Custom Bumper/Safari Bar

[kubben]

Ok time for my winter project guys. After my last offroading experience I found that Stocky needs new bumpers and a winch. So I hit the drawing broads.

I have the front all figured out. Basically it will be a safari bar that will bolt to the frame. Then I am going to bolt a winch plate to the top of the frame and then weld it to the back of the safari bar. Should be super tough.

The rear bumper is where I am getting stuck. I know how to make the bumper and the jerry can holder but I am getting confused on the spare tire holder. I believe mattadams swings out and another guys swings down. I like the swing out idea. However I have some problems.

First how do you make it swing?
Second how does the tire swing lock into place?
Third, I heard reports at CC2000 that one guys started to sag. How do I stop that?

Anyone tidbits will help. Problems you ran into during installation, building, and after having it awhile.

Thanks

 

[mattadams]

Dave Meisner actually built mine but I can give you as much information as possible about it.

OK, how do I make it swing... on either side of the bumper there's one large piece of threaded metal. The tire carrier then has an equally sized hole. YOu slip the tire carrier overthe "bolt" and tighten it down. Now you'd have a tough time finding threaded metal this thick, I think its about 1-1 1/2" thick? If Dave still is on the board he'll correct me on that I'm sure. The nuts are huge. I believe since my design Dave has implemented a new design on his own vehicle that works better and is a bit more involved.

How do I lock it into place? There is a hole drilled all the way through to the bumper. Using a hitch pin with a nice handle and a spring that pulls it down whenever it can, it locks it in pretty good.

Third, that was Perry, he told me what was causing the problem but I don't recall. Tom Davis is the one with the fold-down model, I like his a lot, has the gas and water behind the tire, pretty cool design.

 

[Gofast]

Bumper time.

Pictures help too. I really like Matts design with the swing out. I tow a lot so the TD swing down model didn't work for me.

I'm going with a Custom BBR unit. Should incorporate the hitch in the middle of the bumper to increase the departure angle and tow points attached. I'll end up with compartments in the bumper to stow some trail stuff too.

Keep us posted this is very helpful

Thanks Rob
Bumpers By Rob

 

[kubben]

Plan change

I will post my sketch of the rear bumper when I get it done.
However I want to make my front look like this.
Custom Bumper
Only where the license plate goes have a winch.

[Edited by Ray Lobato on 09-13-2000 at 08:41 PM]

 

[Ray Lobato]

Rob,
I would really be interested in seeing what you are going to make. I have always really liked Paul Bredehofts tire carrier/bumper because it has great storage in the bumper itself and I think it looks good. The only problem is there are only 2 left and they cost $1600.00 and they still have to be powder coated. I just don't think I will have enough money left over after all the mods that I am doing at the present to purchase one of them. Ya know, it has to look good or Sandy won't let me get it. I worry about funtionality and she worries about weather it looks good or not.

 

[Gofast]

BBR Bumpers

I really started thinking about it when I saw Pauls Bumper and he told me what it cost. I loved the design. I'm going to use a lot of those features in mine. This is one of those slow winter projects. I'll post pic's and details when it's done. Jackie is the same way, It has to look good.

I can't wait to see your rig now.

Kubben lives close to me also, so I can't wait to see what he comes up with.

 

[tdavis]

Perry's tire carrier had problems from broken welds and the bumper itself moving.

My tire carrier/bumper is based on a smitty bilt tuber bumper, modified with a 2" reciever in the middle of it. It's capable of towing, and with the tire/gas/water carrier in the reciever, very "changable". (ie, if you tow, you can remove it, and place it in the towed vehicle/trailer.)

Some pics of it:

I also have a smitty bilt in the front, and I'm wanting to replace it with something better. I've had one shop say they'll build me one made of 2"x6"x.25" square tube, but I want something "classier" thant that..


[Edited by tdavis on 09-20-2000 at 10:35 AM]

 

[Dre]

well, after thinking a bit about those tube bumpers I have seen something that I like in the last issue of Four Wheeler magazine. It's a custom made bumper that incorporates lights and a winch and truly "hugs" the front end. Now I would love to get something like this on my rig. Company name is Reunel and all they have on their website is the name and info that they make custom bumpers. As far as spare tire? I got it on my roof. Preety soon I might be getting a roof rack to hold other stuff too. I have seen a few Jeeps lately with custom rear carriers that house spare tire and a couple of fuel and water canisters. Look nice. Anyway, here's the pic of that bumper I like so much. It looks like a winter project for me besides my forgotten lately 63 VW Bus, sorry.

Dead Link Removed

 

[Axel Fernandez]

Check out Kennesaw Mountain Accessories @ Dead Link Removed. I was looking for a solid bumber with a spare tire carrier to move my spare out of harms way. I got turned on to Kennesaw Mountain Accessories from an old issue of Four Wheeler Magazine. I did not purchase one so I can't recommend the product. I did however contact Kyle to get some information. This is the scoop... the Multi-carrier for a 1996 Explorer is $400 + freight. This includes the bumper with "D" rings, mounting hardware, and tire carrier. Available options for the Multicarrier include a receiver hitch $65, jack carrier $25, CB antenna mount $10, gas can carrier $30 each, and the bumper configured as an air tank $35. There are also several lighting options available for the Multicarrier as long as the air tank option is not selected. The bumper is available with a set of recessed backup lights $35. It is also available with a set of recessed turn/stop/marker lights $35 or with LED turn/stop/marker lights $115. If equipped with the HD hinge option $60, a removeable jamboree rack is an option for the Multicarrier $125 + freight.

