Hmmm... This is a several projects -- 
This is DEFINITELY a project... 
But this is actually one worth posting -- my winch bumper. The intent was to end up with something reminiscent of a Series bumper. I wanted a low key, low profile design. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. 
The ends are fashioned from heavy U-channel steel that was originally an old pickup rear bumper. The center is fabbed from a combo of 1/4", 5/16" and 3/16" steel. The braces are 3/16" wall rectangular tube. It has boxed 1/4" mounts that wrap the frame ends, bolted on with SAE Grade 8 NF bolts. I still have to cut the slot for the winch line and add a couple of Hi-Lift jack points. Instead of mounting an alu hawse fairlead, I plan to weld up a hawse from steel tube around the winch line slot, which will add additional strength to the mount plate. My 8274 will sit back into the grill, ala' the style of the Devon 4x4 rallye trucks. It's hella strong. I jacked up one end with the Hi-Lift; with the front tire 3" off the ground, the end of the bumper had deflected about 1/4". Still, it only weighs about twice the weight of the stock bumper. Running synthetic line will keep the overall weight to a minimum. All in, I've got less than half the price of a good synthetic line into building it. |