Thanks guys. So I have some more information on the bumper, and I will answer the questions so far.



No kidding! Of course he actually drove in to the tire and pulled the fender in in the process, the bumper only got the outer edge of the mess that was his new front end. But I do think this one would just bury deeper in the scrap metal and strug it off, but I love that it is modular just in case.

Recon, to address your questions, I will start with the width. It is just a hair under 69" from edge to edge and you are right, it would stick out if the flares weren't there, but perhaps not as much as it looks. Remember a camera is going to see something that is closer as wider. An image like this...

...looks like it sticks out significantly. However, if I move back and use a more telephoto type lens with a narrower angle of view, and I get down to look at the bumper more head on...

That's a bit better.

In fact, it only sticks out on the side I was hit on by about a quarter of an inch. For some reason, I just can't quite get the fender to be perfectly straight and it curves in a bit as you can see here.

As compared to the other side. Ignore the tires since the wheel is turned a bit, but you will notice you can see the back half of the flare in the photo above while you can't here. Proportionally, the camera is in the exact same place on both sides.


The most important change from the photos I posted last night though (besides the fact that it is all primered and clean now) is the "fill" pieces I made. It was surprising to me that the center section actually has a gental curve on the back side that darn near exactly follows the body of the Monty. That's strange because pre-2009 Wranglers always had straight bumpers, and the 2009+'s at least still LOOK like the grill is straight too. No matter there, but the ends are meant to fall in line with the Wrangler's fenders which are definitely straight. Here you can see the gap this leaves between the sheet metal/fender flare and the bumper. I could not deal with that.


I found with the bumper on for a few weeks that besides looking tacky, this allowed a large wave to wash over the hood and directly onto the windsheild if a puddle had more than an inch of water so it had to be filled. What I did was take some 16 guage sheet (I wanted to save weight and if the bumper were to ever break it's mount, I don't want it to rip the lights off like the ARBs are known to), created a template based off the shape of the plastic stock bumper bits, and then created two bends to match the bumper's angles. Here's what the fill looks like from above.



Again on the right side, you can see how my slightly curved fender means my perfectly sculpted cuts on the fill piece don't quite line up and the fill sticks out about a quarter inch from the fender flair despite being the exact same distance from the truck's mid-line. This is what the fill pieces look like from the side.

And a couple of other angles....



When it comes to the skid plate, it's mostly laziness that it isn't on there in these photos. The stock one fits just fine as this test fitting photo and one other before show..
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v605/HUM469/Montero/DSC05043.jpg[/img]
But since I still have some work to do up under there, I haven't chosen to bolt it on yet.

One task I still need to do is to find some stock JK fog lights for the light holes. They use a rather weird mounting design that simply won't work with anything else, but I can't seem to find any that anyone will actually sell me right now. Also, I need to make some reinforcing plates for the back side of the bumper where the big D-rings (one is loosely attached in a couple of photos) bolt on. On a JK, they would bolt through the bumper and the frame ends. Since we don't have frame ends like that, right now it would just be the 1/4 inch (I think) plate steel of the bumper. I want some big, beefy plates to make sure the bumper doesn't deform if I really pull on them. Once the D-rings are on, then I plan to cut the stock tow hooks off so they stop getting caught on rocks when the going gets rough, then re-paint the frame. Oh, and I still have to run the hoses for the head light washers as well. They are on the bumper, but not hooked up until I drill a couple more holes.

Yes it is too bad the hoop doesn't have tabs, but that's easy enough to add once I know which lights, how many, and where I want to put the lights. I need to decide on a winch first to know how tall it might stand. I have two 4" generic HID's right now that I could use but I am not sold. I bought them before I got the bumper assuming they could go in the holes. A 4" light should fit in a hole ment for a 4" light, right? Jeep apparently exaggerates a bit because their "4 in. fog lights' are really 3 7/8ths overall with a 3.5" reflector. Then the question is with lights in the holes, how many might I really need on the bar anyway? This is one of the two 4" I have back when I still thought it would go in the bumper just above the skid plate...
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v605/HUM469/Montero/DSC04677.jpg[/img]

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, but here's at least one photo that shows the bumper and the sliders too!
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v605/HUM469/Montero/DSC00813.jpg[/img]

Obviously I still need to paint them too. The plan is/was to have the bumper, sliders, skid plates, and all the grey plastic body armor painted with a grey tinted bedliner material. Unfortunately, the school that was going to do it for really cheap wasn't able to fit me in before the end of the school year. Now I might have to wait till the fall if I don't come up with another way or change my mind. I guess time will tell there....

It's late already, if anyone is interested, I can talk a bit more about other smaller things tomorrow. Or there's another big project I am plotting for some time in the not too distant future... I hope! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cyclops.gif" alt="" />