ctrick98

So I have a proposition to make with fellow cherokee forumers, it was brought up in another post about doing 3d modeling for a bumper design and they wanted a design. Well I am a engineering student, so I am well-versed in the ways of 3D modeling (barely lol). I am planning on building a custom bumper for my xj when I go back home for the summer, because I have all the tools for that, and I am very limited with my jeep projects since I live in a dorm room and have barely any tools.

Anyways, the important part here is that I really like CAD projects, and I want to know if anyone wants to pitch in the dimensions for the frame rails and the brackets and such, and in exchange I will model a bumper and just post it here. I currently can't take off my bumper to get dimensions, and at the very worst I will make a general bumper shape with no brackets on it, but if somebody wants to contribute that, I am down to share dimensions and such. Just food for thought, I think it would be cool and maybe somebody could get some practical use out of my CAD software.

Also I dont know if my files will work with CNC machines, I dont know what file types they work with, so that might be some more input form somebody. But I currently use CATIA which is pretty similar to solidworks, and I also have autodesk inventor, although I do not use it much, but if that file is better I could make it happen. I was really just planning on making a 3D model, and then splitting it into 2D pieces that I can dimension and such. Just food for thought, if anybody wants to pitch in some frame rail width dimensions and such, the more input, the better idea I can get for sizing. Food for thought, just comment if the idea interests you, obviously I can't guarantee any of this stuff, but I am fairly confident in my abilities and if not I will get the rough dimensions with no bracket info then model that and then you can attach it to your jeep however you please, but that isnt ideal.

Now that I have bored everyone to death with this long *** post, I will add in that hopefully you guys can contribute!

JSJJ388

I have a bumper off of an xj that I am putting on my zj. I will be measuring it tonight and then fitting to my zj. would be happy to get you the measurements!

Just out of curiosity which engineering field are you studying? I went for ME but am now a steel detailer. So I use a 3d program called Tekla, but I learned on Sollidworks.

5-Speed

From all the parts I have designed and had made, I will tell you that pretty much all places will require 2d models. Each part will have to be in its own file and saved as a .dxf. Then the place doing the cutting and bending can convert it over to a file that there machine can read. Just keep in mind that most of the work is going to be done on a water jet or laser machine, not a CNC.

Anyways, if you have Autodesk Inventor, that will be the most simple route to go. Its a nice simple program to use. If I have some time over the weekend, I will draw out the factory bumper brackets for you (in a 2d .dxf file). I just so happen to have an extra bumper and mounts sitting at home and not on the Jeep.

ctrick98

Thanks for the input, i was definetely planning on doing the seperate pieces of metal that i would "weld" together in the 3d model. If you get those bracket dimensions that would be awesome, i will get all the body work dimensions. Then I will get going on some modeling and see what becomes of this project.

ctrick98

So i never got around to building a bumper because i dont have those dimensions, but in the meantime i modeled a roof rack. It is my first design out of a few ideas, and i am definetely going to be doing some more designs in my free time. But is anybody interested in this? I attached a picture of the assembly, but this is the rough shape. It is the same footprint size as the factory roof rack, and the triangular piece is actually a cargo box that lifts up. The second picture shows the cargo box open. Anybody have any suggestions or ideas? This is preliminary, and im not sure about the mounts yet, but you get the idea.

ctrick98

I was gonna model one where the cargo box is square and doesnt slope down and see how that looks. I might also build one that has no cargo box, but we will see. I kinda like the idea of a fixed locking container instead of trying to bolt down toolboxes. Plus if i want to throw the spare up on the rack the triangular design should cut out some wind noise

One more note. The roof rack i showed is 7 inches tall from bottom to top. Is that too tall? Would it look disproportional?

ctrick98

Nobody is interested? I am open to share these plans for anything I design... I'm just looking for a little help with the mounting system

JSJJ388

That is a neat idea with the toolbox. I think for mounting on a ZJ you could use the existing track and just bolt to it. not sure about an xj. Ill try to remember to get the measurements on my bumper tonight.

ctrick98

Yah i am designing this for an xj, but obviously the general shape and size would be the same for a zj. The triangular shape would probably look more at home on a zj anyways. When i make a rectangular toolbox ill post some pictures of that too. It just takes a bit of time

JSJJ388

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JSJJ388

What program are you using? I have Solidworks, Inventor,Revit, and Tekla. As well as autocad

ctrick98

Right now I am using CATIA, which is similar to Solidworks if you have heard of it. I also have inventor and revit and all those programs, but I use CATIA regularly so I am used to it. What do you use them for?

JSJJ388

Never heard of that one. I used Solidworks when I was in school for Mechanical Engineering. Now I am a steel detailer and I use Tekla to model stairs, ladders, rails, steel buildings and other misc steel things. Now I just use the others for side jobs and experimenting with ideas for my jeep lol

ctrick98

Oh thats cool, where did you go? I am currently studying aerospace engineering, and we use CATIA. I normally use inventor for simple projects like the roof rack, but i figured i should brush up on my catia modeling. Havent used it much this semester. And CATIA and Solidworks are both madr by DDS, so they are similar. I might get a copy of solidworks to learn that, i think lots of people use that

JSJJ388

I went to North Carolina A&T. We used Solidworks. Its a good program for building from scratch but if you are building things like buildings or structures its hard because there isnt really a catalog of beams or pipes or anything. Its all stick built.