Custom, high clearance bumpers

[freedom_in_4low]

just curious because I'm only beginning my journey into this welding and fabrication thing, but what was the thought process behind cutting the tacks and removing the open corner, to weld the "web" onto it, then weld the assembly back on to the bumper again?

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[macleanflood]

just curious because I'm only beginning my journey into this welding and fabrication thing, but what was the thought process behind cutting the tacks and removing the open corner, to weld the "web" onto it, then weld the assembly back on to the bumper again?

On:

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Off:

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Easier to weld on a table down then sitting on concrete welding to the side. Not getting hot splatter on your legs and tires. Not welding on a chassis and potentially frying a computer.

-Mac

 

[Yoda]

I'm thinking of doing something pretty similar with my rear bumper. Did you keep the factory rear crossmember or ditch it for this only?

And what are those bolts in the middle near the tie-towns?

 

[freedom_in_4low]

Easier to weld on a table down then sitting on concrete welding to the side. Not getting hot splatter on your legs and tires. Not welding on a chassis and potentially frying a computer.

-Mac

I agree with all that, and it makes total sense if the bumper stays on the rig but this photo looks like the bumper was back off of the rig to weld the end back on.

In a vacuum, I think I would have fitted it up and tacked it on the rig, then took the whole bumper to the table to finish the job, so I'm just curious why that isn't what happened. It's not a big deal, I'm just curious. Especially if it ends up saving me time when I do mine.

 

[Mike_H]

just curious because I'm only beginning my journey into this welding and fabrication thing, but what was the thought process behind cutting the tacks and removing the open corner, to weld the "web" onto it, then weld the assembly back on to the bumper again?

On:

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Off:

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I honestly don't remember why I did that. I had that bumper on and off so many times...It may have had something to do with access to drilling holes (or the thing rocking on me). It might have been some interference. It could also have been the fact that I was trying to make them match and be even side to side. One of them might have been different, so I knocked it back off, made it match, and burned it in on the table.

 

[Mike_H]

I'm thinking of doing something pretty similar with my rear bumper. Did you keep the factory rear crossmember or ditch it for this only?

And what are those bolts in the middle near the tie-towns?

They are bolts in the middle, near the tie downs. Are you asking why they are there? Help keep things tight when I pull from the center. The factory crossmember is still in place. That is what the bumper plate is bolted to...

 

[freedom_in_4low]

in the process of the same thing. your welds are prettier than mine (especially where I needed two passes to fill the groove). My little 120V welder can't burn 0.035" wire fast enough to put that much filler in there.

I got a head of myself and started grinding before I remember to take a pic, but I'd only started one before I stopped for the photo opp.

After cleanup:

I'm going to cut a hole in my crossmember and bury the hitch receiver all the way to the fuel tank crossmember (which I can do since I have an LJ). This will put the pin back behind (in front of?) the bumper, and the receiver should only stick out maybe an inch. I just cut the hole in the bumper today, and I'm gonna pull the factory bumper off and mount up this bumper to use as a stencil for the hole in the rear crossmember, then I'll tack it on as well as the bottom edge flange I'm adding and pull it back off to finish.

 

[Mike_H]

in the process of the same thing. your welds are prettier than mine (especially where I needed two passes to fill the groove). My little 120V welder can't burn 0.035" wire fast enough to put that much filler in there.

I got a head of myself and started grinding before I remember to take a pic, but I'd only started one before I stopped for the photo opp.

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After cleanup:

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I'm going to cut a hole in my crossmember and bury the hitch receiver all the way to the fuel tank crossmember (which I can do since I have an LJ). This will put the pin back behind (in front of?) the bumper, and the receiver should only stick out maybe an inch. I just cut the hole in the bumper today, and I'm gonna pull the factory bumper off and mount up this bumper to use as a stencil for the hole in the rear crossmember, then I'll tack it on as well as the bottom edge flange I'm adding and pull it back off to finish.

Looks great! Nice job. You know what they say, "A grinder and paint makes me the weldor I ain't!"

 

[freedom_in_4low]

Looks great! Nice job. You know what they say, "A grinder and paint makes me the weldor I ain't!"

Grinding work was down 75% from the first side I did. I didn't even take photos of those welds.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

Well, mistakes were made. I should have mounted the bumper to mock it up instead of assuming the edge of the Barnes plate would extend at least to, or past, the extent of the rear crossmember.

My bottom plate came out tight by about half a plate thickness. Ended up having to cut a piece out and move it a bit. Upside is I got a chance to test my weld, and it at least as much beating with a 3lb hammer as the existing tab it was next to.

 

[Mike_H]

Well, mistakes were made. I should have mounted the bumper to mock it up instead of assuming the edge of the Barnes plate would extend at least to, or past, the extent of the rear crossmember.

My bottom plate came out tight by about half a plate thickness. Ended up having to cut a piece out and move it a bit. Upside is I got a chance to test my weld, and it at least as much beating with a 3lb hammer as the existing tab it was next to.

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Those rosette welds need more filler. It doesn't look like you have a good bond to the parent material. After you fill those in, and grind it back, you should not see any witness at all.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

Those rosette welds need more filler. It doesn't look like you have a good bond to the parent material. After you fill those in, and grind it back, you should not see any witness at all.

