Tacoma rear bumper fabrication.
- Thread starter p1michaud
- Start date
Davids90toy
Observer
i have a 1990 toyota pickup and i went with AJ's bumper from www.bentup.com.... they do awsome work and pretty fast... not to expensive... im going back soon for my sliders and soon a roll cage if he dose those... but other then that im extreamly happy with the work hes done...
p1michaud
Expedition Leader
Bentup
I have not seen any bentup products in person but have read lots of good thigns about their work. My dual swing out was partially based on a bumper made by Bentup for "Zsazbo" over on TTORA. More pictures here as mentionned in my first post.
This project was a DIY approach so outsourcing to any of the many great fab shops was not really an option in my case. I chose this approach mostly due to distance. I'd prefer to be able to talk directly to the fabricator/shop if I were to have something like a rear bumper built.
Cheers :beer:,
P
P.S. I've browsed through the site in your signature before (4wheeltoys), cool site.
Davids90toy said:
I have not seen any bentup products in person but have read lots of good thigns about their work. My dual swing out was partially based on a bumper made by Bentup for "Zsazbo" over on TTORA. More pictures here as mentionned in my first post.
This project was a DIY approach so outsourcing to any of the many great fab shops was not really an option in my case. I chose this approach mostly due to distance. I'd prefer to be able to talk directly to the fabricator/shop if I were to have something like a rear bumper built.
Cheers :beer:,
P
P.S. I've browsed through the site in your signature before (4wheeltoys), cool site.
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p1michaud
Expedition Leader
Love this Forum!
What a great place!
Sen you a PM.
Cheers,
P
Willman said:This is a 5/16 threaded one.....couldn't find the 1/4" one that i used on their site. This one is the next size up. Let me know if you have any problems.... i can stop by Grainger and mail ya some for a Christmas gift!
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/3CC17
What a great place!
Sen you a PM.
Cheers,
P
p1michaud
Expedition Leader
Good stuff!
Much appreciated!
Let me know how much the parts, mailing and service fees were.
I won't be progressing the build during the holidays because I'm away from the garage and welder.
Cheers,
P
Willman said:It's in the mail P!!!!
Due to the Christmas traffic.....might be a little slow.....
Much appreciated!
Let me know how much the parts, mailing and service fees were.
I won't be progressing the build during the holidays because I'm away from the garage and welder.
Cheers,
P
3trdmarine
New member
Great write-up so far! Any progress pics? On one of the other posts sch 40 was mentioned. It is plenty strong! I have a solid axle tacoma with the front bumper and rock sliders all made of sch40. They've held up very well and supported the entire weight of the truck many times while out playing on the rocks. Great build and can't wait to see the final product:wings:
p1michaud
Expedition Leader
Design change
Thanks for the good words. On Friday I picked up a missing piece of steel so that I can start work on the swing out.
I've decided to modify the design slightly. I'll be going with one swing arm pivoting on the passenger side for a few reasons as follows:
1-My goal is to have the bumper/swing arm designed such that without the AT Can Holders attached, the tailgate can still be used without having to open the swing arm. If I put the closing latches in the middle as originally planned I won't be able to do so.
2-Lately I've been tossing up the pros/cons of going to a spare tire holder vs. fuel can/water can holders. If at some point down the road I change my mind and want to go to a tire holder, the single swing out could easily be changed to accomodate this.
3-After moching up both set ups, the single swing arm looks much cleaner than the dual.
If things go well, I should be making progress over the coming weeks.
Cheers,
P
3trdmarine said:
Thanks for the good words. On Friday I picked up a missing piece of steel so that I can start work on the swing out.
I've decided to modify the design slightly. I'll be going with one swing arm pivoting on the passenger side for a few reasons as follows:
1-My goal is to have the bumper/swing arm designed such that without the AT Can Holders attached, the tailgate can still be used without having to open the swing arm. If I put the closing latches in the middle as originally planned I won't be able to do so.
2-Lately I've been tossing up the pros/cons of going to a spare tire holder vs. fuel can/water can holders. If at some point down the road I change my mind and want to go to a tire holder, the single swing out could easily be changed to accomodate this.
3-After moching up both set ups, the single swing arm looks much cleaner than the dual.
If things go well, I should be making progress over the coming weeks.
Cheers,
P
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p1michaud
Expedition Leader
The bumper project continues.
I finally got a few spare evenings to progress the build. At this point the main beam of the bumper was complete so it was time to focus on the swing out. The following was accomplished:
Installed bearing races into Rock Logic hinge and set everything up for some test fitting.
