Tubular winch bumper, home build.

[makeitfit]

Started to think about a winch bumper for the trol at the weekend and was suitably horrified at how much it would cost :icon_bonk:
So I'll make my own, again, how hard can it be ? :confused:
Sketched a few ideas on the back of a bill :rolleyes:
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121001_183355.jpg
Then got some measurements off the old girl's undercarriage :smile:
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20120930_142909.jpg
I just want it to be as strong as possible and also not too bulky. I will land on it, shift trees with it and generally abuse it :fish:
So back to the garage to cut up some ply as a mock up and got this far.
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121001_164846.jpg
Box bit will be trimmed down lots yet. The tube bits are cut at the angle I want to protect the front of the wing. It'll be supported from below and behind to get plenty of fixing points and therefore strength
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121001_164835.jpg
Plastic pipe here but will be straight, honest. Handy holes in the chassis for fixing points.
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121001_164818.jpg
Base for the winch tray is to be 5mm steel and being bent now in the black smiths :clapping: The tube part will also be 60mm and 3mm wall .
I'll put some update shots tomorrow :gday:

[NissanGQ4.2]

Good luck with the built mate, just remember lotsa pics :)

Just moved your thread into the DIY Bar Work section of the forum

Cheers

Todd

[threedogs]

Try to think triangle all the time, this style bar is popular here on Comp 4x4's.
May I suggest you make the winch section seperate from the side wings.
If you go as hard as you say hitting trees etc, the outer wings bend very easy.
make it so they bolt on, your 4by will never looked trashed, maybe laser cut
some plate and make a jig for the wings, so they're all the same. Use thick
walled steam pipe if availabe.

Wouldn't waste my money on seamless pipe.

[makeitfit]

Top idea, thanks for the advice.I'll weld up a plate on the end of the tube part me thinks ;)

[threedogs]

Yeah its hard to make the wings really sturdy, thats the tri angle theme. while you have it off make a plate to slide up the inside of chassis with nuts welded on to pick up the three holes on passenger side so you can fit a recovery plate see my vendor thread. or some M40 eye bolts as front recovery point, eye bolts would be more versitile, bigger the better but pricey. keep us updated. theres a small slide plate for the trailing arms as well, but talk about that later eh

[makeitfit]

Got a bit further today with the winch tray part. All folded as I wanted it so time for some welding and trimming :tongue:
Dry fit ready for trimming
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121006_132112.jpg
You can see here roughly how far out it'll be , didn't want to reduce my approach angle any :trink13:
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121006_132127.jpg
Decided to put an extra fillet in for a bit more strength and help support the bolt on tube bits to come.
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121006_173743.jpg
All was going so well and then the bloody welder packed up :1087: arse..............
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121006_173800.jpg
So I'll have to investigate the welder's innards tomorrow damn it.............................:frown:

[threedogs]

Where it bolts to the chassis rail are you beefing up your winch box, also need decent plate up inside chassis?.
Down under we make them from 10mm, 12mm plate. are you fitting a low or high mount.
Looks great by the way, just not what I see here thats all, It all depends how strong this "BOX" is bolted
between the chassis. what style of welder is it ,ARC, MIG,??? coming along nicely Bud, keep the pics coming
only zinc coated, grade 8 bolts too

Drain holes ????? or slots make it lighter as well

Looks like a bit of rust on the chassis that requires attention too, or just mud?

[makeitfit]

Yeh cheers for that. Low mount winch, only a 12,000 lb jobbie, not winch challenge stylee lol I'm making an other piece of steel box to fit inside the chassis rails with welded on nuts. So there'll be 6 big ass bolts holding the tray bit on, same as the old pig tail ones. The box bit in the chassis will have the recovery swivels mounted in them and then bolted on the outside of the chassis too. The under side of the tray will be cut some more for drainage.
Chassis rails are a bit surface rusty and on the ever increasing list of to doooos :/
Mig welder.
My last winch bumper was 6mm and seemed to do ok but will look at some more strengthning on your advice, ta.
I'm using stainless bolts.

[threedogs]

Alls Good , for the drain holes. mark out a pattern with dividers centre punch drill then countersink a touch.
Looks more than strong enough all gunna be how this "box" is mounted, she''ll be right

[makeitfit]

Alls Good , for the drain holes. mark out a pattern with dividers centre punch drill then countersink a touch.
Looks more than strong enough all gunna be how this "box" is mounted, she''ll be right

You're obviously the man in the know on this stuff :)
I want to fit these swivel recovery points into the chassis ends, what are your suggestions ? Polite please lol
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Recovery-swivel-eyes-for-bumpers-and-recovery-/320511271887?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4a9ff5e3cf
Cheers Pete :)

[nismo404]

Nice looking bar mate, hope to build one similar when i get the time. Hopefully a similar design will work around the pto.

