Update
Update (finally) on the progress for my rear bumper. I kept working on it the week I started this post, but as my spring break came to an end and I had to get ready to head back to school in Indianapolis I never updated this thread. So here is where I am at so far.
After I got rid of the stock bumper I tore the main mounts off of it.
I bolted them to the truck to set a piece of pipe up to it them to make sure I was going to be happy with the location. And I was.
So now that I decided I was going to hash up the original mounts to fit the pipe, I decided to bolt them together so I could make one cut through both so they would turn out the same. I even laid a quick bead down once they were bolted up even so I knew that they would hold true and the pipe would be centered along the back of the truck.
With a hole saw that matched the O.D. of the pipe I was going to use, I marked my center point to drill and started tearing up cheap drills. A little while Later I had some mounts that I could work with.
I decided to trim a small piece off of the tops of both so make locating my top plate easier in the future, so I bolted them back together again to cut them evenly. Here are the final mounts and how they fit up to the pipe.
Now that I was done with the mounts, I bolted them on the truck to make sure that I was ready to keep on moving with the build. Thought about just welding this up and calling it good since it would probably keep people from getting out of their lanes next to me driving around here in Indianapolis :thumb:
Keep in mind that throughout this whole thing I was just freeballin it. Midterms right before my spring break left me no time to take measurements and make any CAD models this time around, so when I had actual time to be in my garage for once I decided that thats what I was gonna do.
So the next evening I started cutting the pipe. I wasn't sure how exactly I was going to piece together the bumper. I didn't know whether to curve around the sides like I did when I build my first bumper, or to just go straight across the back and mitre the ends. I decided that I could always hack the sides off if I didn't like them, so I took the hard route and started in that direction. First I got an approximation of the angle I was working with on the bed.
At 120 degrees I set up the saw to 30 degrees and started cutting. I got busy and didn't take any pictures during this, but I cut two opposing 30 degree angle on either end of the main pipe, and then two shorter pieces for the sides at 30 degrees.
Here is what it looked like tacked up.
Now I decided to cut the center of the pipe out to build where the license plate and lamps would go from tread plate. I wanted to build it into the pipe, so I marked a top and bottom line, made sure they were straight and centered, and started cutting.
I guess I should mention that in the picture above you can see the side braces that I bent up and welded for the mounts. They straddle the frame and utilize all the same bolt holes as the inside mounts.
I made up a quick template of what the center plate was going to look like, and cut it out so I could build the rest from there.
Next for the bottom plates, and at this point I was really at a crossroads whether or not to continue with the side pipes. I stuck with them for the time being.
And at this point I had to stop as it was time to get back in gear for school. I slapped a quick rattle can paint job on it and tapped some holes to bolt my license plate up. To keep it short, I’m going to cut the end off and make new side plates to cap them. I already have my plates cut for the tops, and only need one more piece to run vertical up under the tailgate. I also know that the bottom plates are uneven, and as I made them and measured off of the angles made by the center pieces of treadplate, they got cut uneven and are going to need a lot of grinding work to be finished and look right.
At this point I would say that I am about 60% finished, and I’m not sure when I will be able to finish it as I am heading to Ohio to work this summer just a week after this semester of school ends. So until then, that’s that! Thanks for viewing the update if you’re reading this.
upload pics
