Tacoma
Et incurventur ante non
- Location
- far enough away
I am working on unfu.. uh, fixing the windows and door locks on the 97 Suburban I got. It has some minor issues, but it also has a 454/4L80e and all 3 rows of seats LOL
General Tech What did you work on Today?
- Thread starter Gravy
- Start date
- Location
- West Haven, UT
I have my cousin’s ‘97 TJ in the shop building him a rear bumper and tire carrier.
He asked me to fabricate one for his Jeep in the fall of 2016 but we were hot in the middle of house hunting and I was not taking on any more work in my shop at the time, then last year was busy building the new shop and putting a yard in.
His Jeep bumper was on my white board since my shop completion and every time he comes over the first thing he does is walks to the white board to see where it’s at in the lineup.
I called him last week and told him I was finally ready for him to bring me his Jeep seeing as how he has patiently waited for me to get my shop up and running.
OEM bumper cover removed.
Frame mounts in place.
I usually start with plate and build out the center section but I had a piece of 2”x5”x.188” U-channel kicking around that would be perfect for this.
Prior to welding the U-channel to the frame mounts I opted to mount the D-ring tabs. I like to tie them in directly in line and to the frame mounts so I cut a 3/4” wide by 1.5” long opening and welded them from the back side as well as the outside. I also had to cut two small slits to clear the hitch mounting brackets.
Ready to weld through the channel after tack welding the D-ring tab on.
D-ring tab welded from the outside afterwards.
Frame mounts welded to the U-channel.
Once the D-ring tabs and frame mounts are welded I needed to add a 1” filler piece to the top to fill the gap between the bumper and body.
Weld blended and bumper bolted into position.
I then made some cardboard templates for the outer ears of the bumper and transferred them to some .125” plate. Here I have them nested and ready to cut.
Outer ears tack welded into place. The gap between the upper and lower is exactly 3” due to tapering the bottom upwards.
Next task will be to make some cardboard templates of the areas to fill in between the upper and lowers, then transfer to steel plate and weld into place. After the bumper itself is completed I will move on to the swing away tire carrier.
Thanks for looking, more to come on this project.
Mike
He asked me to fabricate one for his Jeep in the fall of 2016 but we were hot in the middle of house hunting and I was not taking on any more work in my shop at the time, then last year was busy building the new shop and putting a yard in.
His Jeep bumper was on my white board since my shop completion and every time he comes over the first thing he does is walks to the white board to see where it’s at in the lineup.
I called him last week and told him I was finally ready for him to bring me his Jeep seeing as how he has patiently waited for me to get my shop up and running.
OEM bumper cover removed.
Frame mounts in place.
I usually start with plate and build out the center section but I had a piece of 2”x5”x.188” U-channel kicking around that would be perfect for this.
Prior to welding the U-channel to the frame mounts I opted to mount the D-ring tabs. I like to tie them in directly in line and to the frame mounts so I cut a 3/4” wide by 1.5” long opening and welded them from the back side as well as the outside. I also had to cut two small slits to clear the hitch mounting brackets.
Ready to weld through the channel after tack welding the D-ring tab on.
D-ring tab welded from the outside afterwards.
Frame mounts welded to the U-channel.
Once the D-ring tabs and frame mounts are welded I needed to add a 1” filler piece to the top to fill the gap between the bumper and body.
Weld blended and bumper bolted into position.
I then made some cardboard templates for the outer ears of the bumper and transferred them to some .125” plate. Here I have them nested and ready to cut.
Outer ears tack welded into place. The gap between the upper and lower is exactly 3” due to tapering the bottom upwards.
Next task will be to make some cardboard templates of the areas to fill in between the upper and lowers, then transfer to steel plate and weld into place. After the bumper itself is completed I will move on to the swing away tire carrier.
Thanks for looking, more to come on this project.
Mike
Hate Tank version 2.0?
Tacoma
Et incurventur ante non
- Location
- far enough away
hahah it would be version....5.0.
- Location
- West Haven, UT
I was able to get a little more done on the TJ bumper last night with only having about an hour to work on it.
Used my CAD abilities. Cardboard Aided Design.
Transferred to .125” P&O sheet.
Tacked into place. Both sides are identical so mirror images side to side.
A few of the welds prior to knocking them down and blending.
Bumper itself is welded.
Next up is to locate where the spindle will be for the carrier then remove the bumper and blend in preparation for fabbing the carrier.
Thanks for looking.
Mike
Used my CAD abilities. Cardboard Aided Design.
Transferred to .125” P&O sheet.
Tacked into place. Both sides are identical so mirror images side to side.
A few of the welds prior to knocking them down and blending.
Bumper itself is welded.
Next up is to locate where the spindle will be for the carrier then remove the bumper and blend in preparation for fabbing the carrier.
Thanks for looking.
Mike
On my JK. I ended up getting the Wagners since they are not too pricey.
- Location
- West Haven, UT
I metal finished the TJ bumper last night and measured for the spindle placement. Next up is the tire carrier fabrication.
Thanks for looking.
Mike
Thanks for looking.
Mike
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
I metal finished the TJ bumper last night and measured for the spindle placement. Next up is the tire carrier fabrication.
Thanks for looking.
Mike
Looks great!
