New Expo Member with 80

[mxvet354]

Hey guys - thanks for the welcome..here are the specs on my truck as of now:

'96 LC, 170K & counting DD, OME 850/863, Cooper 285's, custom front bumper, Slee harness/bulbs, CDL & 7pin, ScanGaugeII. I ended up adding about a 1" spacer in the front due to the winch and bumper to get level again.

I have a rear bumper in the works and also want to design and build a roof rack hopefully this Fall and Winter. I also have another LC in town that I am going to completely swap a set of factory locked axles with. I am still doing my research on that one. Steel is also at the shop for sliders but I honestly haven't put much thought into them yet.

The grill was "almost" a direct bolt in, not perfect but anyone could do this swap in an hour or so. It was that easy...here is the link if you want to read about it on MUD.

http://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/213327-96-93-grill-swap-results.html

I will post some build pictures of the bumper over the weekend. It was definately a learning process. It is plenty stout for what I need though.

Curt

 

[alia176]

Ahhh, Moonglow Pearl...a color near and dear to my heart

 

[Mlachica]

Ahhh, Moonglow Pearl...a color near and dear to my heart

I couldn't agree more.

Welcome Curt!

Cool lookin bumper. Is it modular? I like how the winch is protected from the elements.

 

[luk4mud]

Nice rig, from one new owner to another. I'm wondering why I waited so long?

 

[dano82]

nice rig i like the colour too......those coopers are awesome ive had mine for 1.5 years and are very impressive in all types of terrain

 

[modelbuilder]

If only I had found the portal 2 years ago...

 

[mxvet354]

Thanks for the comments fellas, this is a great site with tons of knowledge. I am just soaking as much of it up as I can.

The bumper started out as cardboard templates and then cut into metal pieces followed by a lot of welding and grinding. I had the great idea originally to make it a true 3 piece design but at the last minute decided to weld the whole thing together. The center piece is 1/4" steel and the side pieces are 14 ga. Total weight with out the winch was about 72 lbs. It seems pretty stout so far but I don't true any hardcore off-roading. If it will stand up the the occasional rock, downed tree, etc I should be fine. I made the cover out of some scrap 18 ga. we had at the shop, it is kind of weak but it will work for now. I just wanted to keep the winch out of the elements as much as I could.

As it started:

First "wing" done:

Clamped together for final welding:

I also had the rare craigslist find over the weekend. I do not spend much time looking around there but got lucky with the roof rack. The kid literally lived two streets behind me and for $400 i just could not pass it up. It needs painting which will happen very soon but other than that it was 100% complete right down the the little rubber caps for the clamp bolts. I think it will come in handy for camping/canoe trips down the road. I think the looks are going to have to grow on me a little.....

Thanks again and I look forward to hanging out here more often and actually helping when and where I can.

Curt

 

[Brian894x4]

That bumper is mean looking! Awesome design. Sweet rig. Brings backs lot of memories...you know...from when I was last in my garage about 5 minutes ago. :sombrero:

You need some sliders on that baby!

 

[mxvet354]

I have the steel for the sliders in the shop, just waiting for time to get them done. I am going to wait for it to cool off a little before I start that project.

Thanks

Curt