I on the other hand, fabricated my own HD rear bumper with a swing away spare tire carrier. I hope to post pictures soon. I am really satisfied with how it's coming along. I also incorporated a 2" receiver hitch located dead center flanked by D-Rings from a military Hummer. The fit is superb but it's still just bare metal. My funds are low right now so the project has been put on hold. I'm going to have it painted to match the "Mist Green" color of my Explorer. I'm also looking around for some type form of kit to relocate my license plate. My bumper doesn't stick out as far as the stocker so the departure angle is much improved. If the response is good I might just start banging them out into production. It's a real simple design that will help keep the cost down. Every bumper I seem to find looks sweet but sells for over $1,000. One site had their bumpers advertised for over $2,000. They're stark raving mad! Anyway, check out Kennesaw. They're at least reasonable.

Hope I've helped.

 

[Dre]

Kennesaw Mountain Accesories

Thanks Axel for the tip. That's exactly what I was looking for. They even posted drawings and specs for each bumper. My winter project looks a lot better now. I just went through Overlander's catalouge and they had a tire carrier unit that attaches to the existing hitch. Works on a Cherokee and Grand but I'd like to find out if it works for an Explorer. It's like $349.00. Also on this same note, they sell ARB winch bumpers and once again they don't list them for Explorers but these are like $649.00 each. I'd better check their site.

I might want to toy with the rear first with tire carier especially with these drawings I got.

Later,

 

[mattadams]

if anyone is looking for a trailer hitch mounted spare tire holder, I've got one that's sitting in my basement from when I had my F-150. It's made by mir-kyn enterprise. It folds down like Tom Davis's does, unfortanetly it doesn't have a gas can holder or water can holder with it like tom's does. If anyone is looking for that type of equipment let me know .

 

[GJarrett]

Matt, I may be interested. I'll PM you.

 

[tdavis]

Personally, I believe putting a 33x12.50 tire on the roof of an explorer is an hazard waiting to happen. Why? Here's my reasoning:

1) raises the center of gravity of a vehicle already too high

2) royal pain to get down and off the roof when needed. How many people did it take to get it up there in the first place?

I also saw several guys trying to carry gas on the roof, and I believe the same thing. So, does that mean roof racks are useless? No, but you need to be careful on what you put up there.

 

[mattadams]

lights work good on the roof rack! heh heh.

 

[Paul]

Tom -
I like your set-up with Smittybilt rear bumper. I also have the rear dual tube bumper, but without the trailer hitch. Did your bumper come with the hitch, or was that fabbed at a later date??
Although I have a Class III trailer hitch, I usually don't like wheeling with it because of the reduced rear departure angle. Because of that, I have never considered the spare tire carrier that you have. If fabbed, any recommendations??
Was the tire/gas/water carrier homemade as well, or readily available??

Thanks for any info,

Paul
'91 Sport

P.S. You didn't have this set-up in Moab, did you?

 

[tdavis]

Matt - in your case, I'd be concerned too. All those piaa's add up in weight you know..

Paul - the 2" receiver tube into the smitty bilt is custom. The only tight spot was the hitch pin - they bent one to 90", instead of the normal 60". They also reinforced it behind the bumper - right now, I think I can easily pull a class three load with it. I've jumped all over it, and it doesn't seem to move at all. As for moab - the bumper with the receiver mod was there, but the carrier wasn't. The carrier is custom, except for 5 gallon can carriers - they are blitz's carriers. As for departure angle problems with this setup - there is none that I've found yet. The shop that fabbed this whole thing up was careful, very careful.

As for tips -- hmm. What I did:

Find a hitch shop that can build custom hitches. Many shops are bolt on only.

Be prepared for lots of "You want what?"

Make sure they center the reciever tube dead center, welding on *both* tubes if you do it. Also make sure a plate is welded onto the back, providing even more support.

Find an old hub for the tire carrier - it's the strongest way of doing it.

Oh, last but not least - be prepared to spend money. Putting the 2" receiver in the bumper set me back about $300 dollars. It's been worth it, since it doesn't affect the departure angle one bit!

Did I cover everything?

 

[Paul]

Tom -

Got it. Thanks or the info. Just one more thing for the "To Do" list. Now where did I put that credit card???

Paul

 

[Dre]

Custom bumper/hitch

Now, I was gonna do it as my winter project but decided to start now since I had to take my rear bumper off for adjustments anyway after the body lift. I took pff a hitch plate and the top plastic thingy and put the bumper back on. At this point it looks like I've got a perfect place to start building custom bumper/hitch/tire carrier. I'll build with the main bumper structure as my base. At least for now I'll need to find a place to get 1/8" diamond plate for the top. Tubing won't be a problem. Will bring you all up to date as soon as I have something.

Later,