TJ Front Bumper Fabrication Pics!

[jds97Wrangler]

Was doing some research for a front bumper and came across a thread where a guy fabricated is own Highrock style bumper. I thought his looked pretty good and with a little modification it would look awsome on my jeep. Here a pic of the one he built.
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I didn't like how far he had his sticking out in the front so I made my top plate 5 1/2" and bottom 5". This should allow me to bolt a winch plat on and have it be flush with the front of the bumper.
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This project ould have been a lot easier with a metal break and plasma, but I made do with a jigsaw and side grinder.
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Made a lot of progress for one day’s work just have to make one piece for the passenger side then make the back brackets and do a little grinding and it will be ready for powder coat.
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[willness33]

How thick was the plate that you used? Looks like solid work.

 

[jds97Wrangler]

How thick was the plate that you used? Looks like solid work.

I used .120 plate I believe it is either 10 or 12 gauge.

It would have been better if I would have realized sooner that I never switch polarity in my welder when I changed from flux to solid wire. I guess that is what happens when you are not qualified to be welding.

 

[XJfreakHO]

For someone not qualified to be welding your work always looks damn good.

Looks good.

 

[jds97Wrangler]

Pre powder-coat finish pics:
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Post powder-coating looks good but if I build another I will work the metal better so I don't get all the inperfections in the powder-coat
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[Tradarcher]

Water won't pool on it will it?

 

[jds97Wrangler]

Water won't pool on it will it?

If you notice there are slots cut in the back that allow clearance for the sway bar brackets. Those slots should drain any water also. There is also going to be a winch installed so there won't be much room for anything after that.

 

[tireburner1975]

You can try por15 it's self leveling so it will fill in alot of imperfections. Looks pretty nice tho. Need to get rid of that sway bar and you'll have more room for a winch and be able to push that bumper back. looks great tho bout time I get rid of my hacked stock bumper.

 

[upnover]

Looks great ! Especially considering what tools you used.
Approximate weight?

Also, might wanna beef it up some where you could add in clevis mounts for a tow point

 

[jds97Wrangler]

You can try por15 it's self leveling so it will fill in alot of imperfections. Looks pretty nice tho. Need to get rid of that sway bar and you'll have more room for a winch and be able to push that bumper back. looks great tho bout time I get rid of my hacked stock bumper.

In order to get rid of the sway bay I would have to invest in aftermarket one and I just haven't been able to justify the cost of one yet. That is why I mounted this bumper the way I did. I don't seee how removing the sway bar would allow me to put it any further back then it is. The mount I ordered is 5" inches wide and the pocket where it is going to bolt is 5 1/2" wide so that is about as tight as I can make it. If I wanted to mount it any further back I would have had to drill the frame to mount the winch.

Looks great ! Especially considering what tools you used.
Approximate weight?
Also, might wanna beef it up some where you could add in clevis mounts for a tow point

Quick guess on weight is around 30-35 pounds because I used .120 steel rather then 3/16. I didn't put clevis mounts becasue I am not sure I am a big fan of the clevis hanging in the front. I think for this one I'm just going to mount some factory tow hooks when I install my winch.

I may make a second one and beef up the front plate and add clevis mounts to that one to see if I like the looks of that. Also I am thinking about making the side angles a little more steep and defined. It only took me about 8 hours to make this one without the proper tools. For the second one I am sending cad drawings to my father in-law and let him cut the pieces out on his plasma table so I should be able to cut my fab time down by about 2 or 3 hours.

 

[WARRIORWELDING]

I don't know what your using to clean those welds but this may help. If your using regular grinding disk try flap disk or mop disk as some people call them. Plus when you work an edge down pay attention to the sparks your throwing, meaning this: If they are perpendicular to the part your using a very small surface area on the disk and therfore gouging and remove alot of material in one spot (also hard to control the depth of cut). Try using the disk along the top of the grinder handle on the bottom now your sparks should almost parrallel the area being worked down. This alows more of the cutting area of the disk to float accross the surface like using a sanding block. Experiment with how much you choose to gouge off then float and buff down to a finished surface. Small angle grinders work well too but eat up air and are less forgiving if they dance accross the work piece.

The bumper shape looks good keep gettin it.

 

[tireburner1975]

I wasn't being completely serious. I was hoping the would denote the slight sarcasm. I don't run sway bars on my TJ and use the sway bar mounting holes to secure the rear of my winch mount. That puts my winch about flush with the front of the bumper. Don't really recommend no sway bars on a DD but I enjoy it.

 

[jds97Wrangler]

The bumper shape looks good keep gettin it.

Thanks for great advice and compliment. This was my first attempt ever at something like this and I've seen where I can improve it. Now with your advice I can make it look a little cleaner. The materials aren't costing me hardly anything since I found a scrap yard that has stacks of the 11 gauge sheet I used and they sell it for .25 a pound which works out to be about $20 for a 4x8 sheet.

I did use the flap disk but the main problem was as I said previously I swapped from flux wire to solid with gas and I did not switch my polarity. This made every weld I did look like crap which normally I wouldn't do but it was a brand new welder and I chalked it up to a crappy welder (since I went with a none name brand). Once I realized my mistake with polarity the welds got a whole lot better and there was a lot less grinding, but the damage had been done because I had the bumper 80% done at that point.

I wasn't being completely serious. I was hoping the would denote the slight sarcasm.:

Sorry I am a little slow at picking up sarcasm when it comes to typing. I definatly could not run my jeep without the front sway bar. With the RC lift I used it is just scary to go over 20 mph with it unhooked. The jeep just flops side to side. This makes for awesome flex on the trails but it is not so good for highway driving. I am hoping I designed this bumper so I can still use the front bolt of the sway bay and the two front bumper bolts for my winch plate. I am still waiting for the plate to come in to confirm this before I start building another.

 

[tireburner1975]

Yeah I'm still young and dumb so the crazy body roll is fun. I have the 2.5 rc lift and I took the front and rear bars off. Removing the front wasn't awful but when I took the rear one off that's when you just hit what's in front of you on the road you can't try to avoid any thing with sharp manuvers. Haha. It does have great flex, and I have gotten used to it on the highway. I still drive mine 50 plus miles to work and back haha. Like I said young and dumb haha