I'm building a push bumper for my 1990 bronco, and i have designed a template, although i don't know what size plate i should use. I want this bumper to be able to pull and take extreme blows, I'm not concerned w/ weight b/c i have leveling coils and i stay off the rocks. How thick do u think the front plate should be?

1/4" is pretty standard.... unless you want to demolition derby or something

Mine's 3/16 and it's held up just fine but the mounting brackets are 3/8

Mines 5/16 on the front 1/16 in top...look at my sig...if you need more pic/info check my superford page. I ll answer any Q's man.

Josh

go with 1/4" all around. Ive already done 1,700 worth of damage with my rear bumper to a 00' merk sable, I dented the 3/16" safety chain plate a little bit:banghead

I would use 1/4" myself.

I would use 1/4" myself.

:stupid

:stupid

:twak WHY! :twak
what's wrong with 1/4"

:twak WHY! :twak
what's wrong with 1/4"
he's agreeing with you.... you know what that smiley means... or am i the one "with" stupid..... i'm lost:doh0715:

he's agreeing with you.... you know what that smiley means... or am i the one "with" stupid..... i'm lost:doh0715:

since :stupid is below what I said, too me anyways it looks like it's referring to me.
I don't know, I've never been to a chat room or one of these forums before, so I'm still learning all the lingo and such.

thanks you guys have been plenty of help i think i'm gonna order the steel this weekend, i appreciate it

since :stupid is below what I said, too me anyways it looks like it's referring to me.
I don't know, I've never been to a chat room or one of these forums before, so I'm still learning all the lingo and such.


Waltman,
don't take any offense he was just aggreeing with ya. he liked your idea so he said so. you'll get the hang of it

Bronc4Life,
I'm in wilmington too man. Finally somebody else in this town. I wouldn't buy steel there is a great steel yard out off of HWY421. They have a ton of stuff pretty cheap too. PM me and we'll talk

Thanks, PM sent

I know that the post is old but thought I would ask anyway.

If it's a push bumper are you concerned about the accordion portion of the frame? If you attach to it (like the stock bumper) then it will deform when you use the push bumper. If you reinforce or bybass it for mounting your bumper so you can actually push with it then are you concerned about the loss of energy absorbtion the accordion areas are supposed to provide (more crash force transmitted to Bronco occupants)? Just curious.

Or maybe the '93 frames don't have the accordion area?

you read it wrong. his is a 90, not a 93 - no accordian frame to worry about

But thanks for raising the dead :thumbup

Mines 5/16 on the front 1/16 in top...look at my sig...if you need more pic/info check my superford page. I ll answer any Q's man.

Josh
It's not done until it is OVERDONE!!! go 3/8" and forget about it!!!

the last one i made up for one of my buddies was all 3/8 even the 5 inch pipe used was 3/8 wall. it can stand up to pretty much anything, this model had square tubing welded 2 feet back into the frame to support it.http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid204/pfa26dda067fc1a40c773345689f610d8/ef79a26c.jpg

I have a pushbar on the front of my bronco that i made....I did it out of 1\4"....and it bolts directly to the frame. It's very stout...however....It did bend when someone winched on my bronco from the side.....I believe it was a 9000 lb winch..and it was enough to bend the metal about and inch....I thought the plate would never bend....but it couldnt take the side load without giving a little...so if i had to do it again....i'd make sure to incorporte some side load bracing....and possibly go with 3\8's......but 99% of the time....1\4 will be fine.

go with 1/4 inch

the last one i made up for one of my buddies was all 3/8 even the 5 inch pipe used was 3/8 wall. it can stand up to pretty much anything, this model had square tubing welded 2 feet back into the frame to support it.http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid204/pfa26dda067fc1a40c773345689f610d8/ef79a26c.jpg
Wow, 3/8"? I thought I was bad with the over kill when I build stuff.
You know, with the frame being made from what, 1/8" material, that bush bar wont budge but the frame sure will.

thats not necessarily true waltman.....in some cases yes....but the frame is a channel or boxed....which has different strength than a flat piece of steel....I thought my 1\4" push bar was extremely beefy....and it is.....but it still deflected about an inch or two when pulled on from the side...and I have 3 large cross tubes....pushbars are great for front impact.....but guys need to add extra beef for the side loads.....just my thoughts...

3/8" is SEVERE overkill, and you just explained why: if 1/8" plate formed into a channel is stronger than 1/4" flat plate, why carry the weight of 3/8"??? Just use SHAPE instead of mass to get your strength. Sure, mass is good up to a certain point, but IMO even 1/4" is pushing it. Very little of my bumpers is that thick, but I'd put them up against anything out there for strength. Even your 3/8" monster.

mines built out of 2x6 x .250 and it's plenty strong