Pig Bumper--Finally Done

[tyama]

Thanks to all who posted advice on bumper buildups. Mine's made from 3 x 5 x1/4" tube with most of the inner side cut out for weight reduction. The shackle attachment points are welded to the bumper and go through for frame attachment. They're 3 x 1 bar stock. The spindles are Slee offroad (drivers) and IPOR (passenger). On the side, I drilled 9/16 holes with nuts on the inside so I can add in a removable rear nerf bar this summer. The bumper weighs about 70 lbs. The tire carrier is made from 2 x 2 x 1/4 tube for the horizontal bars and 2 x 2 x 3/16 tube for the vertical tube. It weights about 40 lbs. I coated the bumper itself with herculiner and put the tire lugs on a removal plate so I can adjust the width for a larger tire if needed. The vertical tube on the tire carrier can have an attachment placed in it for a light or something else. The whole thing seems to be stable. The gas can carrier will hold two of the NATO style gas cans. I also hooked up a brakelight to the left top side of the gas can carrier. I think I've got $400 in parts? I'll probably fab up a hitch receiver to go under neath the bumper (It'll hit, but I don't really mind). Thanks for all the good posts on your builds. ty

 

[tyama]

More pics

 

[bogus one]

DUDE!!!
You've built exactly what I'm looking for. Do you have any cut sheets or piece dimensions? That would look sweet on my red/white pig. (much more faded than yours, though)

 

[tyama]

Here's a picture of the rear rubber I installed last summer. It came from PV cruisers

 

[MRibz]

very nice

why the 2 different spindles, do you like any one better?

 

[tyama]

Thanks for the responses!

"You've built exactly what I'm looking for.
Do you have any cut sheets or piece dimensions? "

I didn't do cut sheets. Dimensions are not that tough. You just have to think about where things should go. The concerns I had were about placing the spindles, placing the tire carrier arm on the spindles so the would clear the bumper okay, making sure the arms were welded straight onto the spindle, making sure the end of the arm cleared the cross brace below the bumper for the pin, and welding the pins on straight and at the right height to clear the bumper but still go into the hole. I welded the tire arm to the spindle, then the upright, and finished it off with the diagonals. The diagonals were a pain as I had to make minor cuts with a cut off blade on my angle grinder and do a lot of filing to make them fit right.

I used two different spindles since I bought them at different times last summer. I liked the Slee web site and the comments about their spindle. The folks there were great in giving tips. One tip I got was to make sure the tire is securely attached to several places on the tire carrier so the upright doesn't wiggle when you bounce over rocks. I got the IPOR spindle afterwards as I didn't think I'd need a big spindle like the Slee on the other side. The Slee spindle is REALLY beefy (3/8") thick. Since I posted, I've noticed my tire is very close to the gas can carrier. I'll probably have to adjust the can carrier if I use bigger tires. No real problem, the can carrier is removable. Have a good weekend, ty

 

[bogus one]

Yeah Ty,
I noticed that the tire was kinda close to the gas cans, also. Could you have set the tire a little farther to the left? I was thinking that that would set the weight closer to the spindle. Any plans on mounting a hi-lift? For your nerfs, are you going to run them right below the sheetmetal, or do some cutting to move them up a little? Did you replace/rebuild the rear crossmember? If a woodchuck could........... Sorry for all the questions, but like I said, this is exactly what I want. Sweet looking ride.

 

[tyama]

Good questions. I have lots too (look at my snorkel query). I should've looked better at putting the tire to the left. I didn't cause i thought it'd cover the tail lights more than i wanted. I might stick some thing on the side to put on a hi lift, probably angle it off the left side of the carrier. I plan to run the nerfs right under the ends w/o cutting the sheet metal. I'm thinking about 1 1/2" x 1/4" square tube. Anyone know if that's heavy enough to beat on? BTW, I recently drilled two holes into the bottom of the sheet metal there and plan to por-15 the insides. There's a bunch of junk that gets trapped in that gap and doesn't get flushed out by the stock holes in the sheet metal. I've notice the same thing in the back section of the rocker panels. I've drilled them out and plan to squirt diluted por-15 in 'em.

