Rear Bumper replacement? Is this possible? (1 Viewer)

[Cruiser Cruisin]

Hey guys i searched this and could not find anything about it. Heres the story, a few months ago i ripped a rear shackle out of its hangers. Not good however it looked like i should just be able to cut it off the old and weld a new one on, right? Well tonight i cut it off and the piece this hanger is connected to is all rusted out as well as the rear bumper supports and the rear bumper. The other shackle hanger is also about to crack off


Can i replace the two bumper supports and bumper without taking the body off? Maybe just drill out all the rivits and slide a new one in?

Has anybody done this?

Thanks for the time

 

[justbecause]

when you say bumper do you mean the bumperets? two not connected things that extend out off the rear frame?
pics would be great here so we could know exactly what happened, where the rust is, and all that fun stuff

 

[Cruiser Cruisin]

Sorry its the rear frame channel were the tail lights sit into and the channel that goes at an angle from the frame to the rear frame channel. I guess its not a bumper at all, is it. I will try to post pics up tomorrow

 

[TLCHopII]

If you are a competent fabricator (with welding skills & equip.) yes you could replace/repair the frame provided the metal loss is localized. It would be prudent to survey the entire frame. It may be time to search for a frame or doner vehicle.

 

[fj hunter]

another idea, maybe the rear of the frame is bad due to having run the vehicle in chemically treated road areas, (canada), or maybe in salt water. That usually affects only the rear parts, especially the end member and the two angle supports at the rear. I'd replace that much if the damage is limited to the rear of the frame. otherwise...donor vehicle frame...have fun...shouldn't be too hard...alignment of the end frame wont affect much, so you only need to be close...say within 1/16th or so. I'd plate over several joints just to be sure, if you decide to cut off the end frame members. you might look for tube stock that will fit into the frame rails, and then weld the frame to that, that would save the plate overs on a butt weld situation. if you have a spare/new gas tank in there at the rear, i'd remove it before welding, also pull the battery cables off too, sometimes the welder will back feed into the battery and will short out a cell or two. removing the old back frame member will allow you to integrate the new hardware right into the bolt space of the old frame member and between the bumperettes, eliminating the offset problem that twists the end frame member sometimes. i'd use tube stock for the end frame if it was me and i was doing this much work. i am adding a reciever to my fj40, and so post pics, i want to see what you do. and how it fits.

 

[S4Cruiser]

Glad you posed this question as my frame is in need of the rear crossmember and two rear gussets replaced. I was thinking of using this rear crossmember FJ40 Rear Frame Member (should work well with my 4+ tire carrier) and these rear gussets FJ40 Rear Frame Gusset- RH [RE-2005-RH] : Cruiser Solutions, custom cruisers, restorations, genuine Toyota parts, body tubs, used Land Cruisers for sale .

I'm curious like the OP if replacing these (if someone has done it) with the body on the frame is an option. This is the only spot on my frame that has any rust and I dread taking the entire body off to fix just this one portion.

Also any thoughts on the products above? A quick search showed good feedback on the cruisersolution gussets.

 

[KY Longhunter]

Glad you posed this question as my frame is in need of the rear crossmember and two rear gussets replaced. I was thinking of using this rear crossmember FJ40 Rear Frame Member (should work well with my 4+ tire carrier) and these rear gussets FJ40 Rear Frame Gusset- RH [RE-2005-RH] : Cruiser Solutions, custom cruisers, restorations, genuine Toyota parts, body tubs, used Land Cruisers for sale .

I'm curious like the OP if replacing these (if someone has done it) with the body on the frame is an option. This is the only spot on my frame that has any rust and I dread taking the entire body off to fix just this one portion.

Also any thoughts on the products above? A quick search showed good feedback on the cruisersolution gussets.

I bought some frame gussets from landcruiserparts on eBay and was very pleased with product and service. Vic and Cindy are great, and always communicate with you. They have some on eBay now for $100 for both L & R.

eBay Motors: TOYOTA LAND CRUISER--Landcruiser FJ40 R.Frame SUPPORTS (item 260358553306 end time Apr-07-09 16:23:38 PDT)

I hate to slam any vendor, but below are simply some insights...;p

I love MAF's products but their Customer Service has something to be desired and shipping is always $$$ to this side of country.

I tried to order something once from Cruiser Solutions but guess my order wasn't large enough. I waited 3 months for my parts and cancelled the order when parts never arrived after my Card had already been charged.

Good luck!

 

[S4Cruiser]

Thanks Longhunter - just the info I needed about the gussets and should save me some serious $$ compared to the cruisersolution ones.

I figured as much about MAF service but I'll probably bite the bullet on the rear crossmember since it's predilled for the 4+ carrier.

Did you replace yours with the body on or off??

 

[KY Longhunter]

The body was off, so not much help there.

