Greetings Fokion - I'm guessing that the weight will increase by about 100 pounds per end, likely less, not including the weight of a winch. The front bumper is lighter than the rear. But I've added more steel to the front than the rear so I can mount them. Once I get my Sporty back on the road, I'll know how the added weight effects the ride. The 105AA springs in the rear are pretty stiff. So the rear shouldn't be a problem. The front... guess we will see how the stock springs handle the weight.

That said, here's my update from the weekend...


I have the front almost done and was able to paint the new steel. I used Rust-oleum truck bed paint (spray), which has a textured finish. I wanted to use a durable paint. And I think that type of paint will do the job. I guess time will tell. Here's a photo of the finished paint job:





Once the paint was drying, I started on the back bumper. And that was much easier to work out than the front since my Sporty's never been damaged in the rear. I've removed the stock bumper's mounting-plates welded to the end of the frame and fabbed a set of "U" brackets that wrap around the ends of the frame (don't have any photos of it yet... but you can see some of the lower-portions of the brackets in the photos below). The "U" brackets extend up a few inches and are topped with a cross beam, to which I've attached 2 pieces of 4"x4" steel tubing (3/16" wall). The 4x4 tubes provide the mounting points for the rear bumper. I have the mount tack-welded and will pull it off to do the final welds and give it a coat of paint. Then I'll mount it up, weld it all to the frame and do some touch-up painting before the rear bumper goes on for good. And now for the pics... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />










If all goes well, I might have everything done before November 23rd and my trip to SoCal, to include the OBX diffs. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" /> But the weather is getting cooler and the rainy season is starting (had rain over the weekend and temps in the 50s... Fahrenheit). That makes it hard to weld and paint. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/angry.gif" alt="" /> But I'm making progress!!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />