Bumper Ideas

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Yea that guy. Mine sits about 1" farther back on the passenger side. It works though so I can't complain.

Since this is a bumper thread and my front bumper wasn't actually mentioned in the original post here was my old rear bumper. Sold the whole thing this fall though, not sure what to do next.
Not sure I would do this again, but I didn't have the time or place to do a major rework and I had just broken the stock CBI setup in Moab. Departure angle wise it was fantastic, as high and tight as possible while allowing for the significant amount of movement CBIs pivot had. I still like the cage idea but I think I would do it more like the jeep guys do and tie it to an overbuilt hoop on the side (crazydubman style for those of you that remember him)

Untitled by Tyler Carvell, on Flickr

Untitled by Tyler Carvell, on Flickr

Untitled by Tyler Carvell, on Flickr
 
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The whole basis for my bumper builds were lightweight & best approach/departure angle.

Screenshot_20181218-163406.png
Rear HC, hybrid. 1 3/4 .120 wall & 14ga filler

IMG_20180929_100502_460.jpg
Finished. The license plate is now at angle with the bumper though. Did that before Moab.

IMG_20181016_164245.jpgIMG_20181016_164047.jpgIMG_20181103_132210_875.jpg
Can't get it any closer with a 9.5k winch crammed in it.
MVIMG_20181025_202135.jpg

Front is probably 75 lbs, rear maybe 40lbs.

Another tip, beef up the mounting plates for the bumper. I had a picture of this, bit I can't find it now. But we basically welded thicker plates we cut on the table. We also added a 4th bolt.
 

Theblackflag

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I'm jumping in late here, but I'll toss up my ideas.

Make the bumper weld on. You can add flanges on the frame rails if you wanted pretty easy, but I said fuck it.

Chop the frame rails back as far as you can, and then sleeve them. I used 0.188 everywhere.
Untitled by Connor Rhoades, on Flickr

Yours won't angle up because you don't have a body lift, but you might be able to angle it a little.

I apparently took very few photos
Untitled by Connor Rhoades, on Flickr

But here you can see the crossmember connected. Then we laser cut out those frame horns, and welded in a trail gear winch plate.

Add a couple more tubes and you have a bumper.
Untitled by Connor Rhoades, on Flickr
Untitled by Connor Rhoades, on Flickr

Edit- Dimple dies are way cooler.

For me welding the bumper on isnt an option. They put toom much shit on the roads here in the winter that if I cant have the bumper powder coated and easily removed in the future to do it again after a few years theyll end up looking like shit pretty quick. I also like the ability to remove it for working on some things just because it gives me a little more room. I am kind of entertaining the idea of cutting the frame and shifting it up since I have decided to go for a 1 inch body lift for a lot of reasons. Would be nice to get the frame as high as possible but then I may want to redo my skids as well for more clearance.

I guess I'll join in. I also have a BL so your results may vary. Apologize for the blurry photos during the build, my buddy who built this isn't exactly a photographer but it does give a good sense of where everything lined out. All designed around a smitty 12k, and I did notch the grill for the free spool handle. If you want any pics of the rear I can get them for you, the only thing to think about is I smashed that rear cage on a ledge once and the impact knocked the pin out so make sure you use a hitch pin and not a quick release.

Untitled by Tyler Carvell, on Flickr

Untitled by Tyler Carvell, on Flickr

Untitled by Tyler Carvell, on Flickr

Untitled by Tyler Carvell, on Flickr

Final Approach Angle
Untitled by Tyler Carvell, on Flickr

Dimple Dies...Good, Gray....Gooood
Untitled by Tyler Carvell, on Flickr

Tyler your front bumper has become the benchmark for approach angle after seeing it in person and Im hoping I can at least get close to that. knowing how huge my smittybilt 12k winch is I dont know how it is able to sit so close. The one thing I think will be my limiting factor is the fan that I have in front of my tranny cooler, for me its a necessity and I haven't been able to find one much thinner than what I have.

On the subject of the rear tire cage, I was planning on using a bolt to keep it shut since it basically will never need to be open and if/when it does Ill have my tools out anyway. When you did contact the skid on the cage though did you notice much if any deflection in the swingout arm pushing the tire towards the hatch? For the latch on the arm Ill be doing what @bigfishallday did on his for ease of access and I think it should be plenty strong even with a full 35 hanging off it since the 4xinnovations spindle I got is a double shear setup. Other than the dubman style taillight hoops and the better-retaining pin on the cage was there anything you would have changed on the whole swingout setup?

pic for reference
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madtaco461

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The whole basis for my bumper builds were lightweight & best approach/departure angle.