[threedogs]

All your strength is centred on the 'winch box' , they are very pricey for what they, Have you thought about M24 eye bolts/nuts. that other one doesn't look like it's designed to be used from all angles, have a good look you'll see what I mean. pic is M24 I used to use in tow hitch

[makeitfit]

Ha ha the rain has stopped for ten mins ," quick to the bat cave robin "
Started to work out the triangulation bit today and rough welded the tube bits to their mounting plates. Thanks for the advice on that :thumbup:
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121016_104021.jpg
G clamped in place for the mo while I work out the lengths and bends of the support bits.
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121016_104426.jpg
Going to bolt on this under support to the chassis just below the body mount.
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121016_110251.jpg
Then on the rear of the tube I'm going to fix to the chassis just in front of the steering box holes. There's a convenient hole that was used by the rubber door mat stuff. I'll open that up a bit for nice big bolts.
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121016_110311.jpg
Here's a side view so you can see how little it protrudes, trying to keep approach angle as good as poss :)
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121016_110334.jpg
So off for some more weldin' and a bendin' :devilred:

[makeitfit]

Saturday is grinding day :confused: I spent many happy hours on Sat grinding down the welds on the winch tray to a smooooooth finish :eck05:
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121020_130142.jpg
The winch tray will be bolted to existing holes in the chassis. They were M14 but I've decided to go M16 just to be sure it all stays put. 3 per side :biggrin:
As the tubular bits are to be bolted on aswell I needed to drill a lot of holes . Never mind I know a man with some proper man tools :bananadancing: So I got to borrow this "Magna Drill" (top work Wallace)
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121020_150727.jpg
With the tray bolted onto the chassis I then marked out the tubular bits on the tray so I could drill that too and got this done :clapping:
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121022_152919.jpg
Triangulation next so got some tube to bolt under and behind the bar so making a pretty strong set up I reckon :animierte-smilies-t
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121022_152950.jpg
I've got some more hammering to get everything fitting nicely but you get the drift
Just waiting for the fairlead to arrive now so I can cut the hole in the front of the tray, then get the whole lot galvanized :p
Going to make one for the back now :devilred:

[makeitfit]

I found I couldn't get decent fixing for the lower tube strut :(
So had a couple of inserts made and then I drilled and tapped them sideways, soI can get a bolt through the chassis tiedown bit just below the front body mount :)
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121025_112139.jpg
I'll do a puddle weld in the holes next to stop them twisting or pulling out, that'll fix it :animierte-smilies-t

[threedogs]

When you've finished with that drill my addressis 55 ,,,,,? LOL
Where you hammered and bent the smaller pipe, would it have been easier to bolt a plate to chassais
then weld pipe to plate, just doesn't look right IMO sorry. Also can you buy elbows to weld on the end of the wings.
might look ok ?? I'll put drawing here later of what I mean, Whats this when it stops raining bit. really its the UK

Just read you are making a rear one, over here you can but a cradle that slips into class2 hitch receiver or towbar

[makeitfit]

Yeh I know what you mean :/ I think I'd gone down one route and couldn't do it the way I 1st thought. Then found a solution in the small hours lol
"Eyebrows" ??

[threedogs]

Just another comment , can you move the lot forward so those "wings angle back slightly" , If you hit something {TREE} you're more likely to glance off it
with some kind of angle instead of straight across the front

[makeitfit]

I did have them at an angle originally on my mock up, and you're right , it would glance off. I brought them back though because most of the time I find the approach angle more important where I go offroading. That's why I went for a bigger bit of tube behind and bolted to the chassis. It's a pay off ;)

[threedogs]

great not sure how your 4x4ing was. but you know better than me. should be finished soon eh lol

[makeitfit]

Aye. Winch should be here Monday, then I can do the final holes for the base and fairlead. Then it's off to the galvanizer ;)

[makeitfit]

Been a while but stuff happened :p
Any road up had a day of light spannering today and only one hour of rain, result : :1056:
One winch tray bolted an fitted in final position. I had to rotate the gearbox one bolt hole to get the clutch lever to work without cutting the truck ;)
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121201_115910.jpg
Smiley tubes and lower struts in too
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121201_144641.jpg
What overhang :o my approach angle is better than it was with the stock bumper :devilred:
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121201_144714.jpg
Here you can just see the rear strut too. This will help stop the bar moving backwards if I hit a tree again ! Bit over exposed :p
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121201_144727.jpg
Not as pretty as you guys can do for sure but then 180 of your dollars is all it's cost me :Yahoo!:
Wiring and testing next then off again for powder coating ;)

[makeitfit]

Got round to wiring up the winch at last today :smile: Several hours in a row with no rain :animierte-smilies-t
Oiked out the old air box ( now redundant with the snorkel) to make a luverly spot for the solenoid ;)
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121208_105944.jpg
Had a little rearranging to do in order to get the solenoid high enough . Lengthened all the cables from the winch and heat sealed the ends up :1056: All ends greased up now too :o
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/20121208_124614.jpg
Off to test tomorrow, should find some landies stuck in the mud somewhere lol

[happygu]

Love your work, as you will have awesome approach angle.......but i'm not sure the bar is gonna help if you hit a tree, as your side arms won't take much to bend in. I would look at gussets for extra strength.

