Front tube bumper design & winch mount considerations

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That one is beefy. Doesn't get better than fabricated frame horns.
If I make one it would probably have tube for the horns. Is there any advantage to the fabricated style other than strength and rigidity? Seems like those would come at the cost of a weight penalty too.
 
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That one is beefy. Doesn't get better than fabricated frame horns.
How much do you know about tow point design? On the rear I'm thinking about just taking cold rolled flat bar and drilling out holes for the mounting points and tow points. I already bought half inch for it, but I'm reading some folks use 3/4 or 1 inch thick material for the tow points. I think a lot of Fab shops are using much thinner material with washers welded on to add to the thickness out the outside where the hole could be ripped open. My Pelfrey only uses 3/8 with some washers for extra thickness.
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AssBurns

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3 reasons I went with plate.

1.) No good options at the time for tube bumpers for turd gens.

2.) I am not a fabricator. at least ill admit this, unlike some of you fucks.

3.) Animals. Ive hit 2 deer in 2 years going over 30mph. I didn't want animal parts flying into my critical components, so any addition protection i could get i wanted. I also didnt go with arb, because ARB on turd gens ruin one of the only things it has going for it, looks.


one of the biggest thing i can say about tube bumpers, is that it doesnt matter if you use hrew or dom, because an impact from an animal will bend either at speed. I looked into making one with a buddy who does more shit with metal than I, and thats something i remembered him saying.
It all depends on how it’s build. Tube can easily be made to be lighter and stronger than plate. You definitely shouldn’t use HREW for bumpers if they will actually get used.
Yep, I really like that bumper, however going off how horribly his tacobox production is going I doubt he'll have that thing into production by the end of 2020. I tried looking through his build threads and seeing how the thing was put together to copy it, but I didn't find enough to be confident I could make a strong version of it. It's also a prototype, it's lacking a couple things like attachment points for straps/winch.
:
You don’t need attachment points. A soft shackle works better than stupid D-ring mounts. That’s another benefit of tube. I didn’t do recovery points up front because I haven’t seen a point in it. Going on 2 years since I built my bumper and I have not yet had a need for dedicated recover points up front.
Already saw it, 2 problems...
1)its all pro
2) it looks good except how far it sticks out from the grill and headlights. I don't know if that's necessary to fit a winch, but goddamn that looks retarded. I think the Marlin one sticks out some, but not as far as that one.
What’s wrong with All Pro?

I agree you can tuck the bumper in further if you build it right.
How much do you know about tow point design? On the rear I'm thinking about just taking cold rolled flat bar and drilling out holes for the mounting points and tow points. I already bought half inch for it, but I'm reading some folks use 3/4 or 1 inch thick material for the tow points. I think a lot of Fab shops are using much thinner material with washers welded on to add to the thickness out the outside where the hole could be ripped open. My Pelfrey only uses 3/8 with some washers for extra thickness.
View attachment 8989
Use 1” tabs. Go on eBay and find some. There is plenty of manufacturers now that make them. Not only do they look 1000x better, but they won’t bend if pulled at an angle. Much better design to have the 1” tabs.
 

Mike_taco4x4

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So over the years I've come to the conclusion that plate bumpers are retarded, but somehow became the defacto armor style even though they kill mpg, rob power, raise COG, among other issues.

My new truck is definitely going to get tube bumpers but unfortunately most of the ones out there are one-offs and tube bumpers for 2nd gen/3rd gens are relatively uncommon, so it's difficult to get ideas. Depending on how the process goes I might ditch the plate bumpers on my 2nd gen too.

Anyone have website links for design considerations and ideas when fabbing up tube bumpers? I found a lot of stuff for sliders but I'm having trouble finding anything for bumpers. The rear should be relatively simple, but I know the front is going to need more thought for a winch mount which will need to be designed to be strong enough to handle any abuse that might come from fucked up winching situations.
If you are going full custom bumper get extra clearance and chop off the lower crossmember. Desert Toy Fab makes their bumpers that way.
 

madtaco461

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How much do you know about tow point design? On the rear I'm thinking about just taking cold rolled flat bar and drilling out holes for the mounting points and tow points. I already bought half inch for it, but I'm reading some folks use 3/4 or 1 inch thick material for the tow points. I think a lot of Fab shops are using much thinner material with washers welded on to add to the thickness out the outside where the hole could be ripped open. My Pelfrey only uses 3/8 with some washers for extra thickness.
View attachment 8989

I don't know anything about tow points but I know the math tell you how much force each piece can take until your material begins to yield.

My tube bumper I just wrap the strap around my tube. I'm only a 4k lb truck.
 
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What’s wrong with All Pro?

I agree you can tuck the bumper in further if you build it right.
A couple years ago when they got sold/relocated/whatever they were having a lot of issues, lost vendor status on TW as a result. They stopped doing customer support for the issues too and didn't even bother addressing any of the problems anywhere. Probably the worst was some poor bastard bought their +2 kit and the LCAs were made wrong and couldn't even be installed and couldn't get in contact with anyone at Allpro to fix the problem.

I haven't heard of anyone buying anything from them since the shit went down. Things may have changed since they were bought by trailgear and relocated since it looks like the website got revamped.

I've bought enough shit and had it fucked up from the factory from reputable companies, I don't want to buy from a non-reputable company at this point.

Use 1” tabs. Go on eBay and find some. There is plenty of manufacturers now that make them. Not only do they look 1000x better, but they won’t bend if pulled at an angle. Much better design to have the 1” tabs.
Iooks like I'll go this route, it will weigh considerably less than what I was planning on doing.
 
