Plate or tube bumper...

[The Breeze]

So I am thinking of building a bumper for my 04 sport trac. I just dont know what kind of bumper to do. Wondering if we could get a thread of custom sport trac bumpers so I can make up my mind. Or if anyone has rigged up a bumper for another vehicle to fit the 1st gen sport trac.
Thanks

 

[OffTrac]

1-Mean-X has the best looking bumper I've seen yet and I plan to basically copy it. He has an entire thread about it in the Offroad Projects subforum. It's for a Sport but they share the same front end exactly.

Personally, I don't like tube bumpers but they seem to be more popular on your side of the country.

There's also an entire thread already dedicated to custom bumpers. It's not specific to Sport Tracs but there just haven't been enough custom ST bumpers made to even make it worth creating a whole thread about them. It'd be less than a page long and probably stay that way for a couple years. Fortunately, more people are starting to mod them recently as they become cheap enough to justify tearing down and building up.

Btw, you posted this in the completely wrong forum. Maybe a mod will move it for ya.

 

[The Breeze]

thanks. I know there arent many STs with custom bumpers.
I dont really know how to change were I am posting it. Any advice on how to do that...

 

[mounty71]

What you do with your truck can dictate what type of bumper you build, unless it's just for looks. I use my truck for the higher speed type of offroading out in the desert and in sand dunes, so a higher clearance tube bumper with a skidplate down to the lower crossmember made the most sense. And the tube design fit the style of truck that I'm building. Driving offroad at night required light mounts, driving in the dunes required a flag mount, and spending a lot of time driving in the city convinced me to make the light mount removable so my lights don't attract thieves. So I incorporated all of those things into my design, and I'm very happy with it.

 

[OffTrac]

True, if you're going to be sliding it up rocks, a plate bumper. If like mounty71, tube. A skid plate is a good idea for both, so make sure to account for that in your design.

I dont really know how to change were I am posting it. Any advice on how to do that...

Can't remember if you can do it yourself or not but if you can, it'll be in the top right of the thread where it says "Thread Tools." If not, you'll need to send a pm to the mod of this forum to have it moved.

 

[The Breeze]

Yea definately gonna have a a skid plate protecting the radiator right there. I dont do any extreme offroading. Just the weekend trip every once in a while. I just didnt know if any1 had any pics of some they have done on a ST. So i could get some ideas on what would look the best.

 

[OffTrac]

Check this thread for the one I was talking about.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=315977

 

[The Breeze]

offtrac- that bumper is really nice. I would do something a little different with the hoop but the bumper part of it is so clean.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

I modified a ARB winch bumper from a older mountain rescue vehicle (Land Rover). There's plenty of pictures in my build thread as well as in the "Show Off", "Lifted" ST section. Sorry, on my phone right now or I'd post a picture. Check out my photo albums too.

 

[The Breeze]

Midnight- I saw your thread and the bumper does look sweet. I was looking at some jeep cherokee bumpers because the width is very close to ours.
http://www.quadratec.com/Assets/Images/112134/112134-lg.jpg

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Talk to James at RLC Welding (site vendor). He does awesome work and is really cheap.

 

[1-MEAN-X]

The bumper I made started life as a stinger bumper for a jeep. Since then I have made the stinger hoop removable for driving around and is very easily installed/removed. There is a picture in my build of what it looks like without the stinger on it as well.

 

[Maniak]

I like a modified double tube bumper for the front. That way I can get the tire right on rocks. The lower tube is no lower than the frame but anything outside of the frame is only a top tube.

waterfall-9-truckhaven-1-2012 by maniak_az, on Flickr

~Mark

 

[FROADER]

You can get some ideas from this thread, too.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99820&highlight=custom+bumpers