4307's Canadian Taco Build

[4307]

Finally it's time to weld the angle plate pieces in place, to box up the bumper and get the bumper shape I was after.
The plate pieces tacked in place. The pieces butt up together create a ''V'' this gave me the opportunity to get deeper weld penetration.
With a deeper weld penetration I could grind the weld too a smooth shape without loosing too much weld integrity. All the plate welds on the front of the bumper were treated this way. I would only grind off enough weld to smooth them out.

Now, its time to tame the bumper corners, make it less of a weapon.....

Earlier I mentioned I was planning to trim the rear bed quarter panels for higher clearance and add side protection using 2'' square tube. This is still in the design stage. Although I did get a head start.
As mentioned earlier, I was going to mount the square tube, square to the ground, but instead I decided to clock the tube 45*, just too be different....

I was going to "weld in" full length tube to meet the edge of the wheel well, but decided to make the side protection detachable. This would make the bumper easier to man handle during the install, and removable incase I need to replace or change side protection, or just leave the bumpity bump the way it is without side protection. I like having these options. I have all winter to think about it.

Now, this is my plan too make it all fit together and make it one unit, strong enough to carry the weight of the truck using the Hi-Lift on the side protection....

I'm still using the 2'' tube, clocked to 45*, from the bumper too the wheel well. The side protection tube on the bumper end will have a short inner square tube just big enough to fit inside the 2'' tube and weld in place to make it one piece. This inner tube will be slightly protruding out of the 2'' tube, enough to fit into the 2'' tubed corner of the bumper, It will be bolted in place possibly welded later in life. The intersecting side protection and bumper corner will be strong enough to carry the truck weight with the jack. Have I lost you yet? LOL!

Here is a picture of the back side of the bumper corner to give you some idea. Like I said the side pro. is still in the design stage. If I decide to keep the bumper as is, without side protection, I can simply cap off the open corner so animals don't nest in there. I could weld in a thin plate or cap it off using trailer hitch receiver plastic caps. I'll mount the bumper in the spring and plastic cap the corners until the side protection is done ready for install.

 

[4307]

O.K. now for the front corner of the bumper..... Before I installed the corner 2'' square tube, I had to do some more creative cutting, again this was done on the band saw.
In order to get the angle I wanted, I had to weld the corner pieces to scrap tube so I can cut those crazy cuts. Here is a pic of the corner pieces welded to the scrap tube, but my camera battery died before I made the cuts....

Did I mention I'm going for the "Longest Forum Post Award".
Hmmm.... I wonder why my camera battery died?

Back on topic.... The corner pieces end up with 2 angles per piece, this pic shows one angle that was cut per piece.... I don't have a image of the piece when it was finally welded in.

Lately I was able to land a couple days of good weather and spare time.... Yippie!
The crazy corners finally had the outside surface plates ''welded in'' and shaped.
The plate went into the bender, thus eliminating a weld, it was a perfect fit.

I must have annoyed the hell out of my cool neighbors.... I whipped out that disk grinder! Mooo ha ha ha!

I was able to grind a fair amount. Later I'll go over the whole thing with flap disks to get a better finish.
There is still work to do.... The boxed hitch receiver, step plate and gussets, and the odd weld, here and there. These items are next on the agenda.

This brings me up too date! My fingers hurt.... wonder why?

As it sits right now.... At the present time my bathroom scale is telling me its a hefty 76 Lbs....
Oh! just in case your wondering.... I will be plating and possibly boxing the rear frame of the truck.

 

[4307]

The hitch receiver needed some modification, it's one that I purchased a couple years ago. The problem with the receiver was the receiver lock pin hole location. The receiver would stick out to far reducing the departure angle.

