matt s
Explorer
Updated: Gas can gate/rack completed, added post below.
Wish this were a trip report, but that will have to wait a few weeks. If you are a real fabricator, move on nothing to see here! :elkgrin: For you other average joes who like build stuff, here you go.
Where I started.
Functional yes. Ugly, yes. Also having the gate swing out six feet was a lot of strain on the hinge when loaded and the tire being centered and the addition of the gas can mounts made access over the tailgate via the hatch a real pain. Think loading groceries and you will see what I mean.
So a buddy and I hit up the local pick and pull to find an heavy duty tow bumper to start the project with. We scoured the lot and didn't find much, but as we were giving up we found this one on the way back to the car.
Heavy steel, already a decent looking shape and a great base to start from. Rusty as all get out, but solid.
A sawsall and grinder to remove the lower tow section and then wire wheel it clean in preparation for welding. A full day of grinding and it's looking better.
I located some 1" cold rolled steel to use for the hinge pin for the new gate. I am going with two gates each much smaller than the original. More importantly for me both gates remove with ease. Here is a shot getting ready to weld in the rod. You can't see it here but I added a plate of 1/4" on the underside of the top of the bumper where the rod passes through.
I sourced some 1" ID brass collared bushings and some chromally tubing that fit the 1.25" OD of the bushing. Chromally was a challenge to weld into the square tube, but with some preheating etc. I got it to work. Here it is before I cut and welded.
Here is a shot showing the new gate being test fit. The white washers are high density poly stuff. I bought six inches of it and cut my own "washers". If you look you can see that I added 1/4"x2 angle iron into the bottom of the bumper to beef it up. I want to be able to jack anywhere on this with a high lift. You can also see the vertical support I that later will be tied into the portion that gets bolted to the frame.
Here is a close up of the hinge. The rod is drilled for the castle nut but you can't see it here.
I thought about a wide range of different options for a latch and in the end settled for simple. this is a high quality 1/2" push pin. Spendy little sucker but very well made.
Here is some more high density plastic I had lying around. I used it to make the support for the swing arm. Ground a bevel on it to help the gate shut really smoothly. Between the plastic support and the stop tab is just a piece of neoprene. It cushions the gate but also puts just a touch of pressure on the pin the keep things from wiggling and rattling. (works perfectly BTW)
Ok kind of a jump in the photos here. In this you can see the 3 receiver hitches I added and the various supports I welded in as well as the bolt up pattern for the frame.
Why 3 receivers? I was going to add pad eyes for shackle mounts, but realized that one would be behind the tire and they also would likely bang and rattle. In addition figuring a way to make sure that the structure behind the pad eyes would be solid presented issues. By far the strongest part of this bumper is in the original step (tow) section. Attaching receivers here was a no brainer.
This way I can use receiver hitch shackles. Also I have a matching set of receivers up front (for my snow plow mount I built this winter). I am now set up to run a winch front or rear from a very solid two receiver set up. Anyone got money to buy me a winch???:sombrero:
Test fitting on the blazer. You can see the pin for the other gate in this shot. I have not built my "gas can" gate yet as I am still thinking about how I want to set it up.
POR - 15
Mounted up. No that's not your eyes. The original bumper has a camber to it like a frown. Why they built it that way I don't know, I don't love it but will get over it.
The final addition. I have saved this little brass gem for two years waiting for this day.
Wish this were a trip report, but that will have to wait a few weeks. If you are a real fabricator, move on nothing to see here! :elkgrin: For you other average joes who like build stuff, here you go.
Where I started.
Functional yes. Ugly, yes. Also having the gate swing out six feet was a lot of strain on the hinge when loaded and the tire being centered and the addition of the gas can mounts made access over the tailgate via the hatch a real pain. Think loading groceries and you will see what I mean.
So a buddy and I hit up the local pick and pull to find an heavy duty tow bumper to start the project with. We scoured the lot and didn't find much, but as we were giving up we found this one on the way back to the car.
Heavy steel, already a decent looking shape and a great base to start from. Rusty as all get out, but solid.
A sawsall and grinder to remove the lower tow section and then wire wheel it clean in preparation for welding. A full day of grinding and it's looking better.
I located some 1" cold rolled steel to use for the hinge pin for the new gate. I am going with two gates each much smaller than the original. More importantly for me both gates remove with ease. Here is a shot getting ready to weld in the rod. You can't see it here but I added a plate of 1/4" on the underside of the top of the bumper where the rod passes through.
I sourced some 1" ID brass collared bushings and some chromally tubing that fit the 1.25" OD of the bushing. Chromally was a challenge to weld into the square tube, but with some preheating etc. I got it to work. Here it is before I cut and welded.
Here is a shot showing the new gate being test fit. The white washers are high density poly stuff. I bought six inches of it and cut my own "washers". If you look you can see that I added 1/4"x2 angle iron into the bottom of the bumper to beef it up. I want to be able to jack anywhere on this with a high lift. You can also see the vertical support I that later will be tied into the portion that gets bolted to the frame.
Here is a close up of the hinge. The rod is drilled for the castle nut but you can't see it here.
I thought about a wide range of different options for a latch and in the end settled for simple. this is a high quality 1/2" push pin. Spendy little sucker but very well made.
Here is some more high density plastic I had lying around. I used it to make the support for the swing arm. Ground a bevel on it to help the gate shut really smoothly. Between the plastic support and the stop tab is just a piece of neoprene. It cushions the gate but also puts just a touch of pressure on the pin the keep things from wiggling and rattling. (works perfectly BTW)
Ok kind of a jump in the photos here. In this you can see the 3 receiver hitches I added and the various supports I welded in as well as the bolt up pattern for the frame.
Why 3 receivers? I was going to add pad eyes for shackle mounts, but realized that one would be behind the tire and they also would likely bang and rattle. In addition figuring a way to make sure that the structure behind the pad eyes would be solid presented issues. By far the strongest part of this bumper is in the original step (tow) section. Attaching receivers here was a no brainer.
This way I can use receiver hitch shackles. Also I have a matching set of receivers up front (for my snow plow mount I built this winter). I am now set up to run a winch front or rear from a very solid two receiver set up. Anyone got money to buy me a winch???:sombrero:
Test fitting on the blazer. You can see the pin for the other gate in this shot. I have not built my "gas can" gate yet as I am still thinking about how I want to set it up.
POR - 15
Mounted up. No that's not your eyes. The original bumper has a camber to it like a frown. Why they built it that way I don't know, I don't love it but will get over it.
The final addition. I have saved this little brass gem for two years waiting for this day.
Last edited:
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