Can't wait to see pics of it on,does look kinda old school but so do are boxy rigs...lol


I do Kinda agree with Zach on some of it.I think size and wall size is ok but agree on the welds seeing your talking about grinding them to look good,grinding is just going to weakin the welds (just becareful). I do love seeing guys doing stuff to there rigs on there own and fabbing stuff but When stuff dosen't get done right it looks bad on our hobby and why we have state regulations like lift laws...etc.etc.etc

 

for the most part, yes. Anyways its a sweet bumper. when can we see pictures of it mounted?

 

it looks exactly like posted. there was big gaps and it was basicly a bunch of tacks to fill it without burning through.

from a fabricators veiw overlaping tacks will hold it together just fine as long as the tack got pentration however to clean it up you could run a steady weld over the top however you will be grinding so itll clean up just fine


pipe is far stronger then most give it credit for and .180 is fine for a bumper and done right itll hold great much better then stock anyway and hey it was laying around so FREEBEE

again from a fabricators veiw you did nothing wrong it looks good
its not my taste but will preform and makes you happy its great

alot of us given the money would get an orfab they look great and function great
my bet is they are not DOM pipe but .120 wall tube
also the mounts dont looks 1/4" they barely look 3/16"
also they are three peice yet another weaking point but it makes them easier too fab
starting to wonder where there pricing comes from? lol

anyway even tho not my taste looks good id like to see it mounted

 

ok back to fab...has the OP started mounting yet? and are there any tow points being included in the build?

 

Well did you notch the ends yourself? If so which method did you use? I like the caps also, weld-on or bolt-on?

 

The caps are welded on. We did notch the ends ourselves. We have a collar that goes on the end that acts as a guide. Marked where the collar was then use a cutting torch to cut out the notch.

 

im interested to see how it lookes mounted up

 

Me too LOL. We put it on to get the mounts right, but I'm ready to see it painted and done. Hopefully I can get back to my parents house this weekend and finish it up. It is freakin cold here and there is ice all over the roads, but it should clear up by saturday or sunday.

 

Looks like a good tube bumper! I'm more a plate guy, but you're doing a good job on it. I just did my front bumper in December. Some of this, or all of it, you may already know, but here are a few things I've learned in the short amount of time I've been welding:

When you start cleaning up the current welds, use a soft wheel (a 60 would be good to start with) on them. Once you get them down close to the tube, switch over to a 80 soft wheel. Then a 160. Doing this will let you see any spots where the welds didn't penetrate or the bead wasn't very good as you work the welds down. Get them as clean as you can without getting into the tubing and fill where needed and repeat the process.

For prep, get some CRC non chlorinated cleaner. The stuff works great! You don't want to get it on your hands so use some latex gloves and a paper shop towel to clean up the metal. Make sure it's the non-chlorinated though. Chlorinated cleaner is highly combustible - a very bad thing when using a welder.

For the gaps you've got, make sure the fill welds are VERY clean. These spots can be weak points, so do all you can to keep from having any contamination in the welds.

For the welds you've still got to do - use a back and forth crescent pattern and push the bead. You'll get a cleaner weld that way. Do about 2 inches at a time, and at the end of each weld, pull the bead back quickly to get a smooth end.

You're doing well, so keep it up! Can't wait to see more pics of it!


Zach - I met you last year and even though I don't know you THAT well, I can honestly say that you're a good guy and you know your stuff. But, not everyone knows you're sarcasm and on here it can come across as a pissy attitude towards stuff. I say let it go, and this is for everyone, if you got an issue with what someone said, PM them rather than cluttering up the threads. Just my .02. From here on, let's keep it on topic guys!

 

Oh yes! took a closer look at the pics and saw the guids... cool

 

any finished pics?

 

Not yet. The roads here in North Texas are covered in ice. I'll probably be off work tomorrow and may try to make it to my parents and finish it up. I'll be sure and post some pics as soon as I finish it.

 

Here are pics of the finished bumper. I will be putting black diamond plate behind the bumper and below the grill to cover the holes of the unibody. The first pic is where I relocated the "magical orb." I used the rear portion of the old bumper brackets for the light tabs. Hopefully I will get lights soon. Can't decide if I want square or round. Overall I'm happy with the way it turned out. It is a very sturdy and I love how the D rings look. I know it's not perfect and I learned a lot from the build.

 

Here's a few more

 

thats definitely an original design, i like it