If I mounted the receiver with the rounded cap against the surface of the bumper the receiver lock pin hole would have been in the middle of the boxed body of the bumper. It would be hard to patch the original 1/2'' holes.
If I mounted the hitch receiver with the holes inside the boxed bumper, water/ moisture would collect inside the bumper, especially during river fording.
The other issue I had with the receiver, was the length. I bought the long receiver over the shorter version, just in case. The extra length was not necessary. My solution is simply to shorten it.

The Receiver has a nice steel cap end with rounded corners, it's a nice touch. I plan on retaining the cap.
The problem with the cap was the location. I was going to grind the two 1.25'' welds off, but didn't feel like the extra work so I simply cut it off with the band saw, then I shortened the box receiver.
Before I started cutting, I took measurements of the ball mount I was planing on getting, I cut the length of the receiver down, so the original lock pin holes would except the ball mount. I needed a length of five inches from the front edge of the receiver with the cap in place to the hole center. This measurement also allows me to use a receiver style pintel Like the picture below.....

These pic's show how I cut the receiver into sections. The first pic is the original length, the receiver is cut in this pic, I re-assembled it for the sake of the pic.

The end cap has a nice recess to except the box part of the receiver, I'll will weld it back on. Instead of two welds and a crack to hold moisture for rust, I'll weld the cap all the way around to seal it up.

The pintel hitch would allow me to tow a off road trailer, like the Canadian Forces M101 utility trailer. The regular ball mount would allow me to tow a standard trailer.

The next picture, I took the shortened receiver to the store. I thought I'd double check before I started welding the receiver in place.... I learned this lesson long ago... double check, then check again. It turns out that the receiver needed to be shortened by 3/16''.

Since I was at the store, they had a whole rack of various ball mounts, some of the mounts, like the lower drop mounts, had a different spec for the hole positions.
I took some more measurements to drill a second set of holes, just in case I need to insert a different ball mount. I will, more than likely, need a drop ball mount as I lift the truck. Again, better safe than sorry. I'll kick myself if I didn't drill a second set of holes.
Here is the process to drill the holes....
After marking my measurements on the box receiver, I drilled a guide hole for the 5/8'' drill bit.

The guide holes were drilled on one side, then flipped and drilled on the other side.
The drill bit was way to shot to drill straight through, I would never do that anyway, even if the bit was long enough.
For my peace of mind and for the sake of precision, I used the drill bit as a gauge, to make sure the holes line up.

 

[4307]

Now for the 1/2" hole....
Ever since I drilled holes through a set of leaf springs, I've changed my choice of bit for drilling holes from 1/2'' up to the smallest size Bi-metal whole saw.
For a long time, I would use a metal drill bit. The problem I had with the larger drill bits was: heat, and screeching sound, and the fact I had to use a lot of lubricant to eliminate heat and sound, I can only drop the speed down so much, on my drill press.

If any one has tried drilling leaf springs with a metal cutting bit, they know how hard it is to drill that hole, bits dull in minutes. A trick I learned was to use Cobalt Concrete Drill Bits.... Ya! I was skeptical, until I tried it my self.
The bit cut through the leaf spring in no time, I was amazed! And the quality of the hole was amazing!
I used very little lubricant for the leafs, there was a lot less heat, it was warm to the touch, the noise level was a lot lower. That being said, I started using the concrete bits on thicker mild steel stock. Its like cutting through cheese.

Side note.... concrete bits are easy to sharpen, I use a grinding wheel. I sharpened the bit once since drilling into basement concrete floor, 4 holes through spring steel and 2-3/4'' mild steel blocks.

Here are a few pics of the concrete bit at work....

After the holes were drilled in the box receiver, I put the end cap back on the receiver, hand tight, not welded.....
I placed the receiver in position, made sure I could put the pin and lock in place to make sure I had the clearance.

Next step.... I made a gusset to re-enforce the receiver, and step plate, the gusset allows me to tie the box section of the bumper, receiver and step plate together for more strength and support.
I used 3/8'' flat stock for the gusset.
The 3/8'' gusset sits on top of the receiver, the step plate rests on the gusset. The parts will be welded together, later.
I plan on welding the box receiver on the inside and outside of the midsection of the bumper for extra strength.
The gusset is not totally done in the following pics, it needs some refinement...

