My new tube bumper - lots of pics!

[yosh18981898]

I have nothing against hunting at all, but I do have something against your logic. How is killing them off supposed to stop inbreeding? Won't this only give them fewer mating options?

The deer population has gotten so bad that the "deer density" per square area has gotten so large that they are mating with immediately related members of the herd. In other words there isn't enough space for them to move far enough from where they were born, so they end up mating with "parents" and "siblings"

 

[huskyfan23]

mating with "parents" and "siblings"

Wow, and you don't even live in Alabama! NICE BUMPER!

 

[yosh18981898]

Wow, and you don't even live in Alabama! NICE BUMPER!

You sick minded little perverted......LOL!!!

 

[Josh S.]

how did you attach it to your frame? not trying to rag, but maybe you could throw some more supports between the two tubes...as in doubling each one up and plating on the front and backs of the plates...just a thought but extra peace of mind if you wanna use your bumper for stuff other than smashing deer haha. Looks nice tho, good job.

 

[yosh18981898]

The bumper brackets are basically piece of right angle steel. They are welded flat to both tubes of the bumper and then the other side of the right angle is bolted to the frame rails with 2 0.5" bolts per side. I'm going to be welding my grill guard onto it and that will be attached to both tubes, like this

The grill guard is made of 0.25" plate steel so it will help reinforce things. I'm going to weld the crap out of those joints. I'm also going to beef up the mounts as well. I may even reinforce the frame rails with some more metal. I don't want a bent frame if I get in an accident. Pity the other car though....

Heres a diagram of how the bumper attaches.

 

[VAHAM]

Oh, NOOO......

Now why would you post a picture of somebody holding up an innocent Bambi...I hate that i hope that you didn;t use a gun or a rifle to shoot it!!!

Don't worry, Bambi died from blood loss..... it was bleeding from the ears as a result of the anti-hunters' pot-and-pan banging to save it from the bad Mr. Hunter. It's brother (Blixen,not pictured) was struck by a Kenworth while running away from the screaming liberal idiots that invaded it's habitat to "rescue" it.

Sure glad those nasty hunters didn't kill them and actually utilize the the deer for feeding the hungry, aren't you ?

How much of your auto insurance premium goes for "deer collisions" of other policy holders ?


Sheesh, some people's children.....

 

[yosh18981898]

Don't worry, Bambi died from blood loss..... it was bleeding from the ears as a result of the anti-hunters' pot-and-pan banging to save it from the bad Mr. Hunter. It's brother (Blixen,not pictured) was struck by a Kenworth while running away from the screaming liberal idiots that invaded it's habitat to "rescue" it.

Sure glad those nasty hunters didn't kill them and actually utilize the the deer for feeding the hungry, aren't you ?

How much of your auto insurance premium goes for "deer collisions" of other policy holders ?


Sheesh, some people's children.....

LMAO!!!!!

 

[off-road97Xplor]

DUDE VAHAM.......that was great LMAO

 

[Buckshot]

Just doing what I can to lower car insurance....

Hmmm.....I wonder if I can shoot that damn gecko too.......

 

[henrymorriss]

Excellant job on the bumper and very nice deer also. Being a practicing degreed mechanical engineer, I enjoyed the explanation on your choice of materials. Also enjoyed the explanation on wildlife management and conservation. Having grown up in northern Michigan and now living in NW Ohio, I too, have seen the problems that can be caused by improper wildlife management.

To the reader that questioned the logic of the use of hunting to promote a species, I will attempt to reply. In Michigan the whitetail deer population is at an all time high. However, the amount of undeveloped habit is decreasing. These two factors are causing the population density to increase at an alarming rate. This is one of the factors contributing to the spread bovine tuberculosis in the whitetail population. With the population density of the deer rapidly increasing, it becomes more difficult for healthy deer to remain unexposed to disease and to also find enough food to remain healthy. This is where hunting becomes critical to survival of the species: by controling the population density to retard the spread of disease and to allow enough resources for a healthy population. Hunting does not remove the best genetic specimens from the population, it allows the best genetic specimens to continue a healthy existance in the population. Uncontrolled slaughter of a species, such as the buffalo, does lead to problems. But controlled and managed hunting leads to such things as the reintroduction of a native elk population in the lower peninsula of Michigan, an increase of bears in Maine, etc. etc. Instead of crying that hunting is inhumane and that firearms are the devils pen, look at what uncontrolled urban sprawl, loss of wetlands, farming for maximum yield, chemical pollutants in the form of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer, in a nut shell, what many refer to as "civilization" has done to our natural resources. There, I have stood on my soap box.

