View Full Version : high clearance bumper
i cut my bedsides today and getting ready to make a bumper/tire carrier..
i'll have pics up soon
Cool, what are you making it out of?
What was wrong with your old bumper?
00regcab
02-01-2009, 10:09 PM
After following me on the highway he must of realized that it creates far less drag, and that its the cool thing to do so everyone gets even more confused with our trucks! :D
haha j/k of course.
Look forward to seeing it, going to be making a few additions to my rear bumper here soon.... very soon.
i have some 2x2 ish steel im making it of... not sure of the thickness, it will do the job for sure though.
my old bumper just still hung lower than i wanted it.
yeah nate, its weird my truck kinda looks even more like yours with the bed cut up.:eek:
Looks like Nate 1 will have to keep the ARB to keep things really confusing.
what are you gonna be doing with your rear bumper Nate?
stubby3vze
02-01-2009, 10:28 PM
:worthless
Think he is adding bed side protection.
ha.. well i guess you will have to take pics:D
Think he is adding bed side protection.
oh cool
:worthless
did your slider fall off?
Whoa! Gotta hear this story.
well we got one slider on successfully.. half way through getting the other one on, his welder quit on him.
so, long story short, only a couple welds holding it on
stubby3vze
02-01-2009, 10:43 PM
ya that sucked well ill have to look at my welder tommorow
I have a POS HF flux core if you want to try that to get them on a bit more solidly for the time being, or I know one of the many members with good welders would give you a hand.
stubby3vze
02-01-2009, 11:01 PM
ya i should of used a gas mig but i used a 115v flux core
orange crusher
02-01-2009, 11:40 PM
I want to see pics! I need ideas for my front winch bumper.
00regcab
02-02-2009, 12:05 AM
So you're going to be doing a 2x2 bumper as well then?
:rofl:
http://users.4x4wh.com/4x4master/yota/Bed%20Bob/C3.jpg
http://users.4x4wh.com/4x4master/yota/Bed%20Bob/C6.jpg
When are you going to bob it as well? :p
Ike's got it... going to be doing quite a bit of bedside protection, and going to fab up a new front bumper next week.
RedRunnertc
02-02-2009, 04:43 PM
Nate - I have a welder at the HOW - only a couple miles from your house!
i appreciate it troy, kris got his welder working though. should have it together by tomorrow.
Nate, im not gonna bob my bed, then it would be too much like yours...:D
vwfastg60
02-07-2009, 03:25 AM
Bob the bed...All the cool kids are doing it. ;)
You offering to do body work on bobs?
packrat1
03-13-2009, 01:44 PM
I imagine to turn those corners with square tubing you used four pieces, that's a lot of work! Looks great.
It s also more practical than what I have now too! I could use some protection there.
00regcab
03-13-2009, 04:31 PM
I imagine to turn those corners with square tubing you used four pieces, that's a lot of work! Looks great.
It s also more practical than what I have now too! I could use some protection there.
Thanks, packrat.
The corners were actually done with 2 pieces connecting the side-side and the front-back, then the outer section was more or less "sleeved" for cosmetic appearance to obtain a nice rounded/smooth look/finish.
Its held up great. Then again, i've only been able to tag it once, and that was in moab :p
packrat1
03-20-2009, 02:41 PM
Who else has done some high clearance like this so I can get some more ideas?
Pics would be great.
mrdoug
03-20-2009, 02:55 PM
I'll be tackling this in the next couple months. Clearance the bed and extend the rear bumper for the wrap around effect. I kind of already have the idea in mind how I'm going to do it.. not sure how it'll turn out tho.
I have been tempted to ditch my wrap around and build my own clearanced bumper. Look at some of the higher end vendors such as armorology for insperations.
Quick Draw
03-20-2009, 04:24 PM
Who else has done some high clearance like this so I can get some more ideas?
Pics would be great.