Just keep it out of the trees and no-one will be able to stop you.

[threedogs]

Coming along nicely, instead of GAL have you looked at zinc plating, looks same , but may be cheaper price wise.
great approach angle mate, well done

Don't think the cord holding the battery in went un noticed either, make a poper bracket eh

[makeitfit]

Coming along nicely, instead of GAL have you looked at zinc plating, looks same , but may be cheaper price wise.
great approach angle mate, well done

Don't think the cord holding the battery in went un noticed either, make a poper bracket eh
Ha ha that was a bit of bailer twine only a few weeks back lol Bracket on the way ................................... next week ;)

[red_spider]

looks good champ :)

[makeitfit]

Cheers mate, just gotta get round to finishing it now lol. Maybe after crimbo :)

[makeitfit]

A little update for you guys. I got round to the final fit (for now) :biggrin:
Didn't get it zinced yet as I'm doing one for the back too and so will do them both at the same time.
So in the mean time I etch primed it and sprayed it with Hamerite metal look paint. pretty tough for the short term :icon_bonk:
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/Snow%20day%204x4/20130119_163309-1.jpg
It seems to have survived our recent snow drift challenge :devilred:
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv36/daudwpsyn/Snow%20day%204x4/Snowday4x4jpg45.jpg

[threedogs]

Looking good Buddy, funny what a coat of paint will do,
you can get plastic plugs for the end of the bar.
My BFF needed them for aircraft industry, ended up
that Hayman-Reese a towbar company made them.
Or you could get a piece of polyblock turned up.???

[makeitfit]

Good thinking on the polyblock, I guess it's a kind of nylon bar ?

[threedogs]

Yes we use it here for body lift blocks but anything would do even mild steel,
nice tight fit and tap in with hammer or tack weld on, your call even alloy,
depends what you can get your hands on cheap.
Here poly block comes in different strengths. You may find a leaf spring bush is the right size?

[Nmcswan]

Can't wait to see the finished bar.

Edit: missed a page :/

That looks really nice mate, especially.for $180.

[04OFF]

Nice one , the centre bit looks like quite a brilliant bit of engineering, very pro indeed :clapping:

Id like to see what it looks like if you painted the chassis rails at the very front in black as well.





BTW, Do you realise you have your left front tyre on the wrong way around ?

[threedogs]

Where we up to, Should be finished now I would think..
OR are you building version "B" ???

[makeitfit]

Nice one , the centre bit looks like quite a brilliant bit of engineering, very pro indeed :clapping:

Id like to see what it looks like if you painted the chassis rails at the very front in black as well.





BTW, Do you realise you have your left front tyre on the wrong way around ?
Hi thanks for that, yes the tyre was the wrong way round as the original one that was the right way round, suffered a nasty case of rock rash :/
All changed back again now ;)

[makeitfit]

Where we up to, Should be finished now I would think..
OR are you building version "B" ???

It's still the same sorry :/ I've got a load of jobs on at once , especially the axle swap ;) Changing to Y61 axles and bracing front axle, and making new trailing arms etc.
Doing a body chop and still sorting the superchargr job ??
There'll be a big update next month ....................................ta for your input by the way :)

[threedogs]

Heres an idea for you where the trailing arms attach to the chassis weld some RHS 45'd to act as a mini slider.
So instead of getting hung up on this point you tend to slide past it, great in rocky terrain. another 2cW lol

[makeitfit]

That's what I love about this site, as soon as I think I've sorted my "to do list", another good idea comes along .
Cheers for that, it's on the list, page 12 I think lol

[jmk]

Just about to begin my own winch bumber build and just wondering if you have the measurements for chassis beams lying somewhere there. How much is the gap between them etc.
I'm working on to build a one that looks more like Warns winch bumper due to the forest and kind of hazardous terrain for lights. As i bought the car last weekend (a week ago) it has already brought down one medium size birch on the way with the oem plate covered bumperlike thing.

My goal is to provide good spot where to attach the front undercarriage shields.

Btw, loved the tubular design and it is really lightweight. One thing I stopped wondering, don't you guys have any sheds or garages there in UK as you had to avoid the rain :D?!

[mandrake]

Great handiwork mate cheers

[wannabeturboed]

Lets dig this one up have you got pics of finished front and rear bars love the compact look of the front bar

[makeitfit]

Lets dig this one up have you got pics of finished front and rear bars love the compact look of the front bar
Sorry for the late reply but been a busy year at sailing comps and other projects :(
In short, no lol
I'm all fired up again now though as Autumn approaches and offroad season looms :)
Major works afoot at the mo and will update soon.
Cheers

[MonsterGQ]

That's a nice bar, good work.

[Majestic]

I'm using stainless bolts.

How did the stainless bolts hold up?

I used to build trains for a living, the Oscars in Sydney, and we were always snapping them. While stainless is rust resistant and strong the bolts seemed to snap a lot compared to high tensile steel bolts.