Rust or Bust Rear Bumper Build

[adamsclarke]

Well..since I has some time from not wheeling the commando this weekend, I thought I'd start the rear bumper for the cruiser. It'll have a 2" receiver and swing out for the spare. I wanted to do something cool and planned out as opposed to my typical cut as i go...so out came the cardboard. Well...plastic card board from left over signs
This will all be 1/4 flat bar in 2" and 4". The frame tie-ins will be 1/2" with 1/4" plates on the outside. So a lot of measuering and cutting...

Then, back apart it comes so I can figure how much steel I need.

I need to order the spindle for the swing out, but it'll most likely be 1/5"x3" 3/16th box that I have left over. It'll follow the lines well of the 1/4 chop I did to remove all of the rust.

 

[Dirtgypsy]

that is a lot of cuts and a lot of steel. hope it comes out well for you.

clint

 

[Chase77]

Hope you have access to a plasma cutter

 

[Landcruisin'60]

Hope you have access to a plasma cutter

Make that a CNC plasma... But that bumper looks like it should turn out nice.

 

[adamsclarke]

The best part about this bumper...is every peice will come out of 2" or 4" flat bar. So the only cuts are the angled cuts. The rest is just welding and grinding

 

[Max.Powerzz]

What's a ballpark on what you think that amount of steel will cost? Nice mock-up.

 

[adamsclarke]

I'm guessing...$50-60 in steel. $40 for the spindle, $20 for the hitch...and a few for bolts. So $100ish. I'll spend a few more on the front cuz I'll do the winch mount out of 5/16th....
...gotta love a welder and some sweat

 

[adamsclarke]

Oh...and if anyone needs to mock up stuff...Get coroplast. It's plastic cardboard used for yard signs etc. Since I have a sign shop...it's everywhere and cheap....about $6/4x8' sheet. YOu can cut it, or cut 1 layer and fold it....cool mock-up stuff...I use it for gusset templates for my cage or brackets all the time.

 

[Max.Powerzz]

Serious? I'm a noob to welding (actually not even that, but want to be), and thought steel was much more. I was going to buy a rear bumper but maybe will build one instead. Even if I screwed up 3 bumpers before I learned to make 1, I'd still be ahead.

 

[adamsclarke]

Yeah...flat bar is not that expensive. Box is that bad either right now. I just built a rear bumper for my commando out of 4x4" 1/4 wall. I got the drop pice about 6' long for $40.
I just bought a few sticks of 2x4" 1/4 wall for sliders and such...about $100 for a 20' piece...so about $5/running foot. Just bought DOM 1.75 .120 wall for about $4/foot.

Hands down cheaper than buying a $1000-$1500 bumper.
If you're doing 1/4 thick....save you self the headache and get a 220V!

 

[chappysfj40]

hands down the best idea is 220 welder. you can go up to 1/4" and a little beyond no prob and back down to do sheet metal if needed.

 

[adamsclarke]

So I ahd a few hours to kill this morning...so I managed to cut out all of the bumper peices and start putting it together.

I really happy with how the wings for th 1/4 protection turned out. Just a slight slope and a 45.

I am running new electrical to my garage this week..so right now I can only weld for about 3 minutes til t trips the breaker....so i'll wait and weld it when that's done. Looks like a lot of flapper wheels in my future
I have a feeeling...smoothing it out will take forever!
So far...only about $60 in steel plus some that I already had

 

[cfdlighthouse]

very nice!!!!!!!!!

 

[RredFJ40]

looks good, but yeah, that's going to be a ton of work!

 

[brownbear]

I'm looking forward to seeing how it all fits on the truck. That's quite a bit of body cutting too.

You're doing a great job! Keep it up.. All I could muster for my bumper was a 2x6 boxed steel with angled ends.

 

[adamsclarke]

The 1/4s have been chopped...check out my rusty build thread
https://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-wagons/192485-official-rust-bust-build-thread.html
I'm going to cut the rear cross member and this will slide right inside the frame and be sandwiched with the outter plate and tie ins to the wings.

 

[boots4]

Great looking bumper and great prep work. It takes a little more time but it looks like it will turn out great.

 

[Butt Ugly Chuck]

I really happy with how the wings for th 1/4 protection turned out. Just a slight slope and a 45.

Man, at first glance I thought your bumper aweful ugly with those gnarly wings. But after looking at your RUST OR BUST thread I really dig the way those replace the 1/4's you trimmed off. That's going to look great when it's all together and very protective. Nice vision!

Later,
Butt

 

[Chase77]

Looks like you made easy work of all the cutting... What did you end up using?

 

[adamsclarke]

I used 4" and 2" 1/4" flat bar. I went through about 10 cut off wheels for the few cuts that I needed. Other than that...just my chop saw and grinder. My old man and I are looking at getting a plasma, which would have saved me many hours.

I welded it up tonight and started grinding. I have a few more hours of grinding to get it smoothed out, but I am very pleased with how well it looks. Hopefully My spindle for the swing out will be here this weekend so I can get it all finished an installed.