Yeah, I was messing around with technique on those trying to get enough heat into it with my 120V machine and move my hand around a circle with the tip pointed into the joint, and trying not to stop and start because I knew it was gonna be impossible to clean the flux out of a partially filled hole. It made me think about the rotators we had at my last job where the guy could just stay in one position and used a foot pedal to rotate the vessel as he welded around the circumference.

I'm confident in the bond up to about 1/8" but I didn't get the full 3/16" width for sure. If I was doing a lap joint with 3/16" I'd have to do a cursive E to get the bead wide enough in a single pass and I didn't have much room for that since my spot weld cutters are only 3/8". I can move slowly enough to get good heat into the parent material, but if I turn my wire speed up any faster it starts pushing back on me. I'm happy with 1 out of the 4.

I also used a cutting wheel to put bevels in the top and bottom of where the back of the tab comes through and filled that back in.

 

[someguysjeep]

flux core will burn deeper with less power, and those 110V welder ratings are often based on that.
for solid wire and 110V, try preheating the weld area a bit also if you can, this will help the penetration with a lower voltage if it doesn't have to use as much power to change the material from cold to liquid..

 

[freedom_in_4low]

flux core will burn deeper with less power, and those 110V welder ratings are often based on that.
for solid wire and 110V, try preheating the weld area a bit also if you can, this will help the penetration with a lower voltage if it doesn't have to use as much power to change the material from cold to liquid..

yeah, flux core is what I'm using. When i'm able to see the heat affected zone (I can't here because there's a thick chunk of metal on the other side), I can see I'm getting enough heat there; I've cut through some to see the cross section and I've beat the living $#!+ out of a couple of joints with a 3 pound hammer and couldn't see a difference in their response vs a solid plate. I think I'm just noticing how long it takes to fill a 3/16" weld compared to the 1/8" I'd been doing before, plus, for a lap weld of length equal to the rosette weld's circumference, the rosette takes like 3x the filler.

 

[Mike_H]

yeah, flux core is what I'm using. When i'm able to see the heat affected zone (I can't here because there's a thick chunk of metal on the other side), I can see I'm getting enough heat there; I've cut through some to see the cross section and I've beat the living $#!+ out of a couple of joints with a 3 pound hammer and couldn't see a difference in their response vs a solid plate. I think I'm just noticing how long it takes to fill a 3/16" weld compared to the 1/8" I'd been doing before, plus, for a lap weld of length equal to the rosette weld's circumference, the rosette takes like 3x the filler.

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Do you have a decent helmet? You should be able to see when the hole is filled in. If you have a small viewing window, you might be struggling more than necessary. I bought a good helmet and was amazed at how much better I could see.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

Do you have a decent helmet? You should be able to see when the hole is filled in. If you have a small viewing window, you might be struggling more than necessary. I bought a good helmet and was amazed at how much better I could see.

I do but these may have been the welds where a bunch of smoke was making it directly inside my helmet and rolling right up my face so I was not seeing very well and holding my breath lol. I set up the fan at some point and stopped having that issue. I don't remember for sure when that was but it may have been between my third and fourth rosette welds...

 

[Mike_H]

I do but these may have been the welds where a bunch of smoke was making it directly inside my helmet and rolling right up my face so I was not seeing very well and holding my breath lol. I set up the fan at some point and stopped having that issue. I don't remember for sure when that was but it may have been between my third and fourth rosette welds...

Yeah, I started with an entry level helmet... Had like 4.5 sq in viewing. I upgraded to something around 10 sq in and it was night and day.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

Yeah, I started with an entry level helmet... Had like 4.5 sq in viewing. I upgraded to something around 10 sq in and it was night and day.

That's no lie. I started with the $40 harbor freight helmet with about 6sq in and recently got a Hobart with 10. That might have been the biggest step improvement in what I'm doing so far.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

Got the hitch receiver in. Welded it all the way around on the outside, and on the sides on the inside face.

It sticks out about an inch from the bumper face, and stops just short of the tank support crossmember.

Access to the pin will be a little bit of a pain, but I only use it about once a year for a hitch carrier basket.

The crossmember hangs a hair below the edge of the bumper plate so rather than weld a strip on the bottom and have to fill a big gap, I got a length of angle iron. One leg of the angle will go up the face of the plate a bit, so I'm gonna cut the ends to follow the angle of the section between the center and the shackle tabs. I may use the scraps as an extra support bracket tying the receiver tube to the fuel tank crossmember. It may stiffen up with the lower lip but the whole thing is more flexy than I'd hoped.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

probably not unexpected by those that have messed around back there before, but the LJ's rear crossmember is flimsy as hell compared to the one that has the gas tank skid bolted to it. I can twist the whole thing fairly easily; in fact I was able to "adjust" the pitch of the receiver tube with just a pry bar stuck into it acting as a lever less than a foot long. With 100 pounds of stuff on a hitch carrier cantilevered out past the 12.5" spare I'd bet a relatively mild bump would have the bottom edge of that tube kissing the gas tank crossmember.

So now I'm thinking about ways I can stiffen it up...

This 3-piece tie-in would act as a receiver tube for the receiver tube...not a hard connection, just slide into it when I install the bumper. It should be more than enough to keep it from yawing or pitching. The angled struts keep it from flexing in the fore-aft direction. I would make it out of 1" x 1/8" angle iron. Realistically I think I probably only need the bottom set of holes.

The toughest part of this will no doubt be the miters cuts on the struts, since I don't have any type of miter saw. I have a carpenters square though, so I'll make do.