Actually 2 years later the body is still off ..

 

[aggiecruiser]

I swapped out my rear crossmember using one from CruiserSoluitons. Overall I am happy with the bumper. The crossmember is good construction, but depending on the year of the vehicle – lacks a couple of important features. If you vehicle is a (I believe) a 1978 or older, you should not have any issues.

If you have a 1979 & up, and try to implement the CruiserSolutions rear crossmember, you will need to consider the following: (and yes, I ordered the 1979 & up version from CruiserSolutions).
1) The rear body mounts for the tub mount to the crossmember. On the bumper I received, the holes that were pre-drilled did not line up with the tub mounts on my ’79 tub. I had to have to holes filled, and new holes drilled. Also, if you look at your existing rear crosss-member, you will note that the bumper tabs forward slightly in the area of the tub mount holes. On the new bumper, this tab-out is not featured on the bumper. As a result, the new locations provide for a short edge margin condition on the upper forward edge of the crossmember. To remedy this, I had to add some small welded tabs so that when I drilled the body mount locations, they would not come close to breaking out of the edge.
2) Review the overall height of the OEM crossmember at the attach points to the left and right frames. You will notice the crossmember joggles locally where the rivets attach to it. The new frame does not feature this. You will need to shim that joint, otherwise any bolts you install there will be subjected to bolt bending issues when a shear load is applied to the bumper.
3) The predrilled holes on the bottom flange of the bumper did not exactly line up with the old rivet locations. This provides for a double-drilled hole condition at this joint. If you are adverse to this, then fill in this hole and re-drill.
4) Also, forgot to mention, the shackle hangers are welded to the rear crossmember. But if you plan of replacing the gusset along with the crossmember, this will be less of an issue for you.
The rear crossmember is held on with 20 rivets. I went through a number of drill bits during this job. I would not recommend trying this with the tub still on, but if you must – it can be done. I had the unfortunate pleasure of having to do it this way before I decided to tear the whole thing down to the frame. At the very least, you will have have to take the body loose from the frame in order to gain access to the 4 rivets (2 each side) that hold the upper flange of the crossmember to the left and right frame rails. See picture. I wedged 2 x 4 under the tub to keep it up off the frame while I drilled the rivets. I had to slightly shift everything forward too.
Overall, the construction is good. Good Luck.

 

[aggiecruiser]

Here is mine now, with bumper installed. Tub is still off, but the frame is powdercoated.

 

[Kent]

My bumper and crossmember were in rough shape so I made a new crossmember and added a receiver hitch. I am not going to use an additional bumper, the new crossmember will act as mine.

old rusty crossmember

rear frame rail

repair to frame rail

New crossmember / bumper

 

[BDSeff1fitty]

im in the same situation as you. i was thinking about for the rear bumper/frame supports building new pieces out of tubing and having it bolt to the bumper and frame. probly end up ordering a new rear bumper, like the one from man-a-fre listed above

 

[Combat Chuck]

My bumper and crossmember were in rough shape so I made a new crossmember and added a receiver hitch. I am not going to use an additional bumper, the new crossmember will act as mine.

old rusty crossmember

rear frame rail

repair to frame rail

New crossmember / bumper

that is really bully! It looks better than stock.

 

[Kent]

Not sure if it's better, but it is a lot stronger!

 

[Seth_O]

Fabbing rear bumper w/o removing body

I just did this exact project. My old bumper was bent and rusted, so I removed it and inspected the frame carefully for pitting or bad rot.

After I determined it was structurally sound I got some steel tubing and steel plate. I boxed in the last ~2' of my frame on either side. Then I built the bumper I wanted out of 2"x4" steel tubing. I cut out for both embedded tailights, and a receiver hitch. I then welded the bumper onto the boxed-in frame, and then welded in the cross-members. I unbolted the body from the frame and lifted it up a few inches to enable the top welds but otherwise left the body in place.

I am still going to need to weld small diagonal pieces onto the bumper to allow me to attach the body, but that should be pretty quick work.

 

[40Flipper]

Great info. Was searching MUD this weekend looking for the same info!!

 

[EWheeler]

I am in the process of building a crossmember similar to the one Kent has shown. I will try and post up some pictures tonight.

 

[EWheeler]

Rear crossmember is 2x4x3/16. 42.25" wide to install flush with outside of frame rails. Plates to weld my shackle hangers onto are 3/16", 5" wide at bottom, 5" tall, & 2" wide at top. Crossmember is welded on, waiting until I get my suspension lined up to box the inside of the fame, scab plate the outside of the frame and end of box tube, & fab up some diagonal supports similar to the stock ones and what is shown above.

 

[Vicm]

Not sure if it's better, but it is a lot stronger!

That is excellent.
Is that 1/4"
And do you have a pic of it mounted on the truck with lights?
Please post more pics, if you have them.