Kinsersins Before & Afters (Picture heavy)

[Kinserin]

Since I actually have something to show about my truck recently I figured I'd post some pictures.

Here she is stock the day I got it home, 1991 Ford Explorer XL, $800 (canadian).

And here she is with her first set of 33s - 33x9.50x15 BFG Mud terrians, and no lift.

33x12.50x15 Thornbirds, 2" suspension 3" body lift

This is her as she stands today - 35" Micky Thompson MTZs with a 2" suspension 3" body lift, as well as the front fenders are cut out. Just waiting to finish some things up before I tube the entire truck.

^---Still doesnt rub!

And heres a few shots of my winch bumper I just fabbed up. It was my first real fab project and I didnt even plan the bumper out.. I just had a few goals, I wanted a winch bumper with a decent approach angle, as well as something that looked nice. IMO I pulled it off decently.

The bumper/winch sticks out less than 5" from the grill, not including the roller.
Questions and comments welcome

 

[HappyGilmore]

cool bumper

 

[exploder619]

what kind of suspension do you have done to it?

 

[Kinserin]

The suspension right now is just an aal and coil spacers, which was made with the sole purpose of providing room for tires, nothing more. The rear is rather impressive imo considering its almost-stock form. The front is garbage, but I never intended on using the stock suspension this long... I have a dana 44 and a dana 60 sitting in my sisters backyard waiting on money to rebuild them which should be this summer, unless my 302 stroker project takes priority over the axles, which it 'shouldnt', but things change.

The bumper took I think 20 hours without planning, just seeing what worked, so I was rather surprised it doesnt look like a farmer job. Hopefully tomorrow I can get some better pictures and hopefully by next weekend it'll be finished. (It still needs to be boxed in on the back side, but its fully gusseted. Also need to make my skid plate) Once the front is finished Im going to work hard on a matching rear and then rock sliders so I can fab up my tube fenders. They arent really tube fenders.. But more of a stage 1 portion of my end goal which is an exo-caged explorer.

 

[Gadget X]

Nice work, and nice bumper! Good luck with the rest of it, and keep us posted!

 

[DeRocha]

I like the low profile of the bumper I'm sure lots of members would like to see more pictures on it... shots of the attachment points and various internal supports would be great!.. Also what kind of tools and equipment did you use during the fabrication? A descent write up on how the project came to be and what problems you had to deal will could win you a free elite membership...

 

[Kinserin]

I was thinking about making a write up, but it would probably just end up being pictures.. I didnt take any of the in-progress shots, but since the bumper isnt completely boxed in yet I could still get pics of the inside of it.

As far as tools were concerned, I used a plasma cutter to cut my fenders (the project that I was thinking about for so long and thought was going to be so hard to get done nicely.. took 15 minutes..), and some other misc cutting. Almost every piece of the bumper was break-sheared so every piece on either side was exactly the same in dimensions. I wanted to stick weld the bumper but I opted to mig it just because of time constraints on certain nights. All the work was done at the shop I work at after hours.

On second thought, I'll think about a write-up and see how well that goes.. I'll get some more pictures soonish.

Oh, and as far as mounting goes, its just 2 tabs that wrap around the frame on either side held in place by 2 bolts. Im thinking of gusseting the tabs just for my peace of mind. I've never actually fabricated anything before so this was my first attempt, and it was a seat of the pants kind of project... So I hope if anything fails, its the winch. Then I can get a real one