View attachment 2457
Rear HC, hybrid. 1 3/4 .120 wall & 14ga filler

View attachment 2456
Finished. The license plate is now at angle with the bumper though. Did that before Moab.

View attachment 2454View attachment 2453View attachment 2455
Can't get it any closer with a 9.5k winch crammed in it.
View attachment 2458

Front is probably 75 lbs, rear maybe 40lbs.

Another tip, beef up the mounting plates for the bumper. I had a picture of this, bit I can't find it now. But we basically welded thicker plates we cut on the table. We also added a 4th bolt.

Love the design
 
Joined
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Appreciate the kind words. My friend who built it used to be the lead fab guy for Addicted before starting his own thing so I kinda just turned him loose and said make it as high and tight as humanly possible. FWIW that winch was built around Hayden's X20 12K and I do run a B&M trans cooler but I dont have an aux fan like you do. Just push your winch plate far enough back to where you accidentally break that black sheet metal support for the center grill mount and it'll look just like mine.

Bolt should work out well. Just a bear to get on and off, I did a quick pin so I could jam that pin in there. We built the cage to push up against the tire a lot to eliminate the squeaking it caused originally when it was a looser fit. With a bolt I could see it having a hard time sliding through easily. However, it may be even better to run the bolt perpendicular to my pin. That way tightening the bolt tightens up your cage to the tire. I don't think you'll have any issues with the latch setup, the majority of the movement in my setup came from the brass bushings CBI used to use in the spindle.

Untitled by Tyler Carvell, on Flickr
 

madtaco461

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I don't want to integrate my side markers in my corner lights. You guys using trailer side markers for amber blinkers?
 

Theblackflag

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That's what I used on my last bumper. 2 inch trailer blinkers seemed to work well. Ive since moved the blinkers into the filler panel below the headlight.
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Theblackflag

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Well here they are. Finished up the front this afternoon and the rear a few weeks back. Ended up not doing the tire cage to save on weight but otherwise went pretty much how I had planned. I was able to eliminate any tire shake with the different style of swingout latch on the rear which I'm pretty stoked about. Also gained a lot of approach angle while still keeping the 12k winch up front. I haven't weighed them but the rear feels a decent amount heavier but the front is a good 20lbs lighter and is way stronger. Im hoping this will help balance out the weight of the truck and make it handle woops better.
IMG_6483 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
IMG_6516 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
IMG_6513 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
IMG_6517 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
 

WrenchnWheel

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Looks damn good @Theblackflag . Glad to have seen the process as well. I'm actually selling my NWTI front bumper because it lacks the approach angle I want. Just picked up @xplore.offroad AOR front bumper, going to actually weld the crossbeam to my frame and accommodate the AOR bumper for my 1" body lift.
 

Theblackflag

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If you're going to be welding their crossmember in cut the frame rails back a ways while you're at it. I cut mine back so that the bumper cross member I built was resting up against the skidplate mounting crossmember. There was a little lip on it that I cut off as well to gain a little more room. Kind of a win win though, more aproach angle and it makes the stock skiplate mount way more rigid. I'm not sure how much work it will create up top to get the bumper fitting right but it would improve a lot on the AOR approach angle.
 

WrenchnWheel

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If you're going to be welding their crossmember in cut the frame rails back a ways while you're at it. I cut mine back so that the bumper cross member I built was resting up against the skidplate mounting crossmember. There was a little lip on it that I cut off as well to gain a little more room. Kind of a win win though, more aproach angle and it makes the stock skiplate mount way more rigid. I'm not sure how much work it will create up top to get the bumper fitting right but it would improve a lot on the AOR approach angle.

I tested it out yesterday and have to trim the crossbeam along the width because it will be touching the radiator support if not, then I would also have to trim up the top of the bumper on the wings since it would be touching the fender inner area. My frame rails are already cut back pretty far, an 1 1/2" further than needed for the AOR Crossbeam. Thats an 1 1/2"of cutting I have to do to the bumper wings to make sure they don't touch the body.
 

AssBurns

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I tested it out yesterday and have to trim the crossbeam along the width because it will be touching the radiator support if not, then I would also have to trim up the top of the bumper on the wings since it would be touching the fender inner area. My frame rails are already cut back pretty far, an 1 1/2" further than needed for the AOR Crossbeam. Thats an 1 1/2"of cutting I have to do to the bumper wings to make sure they don't touch the body.
Do it!
 

AssBurns

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