[zluke13]

So it's been in my mind for a long while to build a bumper. This is what we (my brother and I) came up with. I did most of the design and pretty much all of the bending. He did the welding.

I used 1.5"x.125" DOM tubing. The mounts are 2.5"xx2.5".1875' square tube, main brackets are 3/8" plate, support brackets are .1875" plate. All of the plating of the lower portion and top are 12ga. plate.

So here we go. Let me know what you think. It's the first bumper I've had anything to do with and the first bending experience for either of us.

Shop emptied out for work space.

And here we go...

 

[zluke13]

 

[dubie2003]

Looks good so far. I have a few questions thou.

Why such a huge stinger with nothing in the center? Lights in the future or ....

How are the tubes welded on the edges? Is there a plate over the ends or ....

Non the less, it looks like it is a great start and a sturdy bumper non-the-less.

 

[zluke13]

Yes, lights will be added to the center. All of the ends were plated and ground smooth.

The stinger ended up taller than originally planned. But I wanted myself and my wife to be able to see it over the hood so we know where the front end is. She's only 5'2" so this is what we ended up with.

 

[nismo5]

looks cool nice work

 

[zluke13]

I'm also trying to figure out how to re-incorporate the factory fogs. We've got a couple of ideas but nothing solid yet.

 

[dubie2003]

You could pretty much eliminate the plastic shroud of the fog and install it in a section of pipe that you recess into the outer sheet metal. Only issue is that it may not be low enough to really work as fogs.

 

[frontire]

Are there any plans of drilling holes in that center plate to improve air flow to the radiator?

 

[zluke13]

Yeah, the best idea we had was using some exhaust pipe. I'm thinking about just eliminating them completely and using the existing wiring for some Hella 500's.

Are there any plans of drilling holes in that center plate to improve air flow to the radiator?

I really wanted to drill it and dimple die it but didn;t have the tools to do it. I'm gonna watch the temp. for a while and see how it goes for now.

 

[dubie2003]

You could re-use the OEM wiring but I am unsure of its wattage limits so that would need to be checked first. You don't want to burn the wires and etc...

I also like the dimple die idea but if you don't have the tools, you may be able to just replace the center section with some metal mesh or drill some holes in the plate and put some metal mech behind it or etc... to keep out rocks and crap.

 

[Idleone]

Nice work :goodjob:

 

[kavonalair]

I'm also trying to figure out how to re-incorporate the factory fogs. We've got a couple of ideas but nothing solid yet.

Get a couple of Hellas, and splice the wires from the new lights and the stock ones. That's what I did on my truck, and it still allows me to use the stock switch.

 

[zluke13]

Get a couple of Hellas, and splice the wires from the new lights and the stock ones. That's what I did on my truck, and it still allows me to use the stock switch.

That is one of the options now, but like Dubie mentioned I would want to double check that the wiring is up to it. No problems how you have it set up I assume?

 

[bimmernut318]

That is one of the options now, but like Dubie mentioned I would want to double check that the wiring is up to it. No problems how you have it set up I assume?

You can use the factory wiring to drive a relay for the new lights, take the 12v from the battery. Same as adding fog lights when you get them in a kit, comes with wiring, relay etc. just wouldn't be using a ghetto switch!

 

[LoopOut]

Cool. I like. Very inspiring.

 

[mike]

very nice.

 

[Tyjb9x]

Nice, Pretty Unique too!

 

[penski61]

just out of curiosity how come you didnt take the stock from bumper off? also did you weld the square tubing over the lower bolt hole for the stock bumper?

other than that looks good

 

[zluke13]

just out of curiosity how come you didnt take the stock from bumper off? also did you weld the square tubing over the lower bolt hole for the stock bumper?

We looked up behind the plastic lower portion of the bumper and it was clear to cut the stock LE bumper. We figured it was just as easy to cut it on the truck. Plus we mocked up everything around it so it was used a lot as reference. We didn't see a need to take it all the way off.

I know we didn't cover any holes and I don't recall seeing any to be honest, but I'm not sure how the stock chrome bumpers mount. The LE lower portion is just held on by some cheap plastic hardware.

 

[penski61]

thats just an overlay , the piece you welded your mounts to is the actual bumper its the same on xe se nismo or le'

i guess it doesnt really matter cause you shouldnt need to take them OEM bumper off , but from the pics it looked like you weld the new mounts over the access hole