Installed Rock Logic hinge into main bumper. I used a 1 3/8" hole saw to cut the hole then welded the bottom of the pin in palce after making sure it was perfectly lined up. As you can see this is how rusty the bumper got with only on month on the rig during the salty winter conditions
Tack welded the main piece for the swing arm (2" x 2" x 3/16" approx 62" long) and test fitted things. I spaced the main swing out approximately 3/8" from the bumper. This would allow sufficient room to open the tailgate without the need to open the swing out.
Welded the main swing out in place.
Cut the the clamp end so that I could cap it and weld it shut as well as incorporate the spring loaded back up pin to the clamp. Welded it in place.
Mounted the toggle clamp mounting bracket and swing arm stopper in place.
Drilled and tapped the holes for the toggle clamp then mounted it.
continued...
I finally got a few spare evenings to progress the build. At this point the main beam of the bumper was complete so it was time to focus on the swing out. The following was accomplished:
Installed bearing races into Rock Logic hinge and set everything up for some test fitting.
Installed Rock Logic hinge into main bumper. I used a 1 3/8" hole saw to cut the hole then welded the bottom of the pin in palce after making sure it was perfectly lined up. As you can see this is how rusty the bumper got with only on month on the rig during the salty winter conditions
Tack welded the main piece for the swing arm (2" x 2" x 3/16" approx 62" long) and test fitted things. I spaced the main swing out approximately 3/8" from the bumper. This would allow sufficient room to open the tailgate without the need to open the swing out.
Welded the main swing out in place.
Cut the the clamp end so that I could cap it and weld it shut as well as incorporate the spring loaded back up pin to the clamp. Welded it in place.
Mounted the toggle clamp mounting bracket and swing arm stopper in place.
Drilled and tapped the holes for the toggle clamp then mounted it.
continued...
p1michaud
Expedition Leader
More progress...
Rubber Isolators.
I decided to incorporate some rubber isolators between the swing out and main bumper to make sure everthing is tight and rattle free but with a bit of a twist. Nic (Willman) was nice enough to find some rubber isolaors from Grainger and send them my way. Much appreciated my friend! For the sake of keeping the proper gap and partly for fun I "frenched" the isolators into the main swing arm. Again this will allow me to open the tailgate with the swing out closed when not loaded with fuel can holders.
I made up two pieces of tube with a plate welded to one side along with a 5/16" nut for the rubber isolator to screw into first.
Cut the hole:
Isolator tube piece:
Test fit:
Welded up with rubber isolator ready to be test fit:
Rubber isolator in place:
Voila, some "frenched" swing out rubber isolators! Repeat for the second. I did a much better job on the second one but that's how it goes, you learn as you work sometimes.
Off to the garage for some more grinding and welding. :Mechanic:
Rubber Isolators.
I decided to incorporate some rubber isolators between the swing out and main bumper to make sure everthing is tight and rattle free but with a bit of a twist. Nic (Willman) was nice enough to find some rubber isolaors from Grainger and send them my way. Much appreciated my friend! For the sake of keeping the proper gap and partly for fun I "frenched" the isolators into the main swing arm. Again this will allow me to open the tailgate with the swing out closed when not loaded with fuel can holders.
I made up two pieces of tube with a plate welded to one side along with a 5/16" nut for the rubber isolator to screw into first.
Cut the hole:
Isolator tube piece:
Test fit:
Welded up with rubber isolator ready to be test fit:
Rubber isolator in place:
Voila, some "frenched" swing out rubber isolators! Repeat for the second. I did a much better job on the second one but that's how it goes, you learn as you work sometimes.
Off to the garage for some more grinding and welding. :Mechanic:
p1michaud
Expedition Leader
Protecting the quarter panel and other vehicles or innocent by standers...
Next was time to decide how to prevent the gate from destroying my quarter pannel should it decide to swing away from a person while opening. I chose to use another sping loaded pin for this purpose. It stops the gate from over opening and holds it in place when it's open. I may weld a solid 1/2" pin as a back up similar to what Nic did here but not yet.
I'm nearly there. Just have to wait for some AT Can Holders and fab up some mounting brackets/platforms for them.
Cheers :beer:,
P
Next was time to decide how to prevent the gate from destroying my quarter pannel should it decide to swing away from a person while opening. I chose to use another sping loaded pin for this purpose. It stops the gate from over opening and holds it in place when it's open. I may weld a solid 1/2" pin as a back up similar to what Nic did here but not yet.
Willman said:Then i added a 1/2" solid round stop so the tire on the gate does not takeout my tail light...
I'm nearly there. Just have to wait for some AT Can Holders and fab up some mounting brackets/platforms for them.
Cheers :beer:,
P
adrenaline503
Explorer
Wow, very well thought out design. Seems a shame that manufacturers cant seem to put as much thought into their designs.