Rear bumper project

eaglefreek · April 30, 2011, 10:22:06 PM

As I mentioned in another post, I'm working on an "offroad" rear bumper with a spare tire carrier. I removed the rear bumper and ends. I leveled the car. I previously bought some clevis mounts and had a local shop weld some 1/4" plate to them. I temporarily installed them on the factory monuts and plumbed them with my level.

I purchased 6' of 2x6 1/8" rectangular tubing. Here are some pics of the slots I cut for the clevis mounts to pass through.

Here's the tubing slid onto the clevis mounts.

I'll cut the bumper at the ends on an angle and weld some 1/8" plate to take the place of the end caps. Also a spare tire carrier and a receiver hitch are going to be incorporated into the bumper similar to the one below, but the tire won't be as high.

demonicdragon · May 01, 2011, 08:24:59 AM

im looking forward to the finished product

wagoneerhauler · May 01, 2011, 09:56:56 AM

That's looking sweet so far EF. Are you going to weld it so the bumper can double as an air tank? I wonder what the PSI rating of 1/8" tubing would be if you did.

eaglefreek · May 01, 2011, 11:00:26 AM

Quote from: wagoneerhauler on May 01, 2011, 09:56:56 AM
That's looking sweet so far EF. Are you going to weld it so the bumper can double as an air tank?

Thanks, I actually entertained the idea of making it an air tank. However, I think I will be installing some tail lights and reverse lights into the bumper since the spare tire may block the view of the lights.

wagoneerhauler · May 01, 2011, 12:29:21 PM

I see. Well that will work nice as well. It's not a geat idea to make odd shaped air tanks anyway. Plus, having it be the first point of contact with something else (if you get rear ended etc.) makes it less desirable. Is the spare tire going to swing down or to the side?

eaglefreek · May 01, 2011, 01:07:27 PM

Side. I'm not going to spend a bunch of money on one of those spindle mounts with the bearings. I just don't see the need for bearings in something that will be opened 90* once a week. A solid shaft with some tubing pivoting on it should be fine. I will make it a snug fit with a zerk fitting for grease.

wagoneerhauler · May 01, 2011, 01:18:31 PM

I agree. And if you can keep water from enter at the top it would bel that much better too.

eaglefreek · May 01, 2011, 10:09:01 PM

I got little more done today. I cut the angles and cut out for the receiver hitch. I'll take some better pics with my camera instead of my phone when it's done.

boreddead88 · May 05, 2011, 02:24:57 PM

I like the direction you are going with this bumper, I don't know how well your mounting points are going to fair, but the design on the bumper its self seems like a good simple design. For your swing out I would highly recommend spending a few bucks, and adding some grease fitting to your hinge Assembly, I've built a bunch of this style of tire carriers, and it doesn't take a whole lot of rust to seize it up. And don't forget to provide a new licence plate mounting bracket, and a light for it.

eaglefreek · May 05, 2011, 04:20:01 PM

Quote from: boreddead88 on May 05, 2011, 02:24:57 PM
I like the direction you are going with this bumper, I don't know how well your mounting points are going to fair, but the design on the bumper its self seems like a good simple design. For your swing out I would highly recommend spending a few bucks, and adding some grease fitting to your hinge Assembly, I've built a bunch of this style of tire carriers, and it doesn't take a whole lot of rust to seize it up. And don't forget to provide a new licence plate mounting bracket, and a light for it.

I'm gonna tie the bumper into the unibody right behind the bumper where the gas tank splash guard bolts to and eventually incorporate a gas tank skid plate that will bolt into the rear subframe and to the rear bumper adding more support. I've already got an idea for a license plate bracket similar to this one http://www.northridge4x4.com/proddetail.php?prod=RH-4006.

boreddead88 · May 06, 2011, 10:58:27 AM

Quote from: eaglefreek on May 05, 2011, 04:20:01 PM
Quote from: boreddead88 on May 05, 2011, 02:24:57 PM
I like the direction you are going with this bumper, I don't know how well your mounting points are going to fair, but the design on the bumper its self seems like a good simple design. For your swing out I would highly recommend spending a few bucks, and adding some grease fitting to your hinge Assembly, I've built a bunch of this style of tire carriers, and it doesn't take a whole lot of rust to seize it up. And don't forget to provide a new licence plate mounting bracket, and a light for it.

I'm gonna tie the bumper into the unibody right behind the bumper where the gas tank splash guard bolts to and eventually incorporate a gas tank skid plate that will bolt into the rear subframe and to the rear bumper adding more support. I've already got an idea for a license plate bracket similar to this one http://www.northridge4x4.com/proddetail.php?prod=RH-4006.

that will be awsome...

eaglefreek · May 08, 2011, 08:53:42 PM

Made some progress today. In this pic I have a side piece tacked in:

Here it is with most of the bumper welded together. I still have to finish the swingout where the wheel will mount and then a bunch of grinding and sanding then painting.