Create custom bumper out of stock bumper?

so I have REALLY wanted a brush guard on my truck to have a functional and stylish way to add some aux. Lighting to my rig. however, I can't justify spending much money for it, and I haven't seen any pop up on craigslist. what I propose to do is to add a brushguard-like structure to my stock bumper.


something like that ^^^

I could make the uprights out of 3" by whatever square tube. cut and weld to my hearts content to get them fitting right. then I could either make up some brackets to bolt them to the face of the bumper, or simply weld them permantently. and of course a couple pipes run in between to hold some lights.

what do you guys think?

Sounds cool. Why not pick up another bumper from a junker to experiment and play with. So you still have a functional undamaged one on your Ex.

I definitely like the concept, keep us updated.

well, that didn't take long!

It is sitting in primer. once its dry it'll get a topcoat of black and I'll install it in the morning. I'll get pics as soon as I'm able. I bought some Harbor freight "offroad" lights. they were only $20, and since they're 100W they'll work just fine till I can afford some quality lights

ok, I know I say this everytime but this time i'm serious: this is the BEST mod i've done to my truck yet!!

first off I think it looks uber sweet! It looks good, but not factory good. I'll be sure to get pics up tomorrow.

and I LOVE the lights. I'm sure KC's or PIAAs are better, but I didn't realize what a drastic change a couple of lights would be! It took a little bit to aim em right, but once I got them pointed in the right direction, they lit up the road. I can see further and more to the side than ever. it makes my high beams look like a joke!

speaking of which, I wired em up so they only come on with my high beams. So far I really like it that way. If i'm scootin' around on some random road and someone comes over a hill all of a sudden, I'm not flipping my brights off and looking for a switch. My reflex is already to go straight for the brights.

Here be the pictures:





















Lemme know watcha think!

Looks very clean man. Doesn't look like it would take much of an impact, but definitely a good lookin one man.

I think it can be refined a bit, but the work on it is great. I wish I could do things like this.

I've named it: "The Damage Multiplier Mark I"
I will probably make a sturdier, better looking one eventually. This was my first try at fabbing something like this so I'm quite suprised at the outcome really. I just took some 2x4 thin wall rec tube and cut and welded it into the uprights, then welded some 1.25" pipe between em. No it won't take much of a hit, but I'm learning :^)