the bottom on an angle to match the side wing lower plate. They took a lot of time to cut but I finally got then done. A bit of work later with the 60 grit flap disk and it was good.

Pass side wing removed:

Drivers side wing removed:

Pivot tacked in place for trimming:

Trimming angle into pivot:

Passenger side done as well: (note the resonator is now cut off as well)

Both on and trimmed waiting for finish weld:

I had to call it a day early as I did not notic I was welding with .025 instead of .035 i should be using on this thickness. I could not fuigure out why it was not spot welding right. Once I saw that I reolised i was not doing anything but spot welds today.

I will post pictures as well as get .035 wire and tips to weld more tomorrow night.

 

[Flank]

Any thoughts on how much I could accomplish with a cheap 90amp mig welder ie Harbor Freight? I have no idea if it could join some of the heavier/thicker material, but if it could then I might start welding everything in my garage for practice.
Specs below


This flux welder is ideal for outdoor work since it doesn’t use an external shielding gas - the flux built into the wire shields the weld. Set-up is easy for gasless flux-cored welding and allows you to weld material from 18 gauge to 3/16" thick.
No gas or regulators required
120 volts, 20 amps, single phase input
Variable speed wire control
Thermal overload protection with indicator light
Weldable materials: Mild, low alloy steel (not suitable for aluminum or stainless steel)
Input: 120 volts, 20 amps, single phase, 60 Hz
Welding current: 60-120 AC amps
Rated duty cycle: 20% @ 90 AC amps
Wire capacity: 0.030" to 0.035"
Weldable materials: Mild, low alloy steel (not suitable for aluminum or stainless steel)
Includes: spare contact tip, hand-held face shield, wire brush/chipping hammer combo, spool of flux core wire
6 ft. welding cable with gun
6 ft. ground cable with clamp
Shipping Weight: 35.68 lb.
Specifications
Name 90 Amp Flux Wire Welder
SKU 68887
Brand Chicago Electric Welding Systems

Its a good question, but better to either search or start your own thread to ask, instead of clogging up this thread.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Yesterdays pictures added to day 4 post.

 

[Stainlessdoctor]

Looks like you have it going your way....

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Day 5 (2 hours)

Last night the goal was to get the spindles welded in and the side wings back on. I was able to get both spindles welded top and bottom with good penetration and not overheating the metal to much. I also got the recovery points welded on, its hard to get good heat penetration on the 3/4" thick stuff but they are strong and are not going anywhere. Since I was having issues making nice clean welds I only welded the back side (out of sight stuff) so I can try and improve my welding before the viable stuff. I then tacked the side wings back on to start planing out the next step with them.

Pivot welded on:

Other one welded on:

Recovery point boogers:

Side wing layout and testing to see where I want to go with them.

Better idea of the under protection on the wings.

A few of it off the truck:

 

[western flyer]

Good job Jeremy! Great pics and write-up. I know how hard it its to stop and document your work. The problem solving process is evident.

This is really cool, in that I have my first welder and a couple projects now under my belt. You make this seem doable for someone like me with a bit more practice. Thanks for the hard work.

Now it will be really bomber if you add a stout hitch receiver.

BTW, every time I see your avatar pic I really think for a moment that you are Zach Galifianakis...