Before I weld, I'm thinking of changing the design of the step plate.
I 'll get to that later.... it will be a experiment.

Here are the rough idea of how the gusset will be placed.....

 

[hayduke]

And enhance....

Very nice.

 

[XJxplorer]

WOW! Awesome skills man!!

 

[Rexsname]

...............and that Ladies and Gentelmen is why custom made bumpers cost thousands of dollars.

Very nice work! Thank you so much for taking the time to show us how it's done!

REX

 

[4307]

Hey thanks guys.

I'm having fun building this boat anchor, I'll try to get more pics up as soon as I can.
The top step plate design has changed a little, I thought I'd experiment a little more with the plate bender..... write up to come.

 

[4307]

Well.... I did a little more work.

I had to change things up a bit. I was not quite satisfied with the step plate.
this was the original step plate....

There was nothing wrong with the step plate, it was perfectly fine. I just wanted to improve on it and test my plate bender skills....

For $10 of plate steel, I had the itch to experiment.... The original plate is still useful for other projects, 3/16 is handy to have around.

The original step plate covers the center section, completing the box.
I still had to cover the driver and passenger side outer box sections adding end caps sealing the box and adding a little more strength possibly giving me a surface for another gusset, I'm still debating adding gussets to the box ends.
The area I'm talking about can be seen in the next pic, The open boxed end beside the magnet on the left.

Originally I was going to weld a piece of 2'' x 6'' x 3/16'' plate to cap the box, then weld the top plate in place.
I thought about eliminating the weld joining the step plate to the end caps, by incorporating the end caps into the step plate, the bend would be stronger then tricky and possibly questionable welds.
Anyway, thats the excuse I'm running with. LOL!
I just want to play with the bender some more....

Before I went out to the steel store, I thought I'd do a test bend on some scrap steel, I had laying around.
I wanted to see if I could get the bend I needed to cap the outer box ends and achieve the angle plain for the top plate.
The test piece, was a piece of 2'' - 3/16'' plate. The test piece will also tell me where the bend will start on the new step plate, bending down to make a end cap.
The next few pics gave me a idea of how and if, it would work.

The test piece gave me a good idea of how the new step plate would be formed.
The test piece will be used as a sample / bend gauge. I can compare the bend, I'm bending, on the new plate, with a proven bend of the sample piece.
Sometimes a sample piece is better than using a folding protractor while bending, because it includes the metal thickness. I find it helps with this type of bender.

I was confident the new top plate idea would work. I didn't bother making a cardboard template but rather did the math taking in consideration the bends and surface lengths to get my over all stock length, then added extra just to be safe and round the length off.

 

[4307]

Side note.....
The guys at the steel store are great. If I walk in wanting 38'' of stock they quote me a price, if I agree to round off the length off to 40'', they knock down the price.

The stock I bought was 40'' x 4'' x 3/16''.... 38'' would give me 1/2 '' extra stock after forming, on each side.
The price they quoted me for 38'' was $20.00. We rounded the total length to 40'', so they knocked off $5.00, not only that they also give me the option of buying clean stock or the greasy stock for $ 5 less.
The greasy stock is usually "off cuts" that have been sitting around the store for a while. Degreasing is not big deal.
If you buy smaller pieces of stock, ask the people at the counter if they will sell the off cut for a reduced price.
There are times I walk in, wanting a odd ball piece of steel, they'll just give me a piece that I can use, it may take some machining but it was free.
The store I deal with, sells mild steel stock, rounded off to the inch, they really don't have enough scrap to make it worth while to reclaim, rather they throw the odd stock on a rack and sell it at the book price. I've been loyal to this store, so they're willing to cut me deals, if I was a business that would be a different story.
I thought I'd share that with all of you to help you reduce cost. You won't know unless you ask.