- Location
- West Haven, UT
Thank you. I hope the owner is happy with it. I think I've talked him into letting me leave the welds exposed on the tire carrier as I hate grinding welds, although for a smooth bumper transition I think it looks good.
Mike
- Location
- West Jordan
That is a super clean bumper. I agree wholeheartedly with your mounting brackets attaching directly to the frame rails instead of only attaching to the rear x-member like most TJ bumpers. Is there a reason that you didn't tie into the x-member in addition to your current mounts?
- Location
- West Haven, UT
Thanks for the comments.
Personally I am just not a fan of that rear crossmember on the TJ/LJ's being an attachment point for much of anything because the body attaches to that. My fear is if anything does tweak or move, the body is going to take the effect so I like to leave that rear crossmember alone.
The other factor is that using two 1/2"-13 grade 8 bolts per side will have more than enough support for tugging on that bumper, if the owner ever has to actually use it. If we calculate it out, a grade 8 bolt is 150k psi and the tensile stress area of a 1/2"-13 bolt is approx. .16 of an inch therefore ~24k pounds tensile strength per bolt. Those bolts are placed in shear and shear has approx. 60% of tensile strength so each fastener should hold roughly 14.4k pounds so in theory each side should hold to the tune of nearly 29k pounds.
Mike
Starting to build some new axles for my personal promod car and parts are starting to roll in slowly. Getting excited. 
Maybe while you're ordering parts, you can get a camera with the ability to focus?
I am actually down at EJS our accountant sent me that.
- Location
- Draper, UT
After getting an ARB slide and hold-down straps for my fridge, I wanted to make something for my water jug as well.
I took some 3/16 plate and flat bar and made a cage for it, welded up with 3/32 7018 stick, since that's the welder I was playing with at the time.
It will be mounted in the truck using 8mm nutserts and the tailgate will stop it from sliding out of the cage. I put a couple hooks for a bungee to limit vertical travel as well. To use it, just release the bungee and rotate the jug so that the spout is down, and drag to the edge of the tailgate. I still need to paint and mount it.
cage ready for paint
Cage with water jug installed. Also showing the nutsert and installation tool
Painted and installed (I added a diagonal to the back)
I took some 3/16 plate and flat bar and made a cage for it, welded up with 3/32 7018 stick, since that's the welder I was playing with at the time.
It will be mounted in the truck using 8mm nutserts and the tailgate will stop it from sliding out of the cage. I put a couple hooks for a bungee to limit vertical travel as well. To use it, just release the bungee and rotate the jug so that the spout is down, and drag to the edge of the tailgate. I still need to paint and mount it.
cage ready for paint
Cage with water jug installed. Also showing the nutsert and installation tool
Painted and installed (I added a diagonal to the back)
Last edited:
- Location
- West Haven, UT
- Location
- West Haven, UT
I didn't get much done on the TJ bumper on Saturday because I was dewinterizing the coach and getting it ready to hit the road, then being such a nice day the wife and I hopped on the Harley and took off for Saturday afternoon ride.
Yesterday morning I went out to the shop and was able to get a couple of hours in to make a bit of progress on the TJ bumper.
I cut a top plate, cut a 1.5” hole in the top plate as well as the bumper and test fit the spindle.
After measuring the spindle I cut the bottom at a 15-degree angle to match the bottom of the bumper.
Spindle welded in place with a gusset added from the spindle to the frame mount.
I drilled a 17/32” hole to accommodate the push pin for holding the tire carrier open then welded the top plate into position.
Then welded the top of the spindle.
Spring loaded push pin welded in place and the lower 2”x .125” tube cut and mocked into position.
That was about it for the day. It was then time to relax and enjoy the afternoon and the beautiful weather we had by sitting out on the deck with the wife.
Thanks for looking.
Mike
Yesterday morning I went out to the shop and was able to get a couple of hours in to make a bit of progress on the TJ bumper.
I cut a top plate, cut a 1.5” hole in the top plate as well as the bumper and test fit the spindle.
After measuring the spindle I cut the bottom at a 15-degree angle to match the bottom of the bumper.
Spindle welded in place with a gusset added from the spindle to the frame mount.
I drilled a 17/32” hole to accommodate the push pin for holding the tire carrier open then welded the top plate into position.
Then welded the top of the spindle.
Spring loaded push pin welded in place and the lower 2”x .125” tube cut and mocked into position.
That was about it for the day. It was then time to relax and enjoy the afternoon and the beautiful weather we had by sitting out on the deck with the wife.
Thanks for looking.
Mike
Hey @zmotorsports , I wondered where you got the metal tops of your work benches bent up? Is that something you did yourself or did you pay a shop to do it for you. Also, what gauge sheet did you use and are you happy with that choice?
- Location
- West Haven, UT
Nate, the bench tops are 32" deep with a 2" turndown on the front and a 6" turn up at the rear. They are 10-gauge hot-rolled that I had Boman & Kemp Steel here in West Haven bend up for me.
I love them. I had 16-gauge stainless steel bench tops at my last shop but I think I like these better. Rock solid and clean up very easy and always look nice. I put a little Sheila Shine on them every once in a while when they start looking like they need it. In the 8-months or so I've had them done I think I've used the Sheila Shine on them twice now.
Mike