My 2001 Pathfinder (R50 ) mild/budget build

[wreckdiver1321]

That bumper looks AWESOME stioc! Great work. Can't wait to see that bumper with a swing arm on it.

 

[stioc]

Thanks man, I'm planning the swing-arm in my head. I'd like the room for both a 5gal water container and my 2 3gal Rotopax but it'll be a bit too much weight on a single hinge and might look too crowded so I'll probably just go with the tire and the gas cans or the tire and one 3gal Rotopax + 5gal water next to each other or buy a 2gal water Rotopax to go with a 3gal gas rotopax (they don't make 3gal water cans). Looking for ideas on how to arrange stuff.

 

[Allof75]

I think it looks great! I'm glad you kept it cleaner looking than most, and kept the clearance by making it on the thinner side. Very functional and finished-looking. If I wasn't into pathfinders I'd probably think it was production-line fabbed.

I'm curious, are the vertical strips that start at the bottom of the bumper the tie-ins to the body/uniframe? Thanks you for referring to my build by the way. :sombrero:

 

[jhberria]

Every time I see one of these clean, functional older Pathfinder builds, I can't help but think of how much of an abomination it is what they've one with the new ones. Great truck, man.

 

[Dmski]

That is CLEAN! I can't believe how much better departure angle you gained by going with your own bumper! Awesome!

 

[stioc]

Allof75, interesting you mention fabbed-line because two of my neighbors said something along those lines since they've been watching me work on it the past 2 weeks. So now I'm thinking about a DIY kit/plans. If there's enough interest I can put something together for a reasonable cost where one could bring it somewhere have them do some basic fitting and welding or if they have the equipment/skills themselves they can build it entirely on their own in probably a weekend.

 

[stioc]

Oh and I forgot to answer your question about the "vertical strips" under the bumper, does this answer the question?

They are in fact the same mounts that connect the bumper to the truck's chassis.

 

[Allof75]

I would probably be interested in that fab kit, but considering my size tire fits in the factory location, I'd probably just have a swing out for fuel and water. How much did the material run you would you say?

And that makes sense with those tie-ins, very clean!

 

[Rebelord]

Thats pretty freaking sweet dude! (Total 90s flashback)

Honestly, even deciding to just sell the plans, or fair license them would be awesome. (If fair license is the term I'm looking for. Something along the lines of; Here are the plans. You may use them to build your own. But not for profit type deal. )

 

[stioc]

Thanks!

As far as the cost of parts+material I'd say I spent between $350-400, I'll have to add it all up when all said and done. The most expensive part was getting the mounts CNC cut and of course hours of measuring, tweaking, cutting but that's labor.

For the DIY bumper kit I was thinking it'll be options like:
1. Plans only: CAD drawings and instructions
2. Side wings
3. Tire swing parts
4. All of the above

 

[RG5384]

I'm interested in this is as well. Please keep us updated.

 

[stioc]

Sure I'll post here when I have something ready as far as the DIY bumper kit. For now I'm trying to get the tire-swing started. In fact, I picked up some more steel this weekend, here's the truck in the parking lot.

 

[Weekender41]

Looks good brother! I'm excited to see the swingout. Once I built mine, I could never go back to stock. Mine is way over hefty though so I'll be redoing it in tube, but the plate style looks perfect on these R50's. Can you show me the mount set-up you have?

 

[stioc]

The swing out is finally done!

With the appropriate tire size. I guess I now have to find a KM1 or a KM2 for the appropriate look lol

I still need to figure out how I'm going to build some sort of a strut mount for the arm. 200lbs of steel swing arm + slope = jaw-breaking injury. I also need to hook up the license plate light but that's all I can think of at this point.

Weight wise:
stock oem hitch = 45lbs
stock bumper = 20lbs
stock total = 65lbs

custom bumper = 60lbs
swing out = 45lbs
custom total = 105lbs

Total weight increase = 40lbs (not too shaby, granted the weight is further back...oh well you win some you lose some )

All in all I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, I still wish it was a bit more thick as the space under the bumper seems like something's missing but then again I'm pretty self-critical and picky. May be I can find or build a small storage compartment or hoist up a RotoPax or something where the spare tire was. I wonder how much the spare tire hoist and hardware weighs and if it's worth removing?

 

[stioc]

Oh cost was:

$330 for steel (the mounts were expensive!)
$120 for parts
total: $450 + shop supplies + 10,000000 hrs of labor lol