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My new front bumper

joediveguy

Member
239
2
18
Location
Front Royal, Northern VA
Finally got my new bumper back and everything about it is overkill, but it is awesome!!! This thing will outlast the truck. Uprights are 5/8 cold rolled steel and everything else is ¼ inch steel plating. I found a guy here in Northern Virginia that runs his own fabrication shop and has a huge automatic plasma cutter in his shop. The cost was about half of what they commercially sell for and it is twice as stout! He has the plans programmed into his plasma cutter and can curn out more if anyone is interested. He is a very nice guy and had me up to his shop a couple times a week to check the progress and make sure everything was to my liking before the final welds were done. It took about three weeks, only because he had a ton of other stuff going on. He said normally it would have only taken about a week. He is very accommodating and can customize anything to the bumper you want. He charged me $700 and gave me a lifetime warranty! Shipping would be prohibitive as it weighs in at between 200 & 300lbs! If anyone on the East coast needs a heavy duty bumper or metal fabrication work, PM me and I will give you his info.
I currently have him fabricating new brackets so I can mount a Oh08 rear bumper onto my Oh09.
 

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zout

In Memorial
In Memorial
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Very professionaly done - he did a great job and very asthetic to the appearance to the truck. You'll also enjoy that 24v Warn Winch as well.

Are you going to paint it OD or leave it black ? just asking.
 

joediveguy

Member
239
2
18
Location
Front Royal, Northern VA
Thanks, he did a real nice job and the welds are a whole lot better than I could ever do!


I am going to leave it black for now. I like how it matches my Safari rack. I plan on having it Linex'ed in the spring.

Next I need to wire up that winch!
 

biggestc69

Member
228
1
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Location
Council Grove KS
Nice! Its built for stout and he left ya plenty of room to get to the winch. Yours has the only thing I didnt do with mine that I wish I did and thats mount some internal lights.
 

stranger75

Member
91
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6
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Nashville, TN
I would be interested in buying the brackets to fit an 08 bumper onto an 09. Could you share with us what that would cost? surely shipping would be more reasonable for something that size.
 

Danger Ranger

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Roland, IA
Overkill is underrated....

I really like that bumper. It goes well with the truck. Not that many of them do...
Is he gonna make you a matching rear bumper?
Are you going to beef up the front suspension now? Thats a decent amount of extra weight hanging out there. Like a snowplow, but permanent.
 

doghead

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It reminds me of the Frank-Tank.
 

nf6x

Feral Engineer
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Riverside, CA, USA
It looks good to me!

I've always thought it would be fun to use wood railroad ties as front and rear bumpers. Maybe even on that M1008 that is gathering dust out in my yard...
 

rickf

Well-known member
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That is a nice looking bumper but my main question is why make it so heavy? It is only as strong as the next weakest link which is the frame. The original bumper would absorb some of the impact before transferring the rest to the frame. In your case ANY impact at all will go directly to the frame and the frame WILL bend, it is designed to. It will bend at a point right at the front of the cab.

Rick
 

joediveguy

Member
239
2
18
Location
Front Royal, Northern VA
I would be interested in buying the brackets to fit an 08 bumper onto an 09. Could you share with us what that would cost? surely shipping would be more reasonable for something that size.

Hunting season is right around the corner so he is pretty busy right now. He is going to let me know when he has a couple of days and then I will give him the truck to fit it. I will post up once it is done. It looks simple, however, it needs a lot of bracing to support the pintle.
 

joediveguy

Member
239
2
18
Location
Front Royal, Northern VA
That is a nice looking bumper but my main question is why make it so heavy? It is only as strong as the next weakest link which is the frame. The original bumper would absorb some of the impact before transferring the rest to the frame. In your case ANY impact at all will go directly to the frame and the frame WILL bend, it is designed to. It will bend at a point right at the front of the cab.

Rick
Why build a MOAB, a 500+ HP Mustang or a 200+ mph motorcycle? Because it is cool and we can!
You do have a good point, but I don’t plan on running it in a demolition derby but if I need to nudge a vehicle, animal, Zombie,,,,,, out of the way as I am bugging out, I feel more secure behind this chunk of steel! Plus it looks cool as S&%t! We have a lot of deer running around out here and for the price, this will save me a lot of front end work if I come across one at 45mph. I took it off road yesterday and I am not lacking traction in the front that is for sure!
In hindsight, I could have saved some weight and if it looks like it is causing front end issues, I will pull it and sell it to someone that has a beefier truck and have another one made that is lighter. This will fit any 80’s to 90’s Chevy truck or Suburban. I plan on replacing the suspension parts for new heavy duty parts.
 
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