Wanting to build a custom bumper, need some advice

[frankcal]

Hey guys so like the title said I am wanting to fabricate a custom bumper for my 03 sport and need some input. So a little input why I wanna get a custom bumper on my 2wd so I don't get burned. First off is obviously because of the looks and I really them. Second is last week I was in a pretty bad accident on the freeway were I ended up rear ending a tacoma. I had a hunter grill guard on my car at the time that ended up taking up most of the impact and really protected my front end. The only damage the car really suffered was a broken fog light(which im jb welding back) and scratched up my front bumper cover and bent a my hood a little bit in the front which looks pretty fixable with a hammer and a block of wood. So since the accident happened and I really liked how the grill guard protected my front end that I might as well invest my money into a custom bumper instead of buying another grill guard. And for the third part I finally got the ok from the other half to drop some more money into the car, she was really mad at first when I first bought the grill guard a while ago, but after she saw the protection it offered, she's totally on board to make it safer since we commute daily on the 91fwy from perris to costa mesa with our 2 year old.

So I already contacted a fabricator in my area and got quoted 350 and a day turn around time using TIG welding and 1 3/4 inch round Mild Steel tubing .120 wall thicknes for a bolt on custom bumper that looks like this, with the skid plate but not the engine hoop:

I did get this picture from the forum and is one of our members but I forgot who's it is since I saved this pic a while ago, so sorry if I dont give them credit but I really like whosever bumper this is and I hope they dont mind me stealing their idea.

So my question is does the factory bumper have to come of to be able to be able to mount this on there. I understand I am gonna have to trim the bumper cover, which is no issue because its all scratched up from the accident and previous mishaps. But i'm just confused as to if I actually have to remove the actual front metal bumper.
My second question would be is this a good price for this kind of bumper? This is my first time having anything fabricated and am really clueless, but to me it doesnt seem bad seeing as how a hunter guard cost me 280 if I rememer correctly.

Also does anyone have a pic of their sport without the front bumper cover to get a look of what it looks like without it?

I would greatly appreciate your guys help on this and any input or advice you would be able to give me.

 

[jjaganashi]

Yes! this is a full-replacement bumper.. you will have to completely remove your bumper..
with myself being a metal fabricator, your getting a pretty decent deal... Granted, there is only about $40 dollars in material there.. but your being charged for the labor.. most fabrication shops charge between $50-$125 an hour and thats about a 3 hour job..

 

[frankcal]

Thanks jjaganashi, good to get input from an actual fabricator. So the guy quoted me about 50bucks to remove the front bumper, is that about right? or is it something I can do myself. Also seeing as your a fabricator would you have any input on the actual design, like anyway to improve it or make it look better.

 

[jjaganashi]

you can remove your front bumper with 4 Bolts.. Do that part yourself. if you have fog lights in your bumper, they just have a quick connect on them. crawl under there and take the bolts out and it slides right off..
As for the design, if he replicates that bumper exactly, it will be very strong and rigid. just make sure he doesnt miss anything like the side braces going to the outer corners(those are very detrimental to the strength)..

 

[frankcal]

Ok sounds good, ill try to take the front bumper off myself when it comes time to do the bumper which will be in about 2 or 3 weeks depending on when my tax refund comes in. The side braces are the part that look like theyre coming from the skid plate area to the corners of the bumper right, by the fender area. Also is there anything else I should look out for when the fabrication is complete to make sure there was no corners cut. By chance do you know where exactly this thing would bolt on, would it bolt exactly where the factory bumper is and thats it, or would it bolt up somewhere else as well. I just wanna get a good idea and be as knowledgeable as possible before I go so I dont get cheated. I really do appreciate your help and am happy that I can get help from an actual fabricator.

 

[frankcal]

This is the guys website that has some of his work http://www.cpcustomsandfab.com/

 

[jjaganashi]

Your absolutly right on what i meant by "corner braces"
and yes, the bumper should bolt to the factory holes, and depending on how its designed, you might need to add a few holes for the extra bracing.
Being that you said he is TIG welding the bumper.(thats what i specialize in)
there are a few things to keep an eye out for. if he does any sort of aluminum work he will be using 100% argon which is a plus..(with TIG welding, "Cleanlyness is next to Godliness!!!"
ill will go home after work and run a couple welds on some tube and post you a picture defining what im talking about.. You want to be aware of "undercut" as well as "perosity" in the welds, both of which will create a weak joint..

 

[frankcal]

again thank you so much jjaganashi youre helping me out a lot. look forward to the pics if you get a chance to do em. I'm gonna meet with the guy on friday and go over what to do and do some measurements, hopefully all goes well but will definitely keep updates posted.

 

[jjaganashi]

basically, the picture is extreme examples.. i through this togather in about 2 minutes..

on the left you see "perosity", it is holes or divets in the weld due to either lack of gas, or contamination on the metal(dirt, oil, grease, rust, ect..)

on the right is called "undercut" it is where you can see the metal cup around the weld and looks indented. this is caused by improper heat control or lack of filler rod.

the little piece in the middle is what to look for. a nice clean flat weld with no holes or dents..

anything else let me know.

 

[2TimingTom]

While a tube bumper is cheaper (and $350 is a screaming deal), it doesn't offer the protection that a plate bumper offers.

Maybe if his rate is so good on a tube bumper, maybe for twice that price he'd do a plate bumper.

Just throwing that out there.

 

[frankcal]

thanks again that helped me a lot to actually get a visual on it. So i had set up a meeting with the fabricator to go over the idea and pics to plan everything about 2 weeks ago on a wednesday to meet up on friday. So i show up on friday to find out he wasnt there and had gone to KOH. This kinda ticked me off since I drove about 50miles one way. So now I don't know if i should go through with actually getting him to fabricate it for me. The people at his shop also kept warning me to always call ahead and make for sure he was gonna be there because that he wasnt really reliable to be there. So for now that project is on hold. But now I am actually doing a different upgrade, getting some 265/75/16 bfg all terrains and doing an add a leaf and torsion twist to lift it for the larger tires. I also got a complete set of cladding off craigslist so im going to take my time and paint those flat black since the ones on my truck are starting to fade and chip and one side has pretty bad gouges.

I had actually wanted a plate bumper but was really concerned about the weight of it. From what i've read around they weight about 100lbs+ so i kinda dont wanna add that much weight since I commute about 100miles a day and gas is at $4.27. But maybe once I get a closer job or relocate that might be a future mod because I realy like the bold look they give. By the way yours looks really bad ass 2timingtom

basically, the picture is extreme examples.. i through this togather in about 2 minutes..

on the left you see "perosity", it is holes or divets in the weld due to either lack of gas, or contamination on the metal(dirt, oil, grease, rust, ect..)

on the right is called "undercut" it is where you can see the metal cup around the weld and looks indented. this is caused by improper heat control or lack of filler rod.

the little piece in the middle is what to look for. a nice clean flat weld with no holes or dents..

anything else let me know.

 

[Eaglescout95]

Where did you get your bumper? i have a 2000 Ford Explorer and i really want one of these for my front bumper and something similar for my rear.

While a tube bumper is cheaper (and $350 is a screaming deal), it doesn't offer the protection that a plate bumper offers.

Maybe if his rate is so good on a tube bumper, maybe for twice that price he'd do a plate bumper.

Just throwing that out there.