[va92bronco]

I have been wanting to build a new rear bumper since I saw some of the builds on this forum. Now that the truck is running, I figured it is time to do it. I want to thank Bossind and Tommy R for there write ups and ideas. I used their bumpers as inspiration for mine.

I started with 1/4 wall 4x6 rectangular tube I got for Christmas. A friend of mine is in construction and he got me the steel. The wall thickness is alittle thicker than I wanted, but it was free so I am not going to complain. I also got the spindle kit from Rockstomper. Got that and a weld in receiver tube for Christmas also.

I tapered the ends of the bumper about 22 inches.

I got some 1/8 wall 4inch plate steel from Onlinemetals.com to cap the ends. I also got a small piece of DOM tubing to sleeve the spindle. I cut the hole for the receiver tube using a jigsaw and cutting blade on a angle grinder. I put the tube low in the bumper because I think it looks better that way.
Here is the receiver tube welded in(the bumper is flipped upside down)

I then went to business capping the driver side of the bumper.

Tacked it in first, and then welded it up. The passenger side was alittle more difficult because of the spindle. First I cut a hole in the top of the bumper with a 1.5 hole saw. This way the sleeve for the spindle fits inside the hole. I tack welded it when it was straight and perpendicular to the bumper.

I then welded the sleeve to the inside of the bumper. I had also plug welded the sleeve to the spindle.

Next I cut a hole in the bottom cap of the bumper to clear the spindle. This way the spindle is supported on the top and bottom by the bumper. After finish welding the passenger caps, here is were I finished last night.\

I still need to dress the welds to make them look better, but I ran out of time last night. Later this week I am hoping to weld up the chain plate for the hitch and start on the mounting points for the frame.

 

[Redwagon]

Are you going to run the mounting bracket thru the bumper for strength?
Looks good so far.

 

[va92bronco]

I thought about that originally, but that might be to complicated to get done well. I would have to cut the bottom of the bumper out to get access with the Mig gun to weld in the brackets on the inside. It might be easier to just but weld the brkts to the rear of the bumper and then gusset the hell out of them.

I am also thinking about using two brackets on each side of the frame to set the bolts in double shear. This would really add to strength, but not hard to fab.

 

[GTRider245]

Looks good so far. Could you extend those frame mounts through the bumper and use the points on the outside as shackle mounts?

 

[va92bronco]

Looks good so far. Could you extend those frame mounts through the bumper and use the points on the outside as shackle mounts?

That is a possibility, but I don't really need shackles for the rear. I am going to use the receiver shackle and don't see the need for three of them on a rear bumper.

 

[jski55]

Is looking real nice....

 

[Revenant]

Solid and simple. Good job.

 

[va92bronco]

Got away from the bumper for awhile, but I finally got some time to finish it up. Unfortunately, I did not have a camera until almost the end.

I had to cut off the oem bumper because the previous owner welded it to the frame. I had to take my time so I didn't cut the frame. Took a few hours.

I then made some bumper mounts using 1/4 plate. I gussetted it using 3/16. Was going to used two mounts for a double shear set up on the bumper bolts, but decided to just have one mount on each rail.

Picture of the bumper ready for Herculiner

Using 2x2 with 1/4 wall, I made the crossbrace for the swing arm. I got a ball hitch mount for a car from Auto Zone and cut the bar stock off. I then welded the hitch to the 2x2 to make a mounting point for the swing arm. I welded a bolt to the opposite side of the mounting plate from the swing arm.

Picture of the ball hitch welded to the 2x2

I used a 3/4 bolt to secure the arm to the bumper. The bolt has a hole drill in the shank and a pin is used to keep the bolt from backing out. I welded up the spare tire carrier using 2x3 rectangular tube. I gussetted everything for strength.

I used a Mighty Lift(p/n 95707) lift cylinder to help open the swing arm. I didn't have a metric tap, so I welded a nut into the bumper. It is amazing how strong those cylinders are. I welded a stop on the bumper to keep the swing arm from going to far, and to keep the lift cylinder from breaking.