The cross brace is still there. The bumper is bolted to it. I guess I could've cut a square hole in it for a hitch, but I wasn't thinking in that mode when I did it all. I'd probably do it now and reinforce the crossbrace if needed. I'm just going to settle for a hitch that hangs down and will get beat up. I don't do serious rocks so some beating shouldn't be too bad. Fire off anything else if I can help you out. HTH, ty

 

[bogus one]

Ok, Ty

After living with your bumper for a little while, any regrets, problems, things you'd do diferently?

I'm starting mine now, and am basically copying yours.

Is the 1.75 spindle from Slee really necessary, or do you think a 1.25 would handle the weight of the tire?

Also, where did you get the spring loaded catches for the ends of the arms, as well as the latch assembly?


Thanks in advance for your help

 

[LC_Hamma]

Very nice indeed!
Do you have a light for the relocted license plate?
What's the max tire size it'll hold?
What holds the gas cans firmly in their space, tie downs, bungee?
Good material thickness selection. I think you could have made the gas can area in a square or round tube, which looks a little better than angle, but it'll do. I'd also add a couple 45* gussets to minimize fatigue on the steel angled base

 

[tyama]

Hi,

The only thing i'd do differently is to possibly adjust the placement of where the center of the tire carrier is to hold a bigger tire. I think i can get up to a 33''. one reason I placed the upright bar where it is so it doesn't hit the old license plate light on the drivers side. I'd also spend time to chop out a square hole in the cross member for a receiver hitch into the back side of the bumper itself. The lights are easy. I spliced a hitch light adapter into the wires on the passenger's side with a generic kit bought at an auto shop (I have the schematics if you're interested). I also added a generic license plate light spliced in the wire going to the rear side light on the driver's side. There're holes in the lower back that allows both sets of wires out and to the rear.

You also want to check how far out you need your bumper to stick out from where the old one was. A straight tire carrier will hit the rear gate as it sticks out about an inch or so. I think my bumpers sticks out about 1' more than the old one and the spindle is at the rearmost edge of the bumper.

Slee also recommended that your tire should touch the carrier at two or three places so the tire won't wobble when you hit major bumps. He mentioned most carriers that only attach tires at the lug nuts can fail as they wobble around when you're wheeling.

As far as the can carrier, I can bungie the cans in or use web straps that kayakers and rafter's use to strap 'em down. If I need to make it pretty tight in there, I can place whatever thickness of plywood in there to do it. The only angle i used was on the sides. The bottom is 1" tube. I stand on that thing all the time and it seems to hold up well. I also figured out i think i can transport welding gas back there as it's outside the vehicle.

I like the slee spindle. It's probably overkill, but 3/8" thickness seemed to be a better bet. The catches came from slee or from Lance's ironpig shop.

I still marvel that it turned out so well. It hasn't seem any really rough usage, but I feel confident that it'll hold up. HTH, ty

 

[n2666s]

damn, that is a great sexy looking rear bumper............drool/drool!

Lou

 

[bogus one]

You say that your bumper sticks out about an inch farther than stock. Did you put a spacer between the bumper and crossmember?

 

[tyama]

Hi again, Sorry to be away for so long. Holiday travels and all. I created spacers from something I thought was cheap and would do the trick. I used some thick neoprene gasket scrap i found at a gasket/rubber supply house. You could probably do the same thing with a thick old recycled tire doormat. I think the actual space was just over 1/2", and I did it more for ease of mind if I ever did bump it somehow. It may not even be necessary.

BTW, if you have a rubber/gasket supply in your town that will sell you their scrap for cheep, run out and get some neoprene rubber and foam of various sizes and thickness. I use it all the time on my pig. The thin foam is easy to cut and glue to replace that rotted window bumper stuff that is in the door. The thicker foam can be used for shaping and gluing to the rear tail gate, and also the thin foam is like the foam that is on the rear light assembly for later model pigs with the big three color tail lights. I also cut out the thick foam to make plugs for the channel holes in the bottom rocker panels. I've also used the neoprene gasket material for all kinds of things.

best regards, ty