Damn Aaron, that second one does look really heavy. Looks like you could make your own trails with that thing. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

Retractable lights eh? Wondering how you could set that up.

I'd go with the first one, but taper off the ends of the bumper. I'm probably going to go with something like that minus the push bar part, don't think I can get a hold of plate that thick, by the way, how thick are those verticle push bar plates drawn?

I'll try to find a pic of the type I want to build.

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />
well....the second one if solid metal would be roughly 2,000 lbs--assuming carbon steel
If i was to make it out of aluminum how thick would it need to be?

on the first design i made the verticle part wayyyy too thick, its an inch in that pic, lol
The first design would be like 125lbs at 1/8" thick carbon steel and winch installed
The second design would be 300lbs at 1/8" thick carbon steel with winch and the lights...
Should i just go with less thick steel?
Never made anything that i planned to build before, so i i'm basically <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

what should my max weight be if i were to use the second bumper? how much weight should i chop off?
thanks

125 lbs. with winch? How much does your winch weigh? That seems really low to me.

I like the look of that first design. I have no experience making bumpers/winch mounts so take this for what it's worth. I'd make the support structure and any parts under load when winching from 3/16". Other parts I'd try to use thinner (probably 1/8") to save weight.

I wouldn't worry about the fairlead mount being on an angle.

You most definitely do not need that many rock lights. I would not integrate them with the bumper. I use cheapie rubber housing tractor lights from the auto parts store, two in front shining down/frontish, two behind the front wheels shining back. PLENTY of light. Darn nice for camp at oh-dark-thirty in elk season too. You can see but are not blinded.

I also use two for reverse light enhancement. Handy.

With that many lights I hope you are doing a serious alternator upgrade as part of this...

Go minimalist on the bumper. Bigger is not better.

oops, sorry it was 100-125 w/o winch, typo

i was planning on running a second battery because of the winch and all the lights, and i'll look into upgrading the alt. as well

You might consider LED lights. Pretty amazing performance for low current draw. I don't have a source though.

well i'll have to look into LED's, but if memory serves they are expensive. I'd rather just run another battery with cheapies and--if needed-get a beefy alt.

I doubt occasion will rise when all the lights, winch, etc. are run at the same time.

I'm pretty sure i'm going to go with my second design, i'm just going to be much more careful about the material i use and maybe do minor mods to its look, but its pretty much where i want it. I'm going to be taking a strength of materials class in the fall, so after that i should be able to Really figger out how thick and strong i'll have to make the bumper.

As for now, i'm considering going with 1/16 steel and then maybe doing some interior gussets and other strengthening simply from its design....but we'll see

I'll keep updates when i get designs for my sliders and rear bumper!
<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Oh, i was also thinking of how to get the lights to retract up and down. I was thinking i could do it by air-pressure, kinda like how some of the older cars did the headlight covers.....but i'm not sure if that would be the way to go (leaks and such). I've also thought about maybe a little electric motor to run it up and down, but don't know where i'd find them, and if so, how much. Theres also the option of just manually doing it with a pin or 2, altho thats much less extravagent, cool, and wayyyy to easy <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />
if you can think of something i havn't, it would be much appreciated!
<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Raising the lights, hmmm...

Take a magician with you? he can levitate them for yah.

Or maybe throw a fishing pole out the window, hook em and real em up.

Mouse in a wheel and some cheese?

I'd probably put them all on one mount thats on a small track or something similar so that they all rise together and you only need one raising device whatever that would end up being to raise them all up. I think this is going to take up a lot of room though

I would add some side bars similar to the ARB's Bull Bars to protect the headlights and marker lights. On this Bumper I wrapped the tube around the side, for better protection.

For steel 1/16 standard mild steel would be too weak IMO, if you want to stay on the thin side go with 3/32 steel diamond plate with some internal gussets to stiffen/support it. If you want a smooth look you can reverse the d-plate, that is what I did for this '86 Bumper , the d-plate does leave an impression on the back side, but a little filler will smooth the stamps out. The '86 bumper came in at about 100lbs, and that is with an internal frame. The one I am currently building for my '91 weighs only 46lbs, I still have the bars and a stinger to add, though I expect the weight to come in under 80lbs.

Aluminum diamond plate will be expensive, I spent about $200 in 5/32 aluminum d-plate alone for '90's bumper , while the '86's only cost me $100 for everyting.

I would design the winch cradle seperatly from the bumper, you would install the winch first and then the bumper around it. The winch cradle and D-ring mounts would be connected to the frame, then the bumper could be attatched to the cradle. This would allow you to use the a small amount of heavy guage steel for the cradle, and the thinner steel for the rest of the bumper. This would also ease in the design/fabrication and installation process, as well as making it easy to repair any damage to the bumper.

To reduce weight, you might consider tapering the bumper with a rolled edge, it will give you the strength of complete sides w/o the weight.