skydyvyr

Well, I really liked the Durango4x4 full width bumper, but I wanted integrated factory fogs -- since it isn't an available option, I decided to take matters into my own hands. The following write-up shows what I did.

I hope that Durango4x4 doesn't mind my borrowing their stock image -- I forgot to take a complete before picture, so I thought I would borrow theirs.

Before I go any further let me just say that the Durango4x4 bumper is extremely well built. The fit and finish are wonderful -- I wouldn't hesitate to purchase this bumper again. As you will see in some of my pictures below, this bumper is not just a shell, it has very stout cross bracing inside.

Now, on to the write-up:

When I first saw the bumper and after I ordered it, I felt that it would look better with factory fogs built in as opposed to mounted on top. In the picture below you can see the locations that I thought fogs would look good.



This picture is taken looking at one side of the bumper from the backside. After fitting the Bumper to my rig, I determined that there was not sufficient space to mount the factory fogs in my preferred location, so I decided to mount them in the 'wing' area.



In the following image you can see the backside of the bumper and the 4" pipe that I used to create tunnels/collars/mounting locations for the factory fogs.



Once I determined that the fogs would have to go in the wings, I used the pipe as a sort of template to mark the location for the hole. The factory fogs have mounting tabs on either side that extend 5/8" to 3/4" from the light, so I made sure to leave clearance for them next to the internal bracing. This required marking the hole from the back. This was difficult because there is limited space back there and with all the angles in the bumper I had to hold the pipe back somewhat and guesstimate as I marked the bumper. I decided to mark the circle a little small just in case -- you can always cut more away, but adding material is a real pain. Below is a picture of the the mark inside the bumper. The "Pilot Holes" were drilled with a 1/8" bit as a guide so the marks could be easily transferred to the front of the bumper. It would have been too difficult to try to cut the holes from the inside.



Using the pipe and the pilot holes, the marks were transferred to the front of the bumper. I made sure that the pipe was square with the center face of the bumper, so the fog lights would mount parallel to that face, rather than one of the other angles.



Once I was comfortable with the marks, the plasma cutter came out and the cutting began. Here's a picture of the hole after enough material was removed so that the 4" pipe fit with sufficient clearance.



After hole in the bumper was complete it was time to mark and cut the collar from the 4" pipe that would support the factory fog. To the mark was made by holding the pipe in the hole, perpendicular to the center face of the bumper and tracing the perimeter of the hole onto the pipe. The pipe was then cut with a cutoff wheel keeping the scrap piece to mark the other side of the bumper. Below is a picture of the marked collar.



Here is a picture of the collar after it was cut sitting next to the hole. the picture is marked to show where about 5/8" was added to the perimeter of the collar. It turned out that the fogs wouldn't fit inside the 4" pipe. Adding 5/8" made everything fit perfectly. Note that the additional piece was added to the top of the collar (only visible if you are looking up at the fog lights) and that the ugly welds were cleaned up after the collar was mounted to the bumper.



Once the collar was cut, the scrap worked well to mark the other side from the front. Here is a picture of the scrap being lined up to mark the second fog light hole. A couple simple measurements was all that was needed to line the template up correctly (so it would match the other side). Of course it was important to make sure that the template was perpendicular to the center face.



After marking the second hole, it was cut, the collar was cut and expanded and everything was checked for fit.

The next step was to add tabs to the collar so that the fog lights could be mounted. to find the correct tab location, the collars were slipped on the lights and placed in position within the bumper. The lights were rotated until the vertical lines in the reflectors were parallel to the vertical edge of the center face of the bumper. Below is a picture of my simple tabs after they were welded to one of the collars.



The next task was to weld everything up, grind the welds, then sand out the grinding marks. Here are a couple of pictures of the nearly finished bumper with lights mounted. Unfortunately for a couple of them, my camera was in some sort of greyscale mode and I didn't realize it until I had already packed up the bumper for the powder coater. When I get it back, I'll update this post/thread with the final pictures.







So far, I'm very happy with how it turned out. I expect to get it back from powder coat on Tuesday or Wednesday and mount it up by the end of the week. More pictures will follow.

--Sky

JackMac4

Very cool. That really does make their bumper look even better. I liked it stock but you ought to make sure and show them your results.

sixt7gt350

That is a darned good looking bumper and your foglight mod was fantastic, as well.

'Tis a shame they're so proud of the bumper or they'd sell more.

skydyvyr

Jack,

I agree with you completely about the looks of this bumper in its stock form. I liked it a lot in the few pictures that were available (4 on Durango4x4's website) but once I saw it in person I was really impressed. So much so that I was considering not modding it and just mounting it up. I really did want the integrated fogs -- so I decided to cut them in.

It only made an outstanding bumper better. When it's done, I will share my info with Durango4x4, because they may want to offer a similar version.

Sixt7gt350,

To some degree I also share your feelings except when I remember that the other bumpers I was considering were the ARB, AEV and FabFours. On the ARB, I didn't care for the integrated turn signals (the rectangular shape didn't match with every other round light on the front of the vehicle) and priced with fog cutouts it is still $100 more than this one. Both AEV and FabFours sell for nearly $500 more than the Durango4x4. You can't really compare this bumper to the stubby offerings that are out there as there is probably twice as much steel and probably 3 times the labor to get it built.

With just that considered, I'd say the Durango4x4 bumper is a good deal, and now that I have it and its build quality I'd say it's a great deal.

The Powder Coating guy is picking it up today and should have it back tomorrow (Had I thought that I was going to have it powder coated when I ordered it, I'd have asked Durango for a bare steel cost -- I probably could have saved $100). On Wednesday I'll mount it. I can hardly wait.

One other comment -- In the pictures, I didn't particularly care for the Bear claw scratches on the bottom of the bumper. In real life, they don't look so bizarre. Actually they have grown on me and I like them, they add character and dimension to an otherwise blocky area of the bumper. When I ordered the bumper (knowing that I was going to cut fogs in anyway) I figured I'd plug the scratches while I was doing all the welding, after seeing it all, I wanted to keep them. Essentially something that I thought was a negative about this bumper when I ordered it became a positive once I saw it in person.

I hope this post doesn't sound too much like an Ad for Durango4x4, but if it does, please understand that I am not affiliated with them in any way except as a very satisfied customer (who will buy again as soon as the rear bumper and swing away tire carrier are available)

--Sky

durango4x4

Sky,
Great write-up and even better workmanship, we've been kicking around the fog light idea for awhile and you essentially hit the nail on the head. Although we aren't affiliated with you we certainly appreciate your passion . I'm fairly positive the first time we found you or vice versa was on this forum. This thread speaks highly of you and your pride for the industry to not only complete the work for yourself but to then share it with the rest of the community. We are very proud of our products and designs but always are looking for "what the customer wants." Thanks again,
Mike

trev0006

Thanks for the instructions, we will be doing this project in March, when I have some time.

JK-UTE

Sky, very nice compliment from Durango 4x4 and great work. Looks wicked good.