Back to the truck....

 

[yosh18981898]

I was driving home one night last winter in IL and I actually saw an Elk in a corn field. It was about 6' tall at the shoulders and had a huge rack, this is how I knew it wasn't a deer. I pulled off the road and got him in the headlights, my brother and I just stared in amazement for like 10 minutes as he just walked throught he corn field. I was dumbfounded to see an elk in IL. Now I want to know when there will be an Elk hunting season in IL!

 

[glfredrick]

Way to go on the bumper...

Also some nice deer being posted. I got 2 myself this year and my family appreciates being able to have the extra food in the freezer... Nothing at all wrong with legal harvesting of deer or other game animals. In most cases, there are far too many deer in the population as it is. Taking some out allows for the balance of the herd to be healthier and to have a better food supply over the long winter (especially in the northern states where snow covers so much of the ground).

Next time, use a hole saw (a nice bi-metal one) to make your cuts. It will greatly speed things up.

I'll try to post a few pics of mine tonight if I get it welded on the truck today.

Santa also brought us one of those pipe benders.

Oh - and what he said about pipe is true... It is as good as tube - and heavier. Yes, it has slightly less tensile strength than DOM (depending on the type steel in DOM - there are many different grades!) - but that is somewhat made up for by the extra bulk.

There is a great debate about this subject over on Pirate if you can stand the Pirate attitude...

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=316227

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=315475

There are other threads within these two that carry the discussion further.

 

[yosh18981898]

Yeah, I figured out that holesaws work good. I've been using them on my tire carrier (which I'll finish when I get back home the end of this months, pics to follow). I've been borrowing an $80 Hilti set from my dad's work and they've been absolutely awesome; so I think I'll just have to buy my own set.

One thing that didn't get mentioned on the pirate board is the the best benefit to using pipe: and thats that you can get it in galvanized, which is the same thing as black pipe except galvanized. It's nice not having to worry about the pipe rusting on me. If you prime it good before painting then the paint sticks just as well as it would to black pipe. The galvanizing is important because we all know that a coat of spray paint doesn't last long when it's getting dragged over rocks and brush!

 

[glfredrick]

I said that I would post a few pics of my rear bumper - so here goes.

(sorry if I am hijacking this thread - Mods can move it to a new topic if need be)

The bumper is built from 4 X 4 X 1/4" steel tubing, but it is "hollowed out" behind so that it isn't too heavy. It fits directly over the frame rails in the rear, and it is held in place by internal brackets and bolted through the frame rail to captured nuts inside the bumper with Grade 8 hardware. The rub rails are made from 1" pipe and they are set up like sliders, tied into the frame on the front (I used a piece of angle left over from hollowing out the bumper and welded the tube to the angle - and then bolted that to the frame rail). The end caps are 3/16" diamond tread plate welded in place and wrapped around the angled cut-outs. I find that I need that extra room when I get on some of the rock ledges here in Kentucky.

I cut away a portion of the rear crossmember to have access to the hitch pin from underneath - the frame is plenty strong back there with the bumper acting as a new crossmember. I also have cut away all the low-hanging sheet metal behind the rear wheel wells as it serves no purpose for off-roading. You'll also notice the number of dings and dents in the truck - some of them are due to the fact that I puchased this truck for $500 as a totaled wreck and didn't take too much care in pulling stuff out - and some I've put there from my off-roading antics (including taking out the rear window last time I did a particular waterfall here in Kentucky... ).

The largest thing that I have towed with this bumper is a Jeep Cherokee on a two-wheeled trailer (and at that before I made the rub rails which add strengh and resistence to spinning on the adjustment bolts) and it did fine... I guess I trust my own welding...

I don't lke the fact that my cheapy bender dimples the pipe where the outer rollers hit, so I'll be working on solutions to that issue for futher projects, but so far I like what I can do for $69.95 and some time...

 

[VAHAM]

I don't lke the fact that my cheapy bender dimples the pipe where the outer rollers hit, so I'll be working on solutions to that issue for futher projects, but so far I like what I can do for $69.95 and some time...

What kind of bender did you get for $70.00 ?

I assume that must be pipe, not tubing, what are the specs ?

Really sweet bumper !!!

The gears are turning, I'm thinking about something similar as a platform for a tire carrier.

CLF

 

[yosh18981898]

I don't lke the fact that my cheapy bender dimples the pipe where the outer rollers hit, so I'll be working on solutions to that issue for futher projects, but so far I like what I can do for $69.95 and some time...

