[Skinner1]

Continuing on with my Y/J Project.......i have begun work with the help of the fab guys in the weld shop designing and making a combo winch plate and front trail bumper .

like the rack on the T/J i browsed designs of bumpers and we decided to come up with 1 of our own . i dove into the scrap bin and dug out a piece of steel angle stock and some 3 1/4 " flat stock for the shackles and 2" steel pipe to use as the brush guard .

we then cut the angle to size 47" in length . then we welded in 3" back supports we cut out of the flat stock and began the weld work closing in the corners and welding in the supports and shackle brackets .

the pics below show the start of the work and how far we have gotton .....

the start




reinforsements welded in , shackle mounts welded in and drilled on the hot press , corners welded in , fit hot press mounting holes and wench holes and weld in the brush guard .and refinish it .



we use the hot press cause trying to drill through this stuff is a nightmare even with colbalt .

[NonStop]

Lookin good so far, nice shape.. Are those shackle tabs only welded to the front of the bumper?

[Skinner1]

No sir they are 1 solid piece with the rear gossett supports and yes sir they were strength - load tested you couldnt rip these shackle brackets off if ya tried your shackle would buckle before the bracket would .....these fab guys know their buissness ........... more detailed pics to follow .

[92SquareEye]

nice work, greg. when you do the winch plate, consider moving it forward just a bit...it can give a better angle.

-dave

[Skinner1]

mrsig, on Oct 21 2008, 11:06 AM, said:

Looks good so far! So when will the Jeep be ready for the trail?

waiting on my title to get back from tallahassee so i can get my registrations and plate ..Boss

[Skinner1]

Moving right along today ( yep still waitin on that title ) i got a few shots of the bumper on the cut table after some work was done to it on the hot press .



this pic was taken before mounting holes were cut on the press



this pic shows inside of bumper after the inner gossetts were cut to fit over the front frame bar .



this pic shows bumper on cut table cooling and 2" pipe getting ready to cut and weld in place to form brush guard .
so all thats left is to cut form and mount the brush guard in place , finish up the winch plate , a few final touches . load test 1 more time then Grind ,prime , paint and install.

[Skinner1]

Well today we really got rockin on the bumper and its really taken shape here are a few pics of our progress today .


brushguard pipes cut 2" steel pipe ...cut 18" center 7"


brushguard layout form on the tak scale table


checking proper level and angle and semitry . Guard had to be cut down just alittle to obtain
proper look about 1.5" reduction


grinding and setting filler angle


brushguard tacked in place


final fit of the brushguard in place roughedges ground smooth to form

next up winch plate welded in .....then on to be ground primed and refinished .when we get this done
this bumper is def gonna be hardcore heavy duty .

[JeepinIan]

Are you going to brace the uper end of the brush guard? If you hit a rock w/o any brace, it may fold back. Triangulation is a good thing.

[Skinner1]

well the project has been load tested all through the building the fab guys have machines that check load pressure and stuff like that these guys really know what they are doin ...

the actually chances of the guard or bumper failing it self is about the same as any you could buy out of the book from any dealer and besides if i ever went top over and the bumper failed or guard failed
i would worry more about an extened hospital stay instead of the bumper .

but no this bumper is really put togeather well the fab guys we have here really know their buiss .....we have all the top metal working toys here ......

[Skinner1]

Well heres the final fit on the Y/J . finished it up today .

Total over all Bumper weight 52 pds . ...





tomarrow im gonna pull it off ....grind it clean prime and paint it black .

its not a warn ...but its just as strong and durable . not everyday you can get a bumper like this for a case of ........................ and alittle bit of work and alittle imagination

after i get it painted i will post the finals .

[Skinner1]

Well got it all ground and primed and painted this morn and installed on the jeep ...........

Final shots







i think it came out pretty good .