After cleaning up the bumper and smoothing out the rough metal, I used Herculiner to coat the entire thing. These pics are after the 1st coat.

Then the 2nd coat

So far I am pleased with the build. I wanted to weld a 2.5 square tube to the swing arm. Then I could make a basket or spare fuel tank holder or anything onto 2x2 tube and slide it into the swing arm through the 2.5 tube. Basically it would be a universal mounting brkt, but I didn't have the 2.5 tube laying around and didn't want to wait to find some. I could always weld it on later and repaint the swing arm.

I'll get pics of it mounted on the Bronco after it fully cures.

 

[woodydog]

looks great -

I whish that I could lay welds that clean.....

Have you ever thought of using the bumper as an air tank?

I am going to install a York and as a rear bumper is on my to do list I thought I might just as well make it an air tank - I figured that if I install a drain and a safty valve - that even in an accedent it is hard to believe it would "blow" I figured at worst case it might just "fail" with a big "woosh"

anyway yours looks great..
:beer

 

[broncoxlt4x4]

thats a pretty nice bumper man...nice work

 

[va92bronco]

looks great -

I whish that I could lay welds that clean.....

Have you ever thought of using the bumper as an air tank?

I am going to install a York and as a rear bumper is on my to do list I thought I might just as well make it an air tank - I figured that if I install a drain and a safty valve - that even in an accedent it is hard to believe it would "blow" I figured at worst case it might just "fail" with a big "woosh"

anyway yours looks great..
:beer

I installed a 5 gal tank under the rear floor for my OBA, so the rear bumper tank is not needed in my case. If you make a beefy bumper, I don't see it exploding under pressure if it failed. Not with 125 psi.

 

[va92bronco]

Finally got the pay off pics loaded into the computer. Bumper has been on the truck for about two weeks. The nut i welded into the bumper that holds one end of the strut did pop out. I had the nut too low in the hole and the spot welds around it just didn't hold. I just bought a tap and drill and put a tapped hole right next to the old one. Filled the old hole with JB weld(that is the grey spot next to the strut)

My fancy ultra complicated and overly designed catch for the swing arm. A 3/4 bolt and retaining pin. Its safe, secure, and only takes about 5 seconds to take off.

While I had the bumper off. I went ahead and painted the silver and black rust bullet on the lower edge of the tailgate. It was starting to rust pretty bad. This will help cosmetically and hopefully slow down the cancer on the tailgate.

All and all I am happy with the bumper. The only problem is that it makes the top look worse then it already did. Guess i am going to have to Herculine the top now. :banghead:chili:

 

[broncoxlt4x4]

nice work, came out nice man....

 

[elmo_4_vt]

Maybe I missed it, but it looks like there is a wire going from under the truck to the tire mount? If so, what is it for? I didn't notice anything electric on the tire mount?

-

 

[va92bronco]

Maybe I missed it, but it looks like there is a wire going from under the truck to the tire mount? If so, what is it for? I didn't notice anything electric on the tire mount?

-

It is for the license plate light. I also want to put a reverse light on the swing arm later.


Thanks for all the compliments guys. I am happy with it so far.

 

[NuklHed]

Very nice build, i enjoyed reading it. I dig the hitch togue idea!!!!

 

[bossind]

Nice work buddy!!!

 

[broncofire75]

Hate the Herculiner, like the bumper though nice job.

 

[TravisITGuy]

nice setup, I would have made the swing out portion much shorter though so i could still access the back if parked in a parking lot or on the street. otherwise looks awesome.what did you spend in materials?

 

[bossind]

nice setup, I would have made the swing out portion much shorter though so i could still access the back if parked in a parking lot or on the street. otherwise looks awesome.what did you spend in materials?

Guess we did it this way so the catch wouldn't poke a hole in the tailgate when its in the down position. Guess we could have done a different style of latch lower into the bumper.