I have posted before about the building of my front bumper. I am the principal of a wonderful rural high school with about 800 students. I have a welding teacher that takes his work very seriously and produces certified welders for those that are good enough to make the grade. Their current project is my front bumper. The teacher is supervising and if the weld isn't good enough they do it again. I am over building this bumper and I am the only one that has to like it but I wanted to share the build with my JK friends. It is similar to a Shrockworks type. I don't know exactly how they make theirs but I like the style. I used a diamond plate to make it easier for any flaws be less noticeable. The cost so far $102 for the raw steel and $18.00 in grade 8 bolts. Watching young students make something from nothing - priceless. Pictures are what matters most so....


This bracket is now welded to the bumper with the top outside bolt welded in because I couldn't get a wrench in there after installation.


upside down on the bench

 

Looks sweet. My buddy had that diamond plate idea and I think the way you did it is cool. A finished pic would be nice.

 

This is two days of class work. I will show a picture of it mounted when I can. It will have a bar on the front also. We (they) haven't put in the winch plate yet. I have decided to go down about 3 1/2 inches on the bumper. Does that sound about right for the fairlead mount to be in the right place? I think I will get the M8000 Warn. It has a good price/ big enough/ and well it's a Warn. I live in Central Texas very near the Presidents ranch.

 

Loving it so far. Nice to have a personal squadron of kids to customize your rig, eh???


PS: How did you go about getting the JEEP emblem black?

 

Well three days of classes and the bumper is done for now. I will put light tabs and cut out the area for the winch and fairlead. That is when I actually have a winch to put in. What do you guys think about the finished product. I know I am really happy with my shop project. The welding teacher gets a lot of credit for listening to my ideas and making them happen. He is still working on a skid plate just under the bumper. It is a taller bumper than we started out thinking so it is not as needed as we thought.

 

the word massive comes to mind, but still i really like it. a few things, i can't tell how thick the metal is but either way i hope the d-ring tabs are welded to those brackets bolted to the frame. and until winch mounting comes about, i would add a cover plate for the hole that the winch will fill some day.

 

Massive is exactly what this is in a stubby sort of way. It does stick out more forward than I had planned. When we built the brackets behind so it bolted in without the bolts coming through the front it just got pushed out. It is 3/16 metal and yes the d ring tabs are welded into the bracket from behind. Pic The winch plate is dropped down so it kinda does fill the hole from this angle. Pic

 

Massive is right! I think it looks good overall. I'm not to keen on that winch hoop. It looks too rounded in the first picture, and doesn't seem to match the rugged/angled look of the bumper, but in the side views it looks like it has a flatter bend on the top.


Other than the winch loop, it's a mean bumper

 

i think that thing looks sweet! i miss those days! i took 4 years of welding/fabrication in high school, and go figure i do tire work for a living! DUH!

 

good job