You mean like this:

When I did my front bumper it did that on one of the tubes. I figured out that it was because I had the roller things set too close together and there wasn't enough space between the die and the rollers for the pipe.

Vaham, Harbor Freight Tools has them for 99.99 but they go on sale for 69.99. You can see it at www.harborfreight.com

 

[glfredrick]

This is what I used:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=32888

They go on sale regularly for $69.99.

Note that they are intended for bending PIPE not TUBE. The two have slightly different external dimensions so it will not work well with tube (kinks the tube).

I used standard black iron water pipe for my bumper project - it is .147 wall, which makes it heaver than DOM tube of a similar size (.120 wall). It carries the same steel specs as HREW tubing and will carry a similar load. Don't buy all the stuff you hear about water pipe being brittle or crushing under a load - it is made to the exact same ASTM spec as tubing - it is just made for a different purpose. Note that there are different specs of steel as well, and that includes pipe. I've seen some that is not the same quality as others. Some looks and bends as good as any DOM while some I've picked up from discount hardware chains isn't as good a steel (which is what I used for the bumper hoops - some other pipe that I got from a plumbing supply house bent better!). Try to get some that is American made, and from an actual plumbing supply house. You will be pleased...

Oh, and for the dimples, this is what I am going to try...

Seeing as how they seem to come from the side rollers not rolling, but instead grabbing and stretching the pipe. That may be a factor of the size of the pipe I used (1" standard black iron pipe - which BTW = HREW .147 wall tubing... Most tube is only .120 wall, so this stuff is stout). It didn't seem to do it as badly on a larger piece that I tried (I also made a front hoop, but it isn't done yet. Pics later).

I am thinking of cutting a piece of larger DOM tubing to act as a guide in place of the rollers (well, along with the rollers) - so that this bender more closely approximates the true tube benders that use a tube sized guide (the tube slides through it instead of rolls over it). I propose to slit the DOM in half length wise to make a pair of C's that are perhaps 4" long each - and use them between the pipe and the rollers. THEY can roll - and my pipe should come out without kinks. I'll let you know. If it works, the main hassle would be holding everything in place before starting the bend, but I can also figure a way around that obstacle.

Ultimately, I am a happy camper because I can do some new things and I didn't have to sell the kids to get it done...

Oh - BTW, Harbor Freight also has some other things that I am using:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=42324

 

[glfredrick]

Here are a few more pictures of what I did in front today...

The first two pictures show my front bumper getting finished with some end caps and some small sliders to direct things past the edges of the sheetmetal. The pics look funmy because they were taken at night and re-touched for clarity. I added the grill (or lack of a grill in this case) protection as well.

Note the area under the front bumper. Those are the frame horns - and the extensions I welded to them to carry the bumper which rides right under the headlights (I removed the trim piece that is usually between the lights and the bumper - mainly beacsue if clearance - but also because I purchased this truck as a totaled wreck (front hit) and the stuff was gone...

I still need to make some angled cuts below the bumper to change the way that the skid plate works. I'll eventually have a angle there instead of the blocky square frame horns that hang up on everything.

Here are a couple shots of the pipe bender in action. No kinks this time - I did what I said I would do with the extra round plates next to the rollers and it came out perfect. Couldn't even tell where the dies rode unless you REALLY looked.

Note the angle finder. I get my work tabke level, and then I can use the angle finder to make sure that I am getting the angles I desire in an up and down plane - I use other measuring tools for the horizontal angles.

Measuring the angle of the bend - typically it "springs back" a bit, requiring about 1-2 extra pumps of the jack past the desired angle.

Note how I set up for long lengths of pipe. You have to move the stand around some as the pipe bends - but it works good this way for long lengths.

 

[A Wise Guy]

I was driving home one night last winter in IL and I actually saw an Elk in a corn field. It was about 6' tall at the shoulders and had a huge rack, this is how I knew it wasn't a deer. I pulled off the road and got him in the headlights, my brother and I just stared in amazement for like 10 minutes as he just walked throught he corn field. I was dumbfounded to see an elk in IL. Now I want to know when there will be an Elk hunting season in IL!

You may want to stay out of Elk Grove.

 

[smpfreerider69]

hey u you are goin to ruin your pump by laying it side ways and bending with it. all the fluid in your pump isnt going into the piston in the pump. u will blow seals and ruin the pump.

all you guys need to throw away these harbor frieight PIPE benders and go and buy a model 3 tube bender. you wont have any dimples in your tubing and have no kinks. there only 300 bucks.