Here's mine during construction. I've got a build thread buried in this same folder somewhere
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b302/fretslider51/DSCN2018.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b302/fretslider51/DSCN2031.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b302/fretslider51/DSCN2038.jpg
Works great:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b302/fretslider51/Chinamens/DSCN2243.jpg
I went with a 2x4 so that I could put a receiver and d-rings on it.
packrat1
03-20-2009, 05:51 PM
Here's mine during construction. I've got a build thread buried in this same folder somewhere
I went with a 2x4 so that I could put a receiver and d-rings on it.
Nice, I had seen it earlier. I still think tube though, Im just trying to think if I should graft onto my current bumper, or start from scratch again. Here is what I have now.
http://i449.photobucket.com/albums/qq212/Packrat01/packrat%20evolution/tacosparemount-1.jpg
http://i449.photobucket.com/albums/qq212/Packrat01/packrat%20evolution/tacorack-1.jpg
Im thinking just build outside of the clevis mounts with plate and tube to then line under a trimmed bedside..
Just thinkin'
Avsfreak1234
03-20-2009, 06:45 PM
start over. its usually easier to build from the ground up
Usually, but it looks like you have a good base. I would sit down and do a good layout of what your plan is before anything else.
packrat1
03-21-2009, 09:01 AM
start over. its usually easier to build from the ground up
Yeah, I knew, but I keep having to relearn that lesson though.:rolleyes:
Because my box sits on the frame, a straight bumper wouldn't wrap around the fenders as high as you guys with the bed still in place, and I like the amount of storage I have so I don't think Id go to a BoB. I also need to protect the air compressor and winch when they are stored on the side......
It'll probably occupy my mind here and there until next winter. So I will be collecting ideas. Feel free to throw me some suggestions if you have any.
RedRunnertc
03-21-2009, 09:29 AM
Typically, I would agree aith Jay, but your bumper is so basic I think it would be pretty easy to come off with some round tube and protect the bottom and sides of the bed.
1 thing I wished I had thought about more with my mini-exo was some way to carry sand ladders.
packrat1
03-21-2009, 09:38 AM
I don't really have to protect the bed, since the bedsides come off for any serious wheeling. And I don't want it to look like an afterthought, although it is. I could also probably gain about an inch or two with a rebuild, but it will cost me a bunch of time for a redo..... but Im still trying to make what I got work somehow. thanks for your input.
I haven't yet found the need for sandladders, but I have not played in too much sand. I figured I could air right down to single digit pressures and get away with that. Maybe not.
RedRunnertc
03-21-2009, 09:53 AM
As we have seen with Sean (devinsixtyseven) they can come in handy in the rocks too ... makes recovery a lot easier if you have a ramp.
I really want a good pair, but they are expensive as hell for what they are.
Sucka
03-21-2009, 01:17 PM
I'm probably gonna high clearance my rear now as well. I took a little damage down there, so A) it's vulnerable and B) i want that damage gone :D
Who is good with the :saw: for that? I know Nate's looks great, would anyone want to take on that project with me here soon?
Nate does a great job for the body half, but they you need someone to build the bumper also. It is time consuming, so i would wait until you have a design drawn up.
any you can barely see your body damage.
Sucka
03-21-2009, 02:47 PM
I'll probably just buy a bumper to save myself the hassle of buying materials and finding someone to weld it for me. I like the one fondigly has, just found out it's Armorology, i wonder what he charges...
I know the body damage isn't bad, but i might as well high clearance/get a wrap around bumper since it's obviously a vulnerable spot on my rig. The damage only speeds up the process for me now :p
Many times i would have come off an obstacle differently if i wasn't so worried about that rear panel.
mrdoug
03-21-2009, 03:47 PM
As I said before.. I'm getting ready to trim mine and extend my bumper around, but it really doesn't make sense to clearance it with the stock bumper in my opinion.
Armorology bumpers are primo, and the price shows it. Between the price, the wait time to get in his shop and the length of time he needs your truck to build the bumper, most folks find another source. Those that wait and pay, end up with some REALLY nice stuff.
