86-Chief

So guys my Xj is on its way to be a mild ExPo vehicle. Its my DD, camping, fishing, ExPo rig..My original plan was to copy this here,
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/x...bumper-928227/
I hate big flashy bumpers..And I love hidden winchs. Clean, simple, lightweight and cheap.
Verus keeping the stock bumper, I pcked up a Warrior P# 560 bumper for 150 bones today with 2 new Hella 500 black magics on it. My idea is it will give more protection incase I needed to push something, or incase I bumped/hit something.
However when I went and picked it up I realized this bumper was not 3/16th like I was let to believe..its actually 3/16 bumper mounts and 1/8th formed bumper. So I'd like to beef up the Warrior a little because I do like it..ALOT, its got very very nice lines, matches well, just perfect in size and since I don't rock crawl or need to ram things..I think will a little added beef it'll do just fine!
Planning to reinforce it with 3/16 and do full bumper mounting/tie in brackets. Opinions on this? say 1/8th vs 3/16 reinforcement plates?


This is how it looks currently. Just 1/8 plate formed, completely hollow.



I want to add either 3/16 or 1/8 plates in it like this..

Full inserted into the bumper, and welded on both sides. Should I add gussets off the sides of these like the bumper mount idea? Or should I add in a plate to completely connect the 2 plates together?



For the corner, just add in a little gusset/brace..and one at the very bottom of the bumper.




And for the mounts, I'll be cutting the stock ones out and replacing them with full depth versions..they are currently 3/16, which is plenty strong, especially since I will be running the tie in brackets which have 9 bolts per side. However idk If I should do them like this, full depth and 2 gussets.

Or like this, full depth, 1/4" plate formed to bumper & 2 gussets




I was also curious on opinions/suggestion on Drings through the bumper. If I could, or it would be strong enough really...but run a Dring through the bumper, inbetween the 2 gussets, then weld it on the front of the bumper, weld it to the bumper mount and to the gussets?

The section inbetween the 2 bumper mounts will be untouched until the hidden winch comes, then I'll brace/cut & mod that to hide & hold a 12k Warn thats been sitting here.
Otherwise I'm basically looking for guidence, if my ideas good enough, if I should do something differently, add here or there, take away here or there? Whats your guys opinions, advice, suggestions?

Don't hate on my costco pizza board fab work

freegdr

ive been thinking about same thing its just factory bumpers so thin , a c channel needs to be bent to match bumper angles for strength

86-Chief

C channels? Your talking about the plates right? Thats my plan is to use the cardboard to trace the shape and cut it to the shape of the bumper, full depth, and weld them in..this is actually a Warrior 560 rock crawler bumper not much this bumper will protect if it ever hit rocks lol...
Its all 1/8th and I'm basically using this to replace the stock one and still keep the hidden winch. Just for looks and because it'll give me a little more protection..just wanna add a little beef to it before it goes on..make me feel safer about it lol

freegdr

no length wise c channel like a inner shell...

86-Chief

Hmm, so like 1/8th plate bend to fit the bumper..and I'd still do a 1/8th or 3/16th plate..
Thats a great idea actually...I'd bend 1/8th plate to fit the bumper, like how I planned to do the shock mounts.

freegdr

thats it also could make extended bumper mounts like they have on all the after market bumpers

86-Chief

oh ya, currently I have no front bumper, because I have the bumper mounts on either side! Like 9 bolts per side.. This bumper will be tied into those!
I'm going to do the plating in 1/8th, maybe try to do some 1/8th" plating thats formed to the bumper, and then box the corners in completely. Some guys on jeep forum made the comment about, even if its plates, a side impact still going to fold the corner of the bumper inward...so boxing is deffinetly happening and it'll strengthen it up quite a bit which is what I was after!

Unleashed

honestly just do a lot of research and draw up a design of what you want and i can make it happen, these are pics of some of the bumpers i found on fellow jeepers on the forum

Unleashed

ohh nvm i just understood what you wanted, yeah what your thinking is a good idea since what youll be using it for

CMMC

The gusseting is a very good idea. As far as the d-rings go, if you are going to add full length mounting brackets just do the mounts at the same time. This is what I have done: 1x3 bar stock rounded on the "front" with x size hole drilled for D-ring pin. Then take the bar stock all the way thru the bumper and mount to the frame. In your case you would want to simply weld the bar stock to your mounting brackets on all three sides. When you put the brackets into the bumper you can weld the bracket and the mounting tabs to the inside of the bumper. As a follow up weld the front side of the mounting tabs to the front of the bumper.

Hope this helps.

trust96xj

Ooo pretty.