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Custom Fabrication DepartmentThis is the section to discuss any and all custom work that you've done or had made that may not be available on the retail market.
I'm not going to kid anybody, it was a lot of work. But, I'm money poor and time rich.
Thank you, BTW
A guy is on his way down from Sacto right now to buy the OEM bumper. So that further reduces the net cost to $150 (more encouragement to build your own?)
Looks good I did a similar idea on the rear too, but I covered my framing with a bent piece.
The front though is 3/8 plate and 3/8 thick channel that I cut and gusset. It's frame slotted which I would highly recommend if you build a steel front bumper but check any local laws because I know in certain ones frame slotting is illegal.
heavydutytech_luke: not sure what you mean by "frame slotting".
All I know is, is that the OEM available mounting set up totally sucks! Everything bolts to the 2 bolt plates where the OEM tow hooks mount. TOTALLY unacceptable. Very little real integrity.
My design is going to sandwich the front of the frame with 3/8" steel plate, creating a "box" around the frame, and instead of just the bolt plates, the rearward bole will have a Gr.8 through-bolt (6" long) to add vertical integrity. Then a "strut" will be added to the bumper skin and reaches back to the top of that bolt so that I will have a true 4-point bumper/push guard.
The 3/8" steel plate will have a 4" x 4" x 1/4" spreader between them that will act as a cross member. This will also facilitate the carrier for a hitch receiver for the intended removable winch set up.
Last edited by STingray1300; 12-02-2016 at 09:18 PM.
[QUOTE=STingray1300;5066768]heavydutytech_luke: not sure what you mean by "frame slotting".
Hi Stingray, frame slotting is where you basically remove any and all Cushing that is OEM designed. My front and rear bumper has 3/8 plate gustets that are are welded to a 2X3 3/8 wall square tubing, I can't remember exactly but I believe it runs about 16" into the frame tube, then is bolted with GR8 bolts. The reason some provinces up here don't like "frame slotting" is because this obviously bypasses the crumple zone and transfers all the energy and force along the frame.
On a personal experience only ever been caught with it once $280 fine, but several years ago I had a Duramax I did the same style front bumper, had a guy run a stop sign and I T boned him at 50km/hr. all i broke was a few spot lights.
My friend is a engineer for CNRL and tells me they keep making frames lighter and thinner so to put a big heavy bar on the front would only cause the frame to bend or crumple so frame slotting helps bring the strength back to the frame.
05-17-2016, 11:07 PM