I haven't seen what your damage looks like, but it's one of those things that the more you concentrate on it, the more it will bother you. My advice is to try to ignore it, start saving for the bumper and then plan to trim the panels when you get the bumper. I can lend you a hand trimming when that time comes.
Sucka
03-21-2009, 04:08 PM
Yeah i'm not overly caught up with it, but it's just fresh in my mind is all. You have to really look for it to notice, so that's not the issue. I can just tell that i'll have a much more enjoyable wheeling experience with more armor. I was very timid on obstacles in Moab and it showed after realizing it doesn't take much to crunch a panel.
My plan has always been to armor up, but now i just want it that much more. Still hunting around for designs i like that are resonably priced. At first i didn't think i needed a wrap around, now it's a must have in my book. Countless times i watched Ike come off an obstacle with tons of confidence where i was freaked out i was going to nail rear quarter panel.
I don't have the fab skills to make my own and it's just to much work to ask someone else to do all the work for me so i'll just be buying.
I banged the crap out of my sliders. I just got done cleaning up my rig and spraying the sliders and the entire underside was scraped and most of the side as well.......i am SOOOOOO glad i got those on before this trip.
Yea, we had you working the sliders like a mad man.
Next you should look into some quality skids in my opinion.
Sucka
03-21-2009, 07:18 PM
Yea, we had you working the sliders like a mad man.
Next you should look into some quality skids in my opinion.
I'll probably pull the trigger on some BudBuilt's here within a few weeks. Seeing yours on Garage made me a believer ;)
Yeah, i always got away without them, but after having them it makes alot of things way more enjoyable. You dont have to worry about your transfercase being ripped out everytime you hear your belly hit something.
00regcab
03-21-2009, 09:32 PM
I know the body damage isn't bad, but i might as well high clearance/get a wrap around bumper since it's obviously a vulnerable spot on my rig. The damage only speeds up the process for me now :p
Its a very vulnerable spot, why do you think i cut mine up before i even sent the check off for the first payment :p
Doug, Ben, lets set something up. Maybe we can do it at dougs house since he has all the tools for it? I'd be happy to help both of you make the clearance cut and get a basic bumper design worked out.
I absolutely love my rear bumper design, i still need to get bedside protection but other than that its completely protected my lower bed corners (whats left of them), and its saved me from some light damage down low by the bed. Obviously, bedside protection will solve the rest of my issues to protect my 'investment'
Sucka
03-21-2009, 09:38 PM
Count me in.
I don't know what i'm going to do for a rear bumper right now, but i'm pretty sure it's going to include a clearance job.
Only problem i have with your rear bumper design is that it is welded on.
00regcab
03-22-2009, 02:21 AM
Its no different than welding sliders on?
Dougs will still be bolt on, just adding to his existing bumper.
Sucka
03-22-2009, 02:28 AM
Wouldn't a good wrap around design need welding to the frame?
Quick Draw
03-22-2009, 07:52 AM
Mine is bolt on. Granted it a MAJOR fucking pain in the ass to take it on or off....but it is still technically removable.
mrdoug
03-22-2009, 08:23 AM
Wouldn't a good wrap around design need welding to the frame?
I think a good wrap around design needs good bracing.. how that well braced bumper attaches to the frame is less important in my opinion.
Nothing wrong with welding it to the frame tho. I just don't think it's necessary. I can't quite come up with the reason why I'm adverse to welding the rear bumper onto my taco, but I am avoiding it just the same.
Avsfreak1234
03-22-2009, 01:41 PM
im in to help cut up doug and bens beds too. have another chop party!
00regcab
03-22-2009, 03:36 PM
If i get rear ended by just about anything except a full size truck, they're going under my bed. I almost put a grand cherokee under the bed last night because the dumb bitch was driving like an idiot.
In the event of a car accident, i'd have larger problems than worrying about the bumper thats been welded to my frame.
Could say the same for sliders, what happens if you get t-boned at a slower rate of speed? (5-10mph), all that energy is transferred straight into your frame from the side impact and just about guaranteed to mangle frame rails.
Theres a whole list of arguments that you can come up with for welding or not welding to the frame.
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