taxx
Make em say Ugh
- Joined
- June 11, 2001
- Messages
- 4,112
- Reaction score
- 4
- City, State
- Indianapolis, IN
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 73 EB
Alright so I promised this information a while ago and the explorer is gone and I haven't been able to find the pics. I can get more on jan 15th when we take it out, but what I have here will have to do for now....
FRONT
Front is a TJM winch bumper (forget the exact model number) purchased from their Blem Sale for a 93 - 96 ranger. Body lines match up, this is why I got this bumper, but the frames dont. There are several ways you could resolve this, you could make your own brackets or modify theirs. I chose the easiest way, yet more permanent, out. I cut the stock brackets off the frame and trimmed the frame back abit as I mock fit the bumper on jack stands and 2x4s. Once I had it where I wanted the frame as a little too wide for the ranger mounts so I cut a side off the frame, took the ranger mounts and welded them in as the new side, thus making the mounts a permanent part of my frame. The rest was just mounting it.
Pics: (best I have of it in mounted form)
REAR
Not quite as straightforward as the front. it went through 3 stages and I will give the details on the final stage.
It all started from this goup buy:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47313&highlight=KMA+bumper
Its base was a KMA bumper. The price was right for what I needed then and I knew I could improve on it, but I wasn't at a point in my fabrication to start from scratch then. To do it all over I would not order from them, I would researchand either make my own or have one made locally. If you are into it, you can make your own of much better quallity for less money than ANYONE out there.
The base
well close)
First step was to rebuild the carier to fit with my rear window washer (I notched it at an angle and added reinforcement)
next step was to get rid of the god awfull gap you can see in the first pic. I used 1/16" plate steel to do that and welded it up.
The first pic is after some modification, the sides that were too long and stuck out as grappling hooks where cut down and replaced. Later to be seen in the final product this year as I cut the rear quater panels and replaced with bumper:
(not the best pic but you get the idea)
this was down with steel plate that I made my own steel tubing out of so I could have hte shape i wanted to contour the body. These are hooked to the bumper and tied directly to the frame. The entire bumper is welded to the frame in 5 spots.
Next step this year was to rebuild the tire carier. KMA used a bolt as the hinge, bad idea after a winter here in the midwest. I had to cut that off, but did it when i built the new sides. I got a great hinge from a jeeper here in town. It is the highest quality that I could find of all of them I have seen out there and it was the best price. It is machined, greaseable, tension is adjustable and uses different grades of metal to prevent rusting together.
Enough of that. just look at the pics. I'll try and find the detail ones I have somewhere and post them.
you can find more pics with the bumpers here:
http://www.haughs.net/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=97-Sploder
FRONT
Front is a TJM winch bumper (forget the exact model number) purchased from their Blem Sale for a 93 - 96 ranger. Body lines match up, this is why I got this bumper, but the frames dont. There are several ways you could resolve this, you could make your own brackets or modify theirs. I chose the easiest way, yet more permanent, out. I cut the stock brackets off the frame and trimmed the frame back abit as I mock fit the bumper on jack stands and 2x4s. Once I had it where I wanted the frame as a little too wide for the ranger mounts so I cut a side off the frame, took the ranger mounts and welded them in as the new side, thus making the mounts a permanent part of my frame. The rest was just mounting it.
Pics: (best I have of it in mounted form)
REAR
Not quite as straightforward as the front. it went through 3 stages and I will give the details on the final stage.
It all started from this goup buy:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47313&highlight=KMA+bumper
Its base was a KMA bumper. The price was right for what I needed then and I knew I could improve on it, but I wasn't at a point in my fabrication to start from scratch then. To do it all over I would not order from them, I would researchand either make my own or have one made locally. If you are into it, you can make your own of much better quallity for less money than ANYONE out there.
The base
well close)
First step was to rebuild the carier to fit with my rear window washer (I notched it at an angle and added reinforcement)
next step was to get rid of the god awfull gap you can see in the first pic. I used 1/16" plate steel to do that and welded it up.
The first pic is after some modification, the sides that were too long and stuck out as grappling hooks where cut down and replaced. Later to be seen in the final product this year as I cut the rear quater panels and replaced with bumper:
(not the best pic but you get the idea)
this was down with steel plate that I made my own steel tubing out of so I could have hte shape i wanted to contour the body. These are hooked to the bumper and tied directly to the frame. The entire bumper is welded to the frame in 5 spots.
Next step this year was to rebuild the tire carier. KMA used a bolt as the hinge, bad idea after a winter here in the midwest. I had to cut that off, but did it when i built the new sides. I got a great hinge from a jeeper here in town. It is the highest quality that I could find of all of them I have seen out there and it was the best price. It is machined, greaseable, tension is adjustable and uses different grades of metal to prevent rusting together.
Enough of that. just look at the pics. I'll try and find the detail ones I have somewhere and post them.
you can find more pics with the bumpers here:
http://www.haughs.net/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=97-Sploder
