Homemade bumper

[Gregturley]

After getting rear ended by a loser with a suspended license and no insurance I decided it was time for a real rear bumper. I really didn't want to spend $700-1500 for a bumper so I started building my own. It's all 1/4" plate with 1/2" brackets. I got all the metal from Metal Supermarket from their cut table for 0.75 per pound. I still have to cut holes for the back-up lights,  weld the bumper to the mounts, and either paint or powder coat it. When this one is finished I will be moving on to the front bumper. I plan to build it in the same style and have a winch mount. If anyone has done something similar i welcome any input, criticism, or advice. This is my first bumper build but I'm pretty happy with the way it is going. Ill post more  photos after its comple.

[Hawkez]

Very nice.  If my welding prowess were better I might attempt a job like this. 

[Gregturley]

Thank you. Dont be nervous to try it. Mock it up in cardboard. Cut it out of steel. Weld it together. If the welds penetrate there's nothing wrong with grinding them flush and smooth. Its a great way to learn welding because you wont have to worry about burn through on 3/16 or 1/4 plate. Tack it all together and skip around when welding. You can't see it but I got in a hurry and made a nasty warp when burning in one of the top angles. I let it cool, cut out 4-5 inches of weld with a cut off wheel and the warp was gone. I paced the welds after that and had no problems. You can also weld from the rear where it wont be seen and doesn't have to be pretty. I will admit i have a nice welder and a plasma cutter at home. The plasma is an Eastwood Versa-Cut 60 and for a somewhat cheap Chinese plasma it kicks ***. I have cut 1/2" clean enough to use with no grinding of the cut line.

[WiscoRedkneck]

Do you have just brackets holding the box bumper on, or do you have an incorporated smash bar behind?  I suffered the same fate as  you except mine was a hit a run I was not in the vehicle. I had a nice 3rd gen factory bumper on there at the time with just brackets. Long short they crumpled and smashed the bumper into my bed causing far more damage than expected.  I planned to reuse a 3rd gen bumper in good shape at first since they look good on a 2nd and have room for the rear winch.  But after building a sufficient smash bar I concluded that I am going to completely fabricate a new bumper cover kinda like yours.  Except for me I am utilizing a hidden crossmember and crumple zone to mount the bumper instead of brackets. Either way it looks good I'm a carpenter by trade but can still make a decent weld.....

[Gregturley]

You have a very good point and thanks for the compliment.  My brackets are 1/2" thick plate 3.5" tall and about 18"(?) long. 4 1/2" grade 8 bolts on each at frame. They go straight through the bumper and have a 1" hole for a D-ring shackle. You now have me thinking of adding a brace across the back of the bumper to try to prevent the sides from folding if hit hard. Maybe a 1/2"-3/4" bar about 3" tall and 24" long, with it standing on the thin side, or possibly C channel. It may sound stupid but i am trying to build it as solid as possible without adding unnecessary weight. I need to cut holes for lights and then build around those. 

Bumper on truck but not welded to brackets.

[WiscoRedkneck]

Weight in the back has never really been a concern of mine since the roads out here suck and I like my teeth.... 1/2" was probably a bit overkill IMHO I'm using all 1/4 or at most 3/8s thick material. That being said everything I am doing is designed to fail the way I want and all of the structure is triangulated or built as a parallel box beam frame design.  I.E. the smash bar is 2x31/4 wall with two pieces of 1x11/4 wall tube stagger welded inside the 2x3 then capped by 3/8s thick angle with a flat stock extensions welded on to create the crumple zone on the bracket and inside the smash tube.  Seams like alot but the whole assembly weighs less than 60 pounds and the dress cover going over the top will also weigh 40-60 pounds. Then the winch will probably weigh more than both combined.

[015point9]

I'm getting old if I ever get one, I want to make something like that little step up to the right hand side

[WiscoRedkneck]

Old leather belt and/or stirrups salvaged from saddles have always worked wonders for me.  heck the passenger side is set up so you can pull it out and let it hang or toss it under the seat seen 300 pound people use it no issue.  I will feel pretty bad if it breaks on someone.... 

[Gregturley]

I'm short. Like 5'4" with my work boots. I was going to add a corner step like on the new chevy trucks until i realized the Mopar is too high for that to really be usable for me. I leave the ball mount in all the time. Its my 1st line of defense against retards rear ending me and it doubles as my step but its not much use if the gate is down. 

I think I will look at adding a brace from the bracket to the outside of the bumper face. That will triangulate it fairly well. Might use some 1.5" 1.20 wall DOM. Think i still have some from the cage build on my 69.

[Marcus2000monster]

That’s looks very nice. If you have all the measurements for steel and al the info recorded i would love if you would send me your specs. That looks really good. Good work. 

[Gregturley]

Thank you very much. Let me see what i can get together in the next couple days.

[Royal Squire]

@Gregturley  I usually remove ball mount when not towing as it makes a really good knee knocker 

[Gregturley]

I live in louisville ky. Around here the cops cant arrest you or impound your car if you are caught driving with no insurance. They write you a ticket and let you drive away. There is a very high number of uninsured drivers. Add in the texting/make up applying/nose picking/drunks/tweakers and you end up with a lot of rear end crashes. That mount does a lot to protect the rear of my truck.  I have learned to walk around it and so have my wife and kids. Even the Chows know to duck when they go under for shade.

[JAG1]

I like your bumper and think its nice work

 

Just want to mention that I felt real bad one day when I saw a very nice lady injure herself in a parking lot on the receiver hitch/ ball on pick up parked next to hers car, she walked right into it, nothing to protect her leg since it was summer. You could tell she was a nice person when I asked if there was anything I could do and it made me feel worse with her trying to hide the pain she was in.

Edited March 19, 2019 by JAG1

[Gregturley]

When i park in a parking lot i usually pull the ball and put it in the bed. Locking tonneau cover keeps people from stealing it. I have seen what a small car does when its on the brakes hard and hits a truck. Car nosedives. Front end goes under the truck bumper and lots of damage to both vehicles. I saw a bumper take out a windshield of a Miata when the Miata driver didnt stop for slowed traffic. I have been hit in the rear 3 times in 3 different trucks. All 3 times i was stopped at a sign or light. All 3 times i drove off with minor damage. Say what you want but that ball mount will prevent a lot of damage.

[Dieselfuture]

Here is my contraption

 

[dripley]

19 hours ago, Royal Squire said:

@Gregturley  I usually remove ball mount when not towing as it makes a really good knee knocker 

Knee knocker, ya'll must be short. That thing puts a knob on my shin bone and makes me . Man does that thing hurt when you bang into it. 

 

17 hours ago, JAG1 said:

I like your bumper and think its nice work

 

Just want to mention that I felt real bad one day when I saw a very nice lady injure herself in a parking lot on the receiver hitch/ ball on pick up parked next to hers car, she walked right into it, nothing to protect her leg since it was summer. You could tell she was a nice person when I asked if there was anything I could do and it made me feel worse with her trying to hide the pain she was in.

I feel her pain. I ony hit mine when I forget to take out after using it.

[dave110]

Hate to be the short guy that ran into Mikes hitch. Ripped his nuts right off!

[Marcus2000monster]

21 minutes ago, dave110 said:

Hate to be the short guy that ran into Mikes hitch. Ripped his nuts right off!

HAHAHAHAHA thata a good one! 

[Dmaney]

Very nice work. Doing a great job!