Downloadable bumper plans

[roamingtimber]

I wish I had your fab skills. I can create items I need but it's not always the most beautiful work. I am just learning to weld. Bought a cheap flux core welder when I build the drawer system but on my skid plates I just finished this weekend I went to a friends so he could do the welds, wanted to make sure they were good. Got to say, a good quality welder makes all the difference.

Don't be jealous but I could run 35s with zero mods

I would like to go to 37s now with the lift but would be pushing the front end so going to stay at 35s.

I'm still learning too, I've been welding scrap then grinding down the weld to see how solid it is. My biggest problem is moving the gun too fast.

 

[MarkW]

I'm still learning too, I've been welding scrap then grinding down the weld to see how solid it is. My biggest problem is moving the gun too fast.

That's one of my problems as well. I couldn't believe how much better my welds looked using his. He said most everything I did would pass certification. He has his eyes on a MIG/TIG/Plasma cutter combo unit that would be very cool to have.

 

[roamingtimber]

Picked up the steel for my bumper. CNC plasma tables sure make nice clean cuts! Now I just need the time to weld it together....
@MarkW the wire that came with my welder was complete crap. I've used Lincoln wore from Home Depot and Forney wire from my local hardware store. My welds improved immensely just from improving the quality of the wire. I would love a mig/tig/plasma combo. I'm hoping my next house has a dedicated shop so I have room for stuff like a serious welder and air compressor. Everyone needs dreams.

 

[MarkW]

Picked up the steel for my bumper. CNC plasma tables sure make nice clean cuts! Now I just need the time to weld it together....
@MarkW the wire that came with my welder was complete crap. I've used Lincoln wore from Home Depot and Forney wire from my local hardware store. My welds improved immensely just from improving the quality of the wire. I would love a mig/tig/plasma combo. I'm hoping my next house has a dedicated shop so I have room for stuff like a serious welder and air compressor. Everyone needs dreams.

I did read a review of my welder where the guy bought a different brand wire. Tried it and did see a nice difference in my welds as well. You and me both on the shop. My Scout takes up half my garage so most of the time I am working in my driveway. Spend half my time getting everything out and setup or put away. Can't even imagine how much time I would have saved in just the past year if I had a shop with a lift and room to have everything setup.

 

[roamingtimber]

It's a bumper in a box! I was hoping to start it today, but I helped a buddy put a lift on his Colorado and it took longer than expected. I'm also running a little low on welding wire, I went to 3 stores and couldn't find any. Ordered some on Amazon, waiting for it to come.

@MarkW I can barely get my jeep into my garage because it's so shallow. It's supposed to be a 2 car garage, but only if both cars are compacts. The other big issue with my garage is that my kids rooms are right above it, so if they are taking a nap, I'm pretty much shut down. I don't think I'll ever have a lift, as much as I'd like one, I will just be happy if I have a place not connected to my house that I can make noise and paint in with out worrying about fumes.

 

[MarkW]

@roamingtimber Your right about just not being attached to the house. There have been countless times when everyone else is asleep for the night that I would have loved to go out and work on a project but would have been too much noise.

 

[roamingtimber]

Tack welded the bumper together this evening. Thankfully welding doesn't make too much noise so I can do,it after the kids go to sleep. Need to test fit it, modify it for recovery points and fog lights, weld it all solid, clean it up with angle grinder and paint it.

 

[MarkW]

Very nice, look forward to seeing it finished up and installed.

 

[timberwolf_120]

Looking good man!!

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[Overland-Indiana]

I am very fortunate to have a 2 car detached garage...It is not insulated or heated, yet....so it is rather cold!! This spring i will be insulating it, putting in AC and heat. This 0 degree crap is getting old.

 

[timberwolf_120]

Mr heater from home depot :) plugs into a bottle of propane. Heats up pretty well.

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[Overland-Indiana]

I have 2 of them... The problem is the heat can't stay in my garage so it never warms up at all.

 

[roamingtimber]

I Would give up insulation for having it be not attached to my house. I work nights, I get home late, everyone is asleep, perfect time to do some work, but I can't because of the noise! @jordanbrooks ypu should get a kerosene jet heater. When I lived in Wisconsin it's what we used to keep warm working on stuff in the winter. I remember doing an engine swap on an old suburban on a gravel driveway in January and the truck being warm to the touch. Not sure how big the thing was. You'd have to leave to door open for ventilation but they get the job done.

 

[timberwolf_120]

Yea like a 150k btu kerosene heater. Shits gets hot as fuck tho. I burned the hairs off my whole leg when I acidentally got to close to it lol

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[Overland-Indiana]

Eh... I am just gonna hold off until spring... Then I am going to patch the floor, epoxy it, insulate everything and install AC and a gas heater.

 

[roamingtimber]

Test fit the bumper on the jeep and I wasn't a fan of the gaps so I broke a bunch of the welds and I'm rebuilding the bumper on the front of the jeep so I can dial in the gaps a little better.

 

[roamingtimber]

Had some time to work on my bumper project. I drilled 3 mounting holes for the mounting brackets on the passenger side, I broke 2 drill bits doing it, but once the mounting brackets were done I was able to build the passenger side of the bumper. I wanted to tack it together on the Jeep so I could custom fit it to minimize the gaps and what not. I covered the headlight and fender in a few layers of aluminum foil so I could tack weld near them and not get slag on anything. It worked well, I wouldn't try it for anything more than tack welding though. After I got it tacked together I took it off the Jeep and welded all the joints solid. I starting using Hobart brand welding wire last night and I'm really impressed with it. It seems to carry more current and get better penetration than the Lincoln or Forney brands of wire I've used before. I was able to weld faster with it too. Hopefully next weekend I can do the other side. I still have to install recovery points, and figure out how I'm doing fog lights before I can paint it and install it for good. I'm debating adding a front receiver hitch while I'm at it. While installing the receiver its self would be easy, I would need to build more a support frame for it behind the bumper because 3/16" plate isn't enough for a tow hitch. I'm also debating if I want to do brush guards for the grill and head lights.

 

[timberwolf_120]

Did you make your entire bumper out of 3/16ths? If so should have made the mounting hardware out 1/4". If you did that disregard this whole post lol
If your looking for a tow behind setup with a tow bar just mount your d shackle mounts to the exact length the tow bar is and bam it's tow capable. that's what my welder did, I think he put em like 32 or 33" something like that.

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[roamingtimber]

Did you make your entire bumper out of 3/16ths? If so should have made the mounting hardware out 1/4". If you did that disregard this whole post lol
If your looking for a tow behind setup with a tow bar just mount your d shackle mounts to the exact length the tow bar is and bam it's tow capable. that's what my welder did, I think he put em like 32 or 33" something like that.

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I am using 1/4" for the mounts, if I do the tow setup I am going to just run 2" square tubing between the mounts and call it good. Im not planning on moving trailers with the front, I'm going to mount a winch to a carrier plate in the future so that will be the main use.

 

[timberwolf_120]

Ahh gotcha. So what if you got a square sleeve for a 2" receiver (female side) and then welded that through the bumper and into the support behind the bumper then welded the said receiver into that. Idk just a thot lol

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