New Mod. . .

The old bumper held up pretty well - - Smittybilt dual tube bumper purchased in '98, swing away tire carrier added in '02; but the Smittybilt was never designed to carry the load, especially bouncing around off-road. Had to have the hinge re-welded a few times over the years, and decided the time to fix it was now...

Found a guy on ClassicBroncos.com that makes bumpers and he agreed to make one for me. Kind of tough making it a few states away, but with a few measurements, photos etc., worked out okay. Still had to do a little work to get it to fit right, but a great improvement over what I had. . . Like the tube style, really compliments the James Duff front bumper.

Should be all fit up by next week, ready for Moab. . .

Paul
'91 Sport

Wow check you out, that looks great! With the doors and this it's definitely Moab ready!!

Very nice. Tha should solve your unexpected swinging issues on the trail

Diff Whack Daddy said:

Very nice. That should solve your unexpected swinging issues on the trail

Click to expand...

Yeah, that was pretty much the last straw - - the hinge weld was breaking loose from the bumper, and the latch was fubared so I've been driving without a spare since Tahuya... :frustrate

A really stout build, lots of strength in the tire carrier. Strong enough that I took off the trailer receiver hitch that served as my bumper "skid plate". Departure angle just increased considerably... Just a little more tweaking before it gets slapped with a coat of Line-X.

Paul
'91 Sport

Line - X !

Moab Ready . . . well, except for the zip-tied license plate. . . :scratch:

Paul
'91 Sport

Is your spare only held on by the bolts? If so, are they pressed in to that plate or is it a loose fit? The reason I ask, is you might want to weld a shrt piece of tube to the plate. That will allow you to hang the spare via the center hole to easier aligh the bolts, and also give you a place to mount your liscence plate frame.

Diff Whack Daddy said:

Is your spare only held on by the bolts? If so, are they pressed in to that plate or is it a loose fit? The reason I ask, is you might want to weld a shrt piece of tube to the plate. That will allow you to hang the spare via the center hole to easier aligh the bolts, and also give you a place to mount your liscence plate frame.

Click to expand...

Welded into the plate - - the old bumper had a piece of round tube, didn't even think of adding it to this one, but would have if I had thought of it before doing the Line-X thing... The one license plate holder I saw online had a thin steel plate with holes that fit over the spare tire carrier lugs with a center hole mount for the license plate quick release.

For now, I'll probably bend some threaded rod into a "U" pattern to fit through the spare to the existing license plate frame and see how that works. There will probably be some good examples of other options next week(!) in Canyonlands.

Thanks again for picking up the trailer light - - worth a beer at the Moab Brewery Thursday night...

Paul
'91 Sport

We can still add the short piece of tube on there if you don't mind drilling a couple of holes through your Line-X. I can weld a piece of plate to a short piece of tube abd then you can drill and bolt it to the tire carrier plate. Mount your liscence platet holder/frame to a piece of angle iron, and then that bolts or attaches to the short piece of tube as well as provides a mount for the light. use a insulated spade connector to provide power for the light also to allow it to be removed with the lescense plate assembly and you are golden.
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