RockSolidOff-Road

Well I posted some pictures on my rig's build thread but I figured I should put them all together in a bumper build thread since my rear bumper build got so much love.

So here we go:




Mocking up the winch height and depth to get it tucked in as tight as I can.








Mounting plates run back a ways to catch as many bolt holes as possible. The bumper itself sandwiches these brackets with (4) 1/2" bolts on each side as well as the front mounting tabs on the Jeep itself. If you look at the picture on the saw horses later you can see all the bracing inside and how the recovery tabs actually come back and catch the two top bolts on each side also. Tabs are just like the rear. 3/8" x 2" bar double up and welded together. Half is welded into the bumper structure and the other half runs long to catch the bolts.











There was a point where I was concerned I had added too many angles but it all smoothed out pretty well in the end.





I had this piece laying in the shop since I bought the bender a couple years ago so I mocked it up as a mini stinger. Just didn't suit me so I added the flat top push bar instead. I'll have a better place to mount lights if I ever decide to do an LED bar. Still conflicted on those. I'm an old school round light guy and though I know they are awesome I just don't like the looks of a bar. Wheeling in the thick wooded trails around here doesn't call for much light anyway. Just makes the trees brighter and blinds you.


















As always there are things I would change here and there but overall I think it turned out pretty much as planned. It gives me a little more tire clearance without being overly bulky or sticking way out for the winch to fit into it.

HS00XJ

Great looking bumper and high quality skills man. I like that its different than all the other ones out there. Good call on the stinger too.

RockSolidOff-Road

Thank you! With 31 years of people building bumpers for XJs it's hard to come up with something different that isn't just some off the wall goofy looking thing. Like my rear bumper it is very similar to some others but has it's own unique details.

Yeah, the stinger was just wrong. I had cut it to fit and tacked it in place to get a better look but it just didn't fit for me. To me a stinger is a go big or nothing type of thing that has a purpose on a comp rig but I don't plan on standing on my nose any time soon. At least I hope.

HS00XJ

yeah comp rigs or bees only.lol

RockSolidOff-Road

Oh boy, I must be having a bad day. It took me a minute get the bee reference.

I guess I've gotten so used to people misspelling words I was just sitting here trying to figure out what kind of rig you could have possibly been talking about. lol

INYAXJ

Awesome bar and it gives me motivation to build a new replacement bar for the XJ-Tourer.

I knocked up this bar for my old XJ-Wheeler and it now looks out of place on this my Tourer tho locked and lifted it goes everywhere the old truck did

RockSolidOff-Road

Hard to see the front bumper in that picture but I like the rest. Guessing by tourer you're going for more the expedition style?

I'm still torn on the expo design. Being an old cabinet maker I'd love to build out the back of the rig with a full on expo setup but I hate the thoughts of breaking down camp to go wheeling everyday.

I have an off road trailer I built a couple years ago to go with my TJ. It works but as always I have a lot more in mind and I would like to maybe sell that one and build a whole new trailer.

Of course the wife says something about building a new kitchen in the house before a kitchen for the rig so....

INYAXJ

Hey Herb, that's a nice little setup you have there......... LoL, I always say life gets in the way of my Jeeping so it sounds like the little lady is getting a new kitchen then. The last time the boss wanted a new kitchen I had to build a new house..... Ouch that hurt.

Here's another pic or three when it was on the old truck





And here's the Tourer again.......This MY01 Classic only cost me $800 with an engine knock so swapped running gear'n'diffs out of blue truck. As you can see from first pic I've had a few update XJ's(seven so far) because they are so cheap if there is problems like blown motor or auto etc

Because I only wanted a sit on top winch mount (whole bar is made out of 1/4" flat & I plasma cut everything to suit) I needed easy access to service the winch but now I'm not wheeling it hard anymore your design is far nicer setup. What thickness sheet did you use?
Here in Australia the fun police don't much like my bar setup so I need a more police friendly look.

RockSolidOff-Road

Dude. You know your steering is on backwards man! I'm guessing you're not from around here.