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Itaro

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A couple years ago when they got sold/relocated/whatever they were having a lot of issues, lost vendor status on TW as a result. They stopped doing customer support for the issues too and didn't even bother addressing any of the problems anywhere. Probably the worst was some poor bastard bought their +2 kit and the LCAs were made wrong and couldn't even be installed and couldn't get in contact with anyone at Allpro to fix the problem.

I haven't heard of anyone buying anything from them since the shit went down. Things may have changed since they were bought by trailgear and relocated since it looks like the website got revamped.

I've bought enough shit and had it fucked up from the factory from reputable companies, I don't want to buy from a non-reputable company at this point.


Iooks like I'll go this route, it will weigh considerably less than what I was planning on doing.
All pro is local to us once again so you can go raise hell in their faces if you have issues
 

AssBurns

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A couple years ago when they got sold/relocated/whatever they were having a lot of issues, lost vendor status on TW as a result. They stopped doing customer support for the issues too and didn't even bother addressing any of the problems anywhere. Probably the worst was some poor bastard bought their +2 kit and the LCAs were made wrong and couldn't even be installed and couldn't get in contact with anyone at Allpro to fix the problem.

I haven't heard of anyone buying anything from them since the shit went down. Things may have changed since they were bought by trailgear and relocated since it looks like the website got revamped.

I've bought enough shit and had it fucked up from the factory from reputable companies, I don't want to buy from a non-reputable company at this point.


Iooks like I'll go this route, it will weigh considerably less than what I was planning on doing.
I guess I missed all that stuff. I knew they were having some issues. IIRC the old owner was having medical issues and it was causing problems with business, so Trail Gear pretty much bought them out. Not sure if it was a 100% buyout or if they just bought the majority to take over and keep it going.

If you plan on tube bumpers, don’t worry about using recovery points at all. Just keep a couple soft shackles in the truck. Save the weight, and less shit hanging off the bumper for better approach/departure angle.
 
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I guess I missed all that stuff. I knew they were having some issues. IIRC the old owner was having medical issues and it was causing problems with business, so Trail Gear pretty much bought them out. Not sure if it was a 100% buyout or if they just bought the majority to take over and keep it going.

If you plan on tube bumpers, don’t worry about using recovery points at all. Just keep a couple soft shackles in the truck. Save the weight, and less shit hanging off the bumper for better approach/departure angle.
What size/wall thickness is recommended for 6000lbs trucks so it doesn't collapse in a snatch recovery?
 

AssBurns

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What size/wall thickness is recommended for 6000lbs trucks so it doesn't collapse in a snatch recovery?
1.75” x .120” wall DOM for anything that will take abuse. You can use 1.5” x .120” for gussets or support tubes. Build it right with proper tube placement and gussets, and tube will be more than strong enough to take some hard hits (or pulls). I’ve hit mine pretty hard many times and I have not had any issues with damage to the tubes. Just make sure it’s attached to the frame well. If it’s not mounted well, then it’ll be weak and cause problems. I welded my frame horns and bolted the support tubes. You don’t need to weld it on, but definitely make sure it has support from all directions an impact can take place.
 
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All pro is local to us once again so you can go raise hell in their faces if you have issues
Allpro is poop


When Jon owned it, he confronted me and asked me to stop talking trash about his long travel. I think I convinced dozens to get TC instead. Jon was so fuckin pissed. But I had a bunch of allpro product and it was trash. So I had to tell the people
 
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I was tagged here 10 days ago, sorry. I just don't get on much.tmp_1541273432170.pngtmp_1540526363798.pngtmp_1539817857851.pngIMG_20160723_100008.jpg

My bumpers were all designed to be as functional as possible. Ideas taken from many bumpers out there.


If you want to see badass plate bumpers, Blenders are probably the most stout in the state. These fuckers take a hammering better than Mia Kalifa.
 

Arcticelf

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I cut the OEM bumper mounts off the frame, along with the lower crash bar, and welded on frame extensions I made from 3/16 plate. Those I boxed and internally gusseted. Then did a center plate and hybrid wings.

I haven't hit the center plate on anything other that trees, so that's probably excessive.

The wings I did with the same Square tube I use for sliders, and it's taken some hard pulls doing recovery with out issue.

The down side is you also need a custom IFS skid with this approach.IMG_20190526_085824468_HDR.jpg
 
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^ makes a good point and I had forgotten we did this. But we reinforced the OEM bumper mounts and added a 4th bolt.

I wanted to cut the lower bar and move it up but at the end of the day it was more work to deal with than we wanted.

At some point I need to add something to go behind the mounts and tie back to the frame. I think there is a company that just makes these aftermarket.
 

Arcticelf

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^ makes a good point and I had forgotten we did this. But we reinforced the OEM bumper mounts and added a 4th bolt.

I wanted to cut the lower bar and move it up but at the end of the day it was more work to deal with than we wanted.

At some point I need to add something to go behind the mounts and tie back to the frame. I think there is a company that just makes these aftermarket.

There's a couple aftermarket hooks that you can buy for that. I forget who made the ones we used on another truck.
 

AssBurns

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xplore.offroad

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There are a couple of tube bumpers or hybrids I've seen that I really like. CBI's Dakar front bumper is pretty sexy and @2ndGenJonny can post pics of his one-off bumper....I'm calling dibs if he ever sells it though. Addicted Offroad also has some cool designs for T4R's & Tacos that I'd look into. http://www.addictedoffroad.com/inde...ducts_id=748&zenid=hmlc63139ul67dfj2tdgdnfun0

@Tetten

I had the Addicted Offroad on my 3rd gen and it was great.

I would consider it a hybrid. Wasn't too heavy and built solidly (except the lead time was ass), good clearance for approach angle.

@WrenchnWheel now owns my bumper.

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TACOVRD

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That looks great. If I ever get a T4R, those bumpers will be at the top of the list.
 
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