 

[4307]

Back to the job at hand....

I bought 40'' x 4" x 3/16'' stock, marked the stock for the cuts and bends....

The end caps are 2'' x 6'', I had to cut a couple of sections out in order to form the end caps. I left extra material, instead of cutting the end cap length to 6'' opting to cut after the new step plate has been dry fit. Better to have end caps longer than shorter. The cuts were done on the band saw.....

The end caps were the first bends formed on the step plate. I used the sample bend piece to help me get the bends I need. Bending a little at a time, checking the bend with the test piece, eventually I was able to get the exact bend I was after.
The following pics show the test piece, test piece compared to the bend on the step plate, shot from different angles.....

The first bend on the step plate, formed end cap....

 

[4307]

The second bend forming the end cap on the opposite end of the step plate....

The next step is to form the bends that make up the main section of the step plate.
The easiest way to ensure I get the proper bends, is to use a square.
The center of the step plate is square to the box ends to be caped, I will bend and check, bend and check until the the center of the step plate and end cap is square, then flip the plate and repeat the process forming the opposite side of the plate....

After the bends were double checked for accuracy it was time to do a dry fit.
I have to say it was tricky to get exact accuracy. I was damn close. It was a tight fit, in fact to tight, it is so close, out by 1/16'' each side. If I bend the angles on the plate that would shorten the overall width enough to fit, but it would throw my angles off this would be unacceptable. The easiest way to make this plate fit is to remove material from the box ends to be capped.....

Tight fit.....

 

[4307]

I thought about grinding away 1/16'' on the box end each side but it would be hard to get a uniform surface, so it was back to the band saw. This cut was a tough, angling the bumper just right, shaving 1/16'' of material off the box and hopefully finish the cut evenly on the back surface of the mid section box, without cutting into it. Anyway..... it came out perfectly.

Back to another dry fit. This time the step plate fit the box ends exactly the way I wanted. Even thought the box ends fit, the top plate sits 3/16'' to high.

I want to countersink the plate 3/16'' so the driver and passenger side edges of the plate, are at the same plain as the top surface of the rest of the bumper.
I want as much edge material as possible at the bends, so I don't compromise the bend for the box ends, when I grind down the welds that will join the step plate and bumper top surface.

I may have to do a fill weld at the box end bend maybe 2-3 passes, I don't know yet.

This set of pictures shows the top plate sitting high, the plate fits nice on the box ends.....

 

[4307]

Countersinking the top plate....

I had no choice but to do some creative grinding. This was not fun! In order to countersink the step plate I had to grind away 3/16 of the exposed edge of the box section wrere the step plate will sit.
First step was to mark the depth of the material that will be removed. The trick is to be uniform and avoid doing a hack job, this is a tiring job with a large disk grinder. It would be a piece of cake with a plasma cutter.
After a while I managed to get, somewhat uniform edges. If I clamp the plate down the edges sit flush. I'l go back and touchup the edge surface with a Dremel before I weld, relying less on the clamps.

Because I modified, how the step plate fits, buy removing 3/16, I can no longer use the 3/8'' gusset between the step plate and box receiver.
I'll be replacing the gusset with a piece of 1/4'' thick gusset. 1/4'' seems to be a snug fit. The 1/4'' gusset + 3/16'' step plate welded together, should be fine as a gusset, for the box hitch receiver.

This is how the bumper looks with the step plate and hitch receiver, dry fitted.

The next step is welding the receiver and step plate in place and add gussets where the mounting brackets and bumper meet, at the top of the recovery point bracket.

I just might be able to finish the main bumper before the snow flies, at least get some primer on there so it won't rust over winter.
I'm still debating adding the swing out tire gate to carry a 255/85R16. spare. Hmmmm......

 

[Willman]

That is one cool design!

You have great fitting, benting, & Fab skills!

Very detailed write up!