weaselman

yea. thats my buddy. not my dad. lol.

and i havent gone to school for welding. just been watching and learing and practicing. practice makes perfect. and im gettin pretty good..

got some lights in....

olharleyman

I don't want to knock your build it is cool that you built your own bumper but I too think you are going to have some real issues with the metal taking a hit.

It is awful hollow inside that thing so you have no strength in the metal even if you weld a top piece on you will still have no real strength in the face, bracing it will help some but it is going to be a weak spot in the whole scheme of the bumper you really need to section it then box it in more so then just brace it but doing both will add a lot more strength to the whole bumper.

olharleyman

I used a 20 ft. section of flat 1/4 inch cold rolled steel when I built this one it is a bit of over kill but I got a better deal on the 1/4 then I could the 3/16's I wanted to use, the 1/4 was $80 the 3/16's was $130 made no since to me but the 1/4 was cheaper and stronger and heavier this thing weighs like 200 lbs. without the 8k winch in place .

MuddfreaksOffroad

looks pretty good thats kinda what i wanted to build, whats with the tow hitch looking thing below the bumper? is it for a winch?

jeolllloep

give the guy a break adleast his trying...

weaselman

got some mock up pieces in. going to tie it into the body and make a grill..

peow130

I like where this is going.
Why are you eliminating the corner marker lights though?
Oh, and i'm glad you decided to make the bumper meet with the body at the wheel well.
I'd be careful though, the frame and body flex at different rates, which could mean you could f up your body pretty bad.

olharleyman

Naw for a extra ball hitch/recovery point the winch sits above it in the cradle

weaselman

yea. i was thinking about that too. i might drop it down a bit to keep away from the body.

my truck has never had a marker light in it with the lens. so i figured why put one in now? (plus the housing are all broken and cracked.) and that spot would also make a great mounting point for the grill.
so i thought why dont i just make it totally custom..

MuddfreaksOffroad

ah that makes since i was just confused i never seen a well basiclaly a tow hitch reciever in the front hahaha

peow130

you should also make the middle be for a winch, then have tool-boxes on both sides of it..
could store tow straps, D-rings, etc etc in it.

weaselman

great minds think a like..
lol. i have already thought of that.. that exact thought. lol. (thats why its so big).

stored my chains in it for my snow run that i did today. haha

CrazyEye

By hardening something your are making it harder, means less elasticity but it is harder in general. Yes it makes it more brittle but the harder something gets the more brittle it becomes. (Example glass is harder than steel) Hardening metal is all about the cooling process. Normally heat treating metal has to be done with rapid cooling. Im not saying that Im an expert by any means, and if you could teach me something I dont know my ears are open.

Nice fab job man, not really my choice of style but kudos for using what you had lying around and making it work. I dont think you will have a problem with that huge chunk of metal welded to the front of your truck. Probably be good for mowin down trees, hitting deer, playing chicken with trains, ect...

weaselman

it works really good for plowing snow and making my own trail. until i sink past my rear axle and can only see the last inch of my rear tires. lol

and it makes a good spot for my buddy to push to get me out. haha.

thanx for all the input guys. im really happy with what i have built and come up with. it looks great and has great functionality.

thanx again. will post more pix when i get around to working on it.

peow130

Lol, it doubles as a snow plow?
Thats Bad-A.

weaselman

yea. the nice angle of the skid plate kinda just pushes it out of my way.

xjdubber

so how is that monsterosity mounted to the frame??

RMA

What are you using to make those long clean cuts , they look good.

weaselman

i welded it to the frame.

plasma cutter. with a straight edge clamped in place.
just clamp it in place. but the cutter up to it and let a rip.

yoder519

BEEF. its whats for dinner

props on buildin your own bumper and good idea about usin it fro storage