I thought I could make out that shape in the shadows but I couldn't tell for sure. Doesn't look too bad on the new one. Obviously I like the lines a little lower. Are you planning on a new one for the rear or just leaving it "stockish"?

Last time I built her a new kitchen we moved 300 mile away two months afterwards. Basically did it to sell the house. She was actually interviewing for her job here while I installed the cabinets. After being a contractor/cabinet maker for almost ten years and building some beautiful kitchens and bathrooms all over town my house, of course, is still mostly stuck in 1985. The cobbler's children have no shoes as they say.

She's into wheeling too so I get a bit of a pass on building the rig but the camping/expo thing is all me. We have opposing views on what is camping. lol. I'd like to make somewhat of a mini camper style trailer. Kind of a hybrid pop-up type. Just big enough for my gear and a place to sleep. Hang a kitchen off the side under an awning and we're good. She'd prefer a 36' fifth wheel toy hauler looking like home inside with the Jeep in the back.

INYAXJ

So right there Herb,steering is on the other side....I edited my last post and added more info but yes I will be knocking up a new rear bar when I have a spare day up my sleeve. I built new Rocksliders soon after I got it on the road and twelve months later still haven't fitted them.

Most of my time goes working on CJ's & a MB but I'm planning a big trip soon for the XJ so he needs some loving

Cheers,

AL

RockSolidOff-Road

OK, I see your edit. Makes more sense now. I figured either Australia or UK by the language. You know "knocking up" has whole different meaning here right? Just messing with you.

I just rebuilt my old sliders from an Xterra project I did last year just to avoid bending the tube again. In the end all the cutting and reworking I probably could have made them from scratch again just as easy.

Thanks. I wanted to keep the grill open and tuck the winch in tight. It's also good theft protection.

It's all 3/16" thick. I added some 1/4" angle in the back to form the ramp in the middle and support the back end where the winch bolts through and as I said the recovery points are doubled up 3/8" flat.

I have heard bad things about your fun police. Surprised you're even lifted.

INYAXJ

LoL......Yeah "knocked her up" and "knocking up" have the same meaning here too, we're creating something, just one takes longer to get a result tho some of my builds seam to take longer than having a baby

I checked out the rear bar pic's and is very well built. Our law's don't allow that setup for towbars. Our problem is freight from the US has got crazy in the last few years or we would ship bar work etc over here......What we get mad at, we can import an Australian made ARB air lockers heaps cheaper including freight/$$$ exchange rate from the US than we can by from ARB shops here......
Rock Auto is our saviour at helping us keep our Jeeps affordable and on the road.

Yep my lift is a bit out there Herb but hey it's all about smoke'n'mirrors and trying to hide how big the XJ really is. It's a bit harder to hide the CJ6 when a 6'6" cop has to look up at you.

Sorry Herb, I seam to have hijacked your build thread.......Keep up the great work and good luck with that kitchen

RockSolidOff-Road

No big deal. Kind of fun chatting with someone on the other side of the world.

That's crazy about the ARB stuff. We've only been shipping to the US so far but if there is anything you want I can get a quote to ship it out to you.

I was on a Rock Auto kick for a while too but the last few orders I got were the wrong parts. They were just small stuff so kept them and went to the local parts store (where I should have just gone to start with) and picked up what I needed. Can't imagine having to go through shipping and customs then find out it's not right after all.

Need to stop spending all my money on the XJ and sell more parts to other people before the kitchen gets done but it's coming.

INYAXJ

Thanks for the offer Herb. Yeah it is cool talking to Jeepers on the other side of the world.

I dream one day of getting over there to wheel the Rubicon Trail and go to Easter Jeep Safari at Moab but hey its probably only ever be a dream lol

I can't wait to see more of your fabrication on the XJ.

AL

RockSolidOff-Road

Those two are on my bucket list too. I'm not nearly as far off as you at only 2 to 3,000 miles away but it's still a tough trip. Of course I can claim it as a business trip now so that makes it a little more doable. Hopefully soon.