Jeep, Toyota, or other bumper use

[dersch6221992]

Hey guys and gals,

Okay i want to do a winch bumper on my 2nd gen. i am struggling with how i would feasibly be able to make my own plate winch front/ rear bumpers. the only issue is how i would cut the steel plates. i can weld and know how to measure/ make one i just dont know how i could cut it well/ straight.

so my next question i know some have done it but had anyone recently used a Jeep or other bumper on their truck? i saw someone used an XJ bumper and had to modify i am looking at some DIY weld your self XJ bumpers which i think may work well since i would be able to set the frame width dimensions but im not sure.

Any thoughts? yes i have considered the RLC bumpers but for $415 for the front and $500 for the rear its quite pricey in my opinion

 

[96EXXLTinCO]

Every steel yard I've ever been to offers cutting however you need it for extra fee. Other than that. I use my angle grinder with 5 or 6" this cut off wheels, or my small portable torch. Watch craigslist for deals on chop saws too, they work alright also.

 

[Blue91Ex]

I cut almost eveything I build with a 4.5" angle grinder, including all of the 1/4" frame plating on my ranger, yes it takes a while to cut through, and yes it is fairly easy to mess up, but it you are careful and go slowly, after marking your lines it isn't too difficult to score the surface along your line nice and straight and THEN get into cutting it, this leaves you pretty dead on cuts with a little patience and practice. cut of disks are also fairly cheap compared to buying a whole torch setup, and gas, or a plasma cutter.

 

[dersch6221992]

hmm intersting. for a winch bumper what are you guys generally running for cost?

 

[RangerX]

I like using my skilsaw with a metal cutting blade in it, for nice straight cuts. Much better straight line control than an angle grinder.

 

[Blue91Ex]

I like using my skilsaw with a metal cutting blade in it, for nice straight cuts. Much better straight line control than an angle grinder.

Not a bad idea I hadn;t thought of that, though I tend to just use whatever I have available and I got plenty of grinder disks.

Dersch. what do you mean, If I were to build one to sell? or just local market value for a steel bumper?

edit: Material cost really depends on what you are using. If I added a winch plate to the rear bumper I'm building for my ranger, which is 1/4" channel iron, It would probably come out to a total cost of roughly 140$ for all of the metal. Thats with 3/16 plate for the winch mount.

 

[dersch6221992]

Not a bad idea I hadn;t thought of that, though I tend to just use whatever I have available and I got plenty of grinder disks.

Dersch. what do you mean, If I were to build one to sell? or just local market value for a steel bumper?

edit: Material cost really depends on what you are using. If I added a winch plate to the rear bumper I'm building for my ranger, which is 1/4" channel iron, It would probably come out to a total cost of roughly 140$ for all of the metal. Thats with 3/16 plate for the winch mount.

hmm a skillsaw never really thought about that before. is it pretty "accurate/ precise?"

and yes im just more or less getting at what the cost per foot of steel like 1/4" or 3/8" plate. and i have no clue how much i would even need to do a "standard" front winch bumper

 

[Blue91Ex]

hmm a skillsaw never really thought about that before. is it pretty "accurate/ precise?"

and yes im just more or less getting at what the cost per foot of steel like 1/4" or 3/8" plate. and i have no clue how much i would even need to do a "standard" front winch bumper

Steel usually isnt sold at a cost per foot, but rather by weight. Like I said a chunk of 1/4" channel iron 6" wide and 6 feet long only cost me 45 bucks at the local fabrication shop, as they sell steel for nearly wholesale price and will even cut it for you, I had them custom bend me some 3/16" plate into a C channel 4.5"x3" i used to rebuild the back of my ranger's frame. i bought 8 feet like that as well as 4 feet of 1/4"x5" flat stock steel plate, for the 80 bucks, I believe I also got something else included but can't recall what.

Steel prices vary from state to state and thinner metal and lighter stuff will cost much less per foot than heavier stuff, like that channel iron I got.

If I bought all the materials for a pretty beefy front winch bumper, 3/16" plate for the outer shell and 1/4" for the mounts, It would probably come out to somewhere around 150-200$, but I'm guesstimating that,

 

[Starkman]

I noticed you wanted a tube bumper early in your build thread. I used a Smitty Built Wrangler TJ bumper and added a 2" receiver to mount a winch. Food for thought.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=391609

 

[dersch6221992]

I noticed you wanted a tube bumper early in your build thread. I used a Smitty Built Wrangler TJ bumper and added a 2" receiver to mount a winch. Food for thought.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=391609

yeah i considered it but being that i want to go for an EXO CAGE eventually i figuered a solid plate bumper that is tied into the frame would be stronger to for the cage to be ran to.