Nothing like taking a sawzall and grinding wheel to a 4 month old JK!! Lol, went pretty good. Still have to smooth out the ends a bit and perhaps figure out end caps. Don't feel like spending $65 tho.

 

Welcome to the club!

 

thats awesome, im about to do mine as well. any issues getting it done at all?

 

Not really any major issues no. Used this Project-JK.com - Jeep JK Wrangler Resource » Jeep JK Wrangler Homemade Stubby Front Bumper Write-Up as a guide. Definitely want to have a grinder with a flat disc or something similar to smooth things out. You are basically going to be cutting thru 2 layers of plastic and the metal all at the same time. As you adjust to stay along the line, it is very difficult to get the cut flush between the plastic and metal (base of blade turns, but the flexible tip stays straight).

About halfway thru my first cut, the plastic looked like hell (melted and bubbled in spots) and the cut was all over the place). However, after i finished the cut and started cleaning it up with the flat disc, i found that it cleaned up quite nicely. I would advise you use the tape as a guide for the line and just cut within 1/2" to 1" away from it and just grind the rest off.

I started with a fine blade (24 tpi i believe) and switched to a 14 tpi. 14 tpi cut much better, but get at least a 5 pack (i broke 4 lol)! Last piece of advise would be to have someone there to hold the cut end to prevent it from binding on you. Don't let this discourage you from doing it. It's really not that hard, just letting you know what i learned from doing it.

This is the first DIY fab work i've done on a Jeep, and it was on my 4 month old 2012 lol...GO FOR IT, you can find take offs for a decent price if you screw it up...

 

sweet man! i just took my bumper off, im going to separate the metal and the plastic and then cut them. think that might make things a little easier cutting wise.

 

also, did you cut inside of the four bolts that hold the plastic piece on to the metal piece? If so how did you re-attach the metal and the plastic?

 

Yes inside the bolts. Just drill thru the metal and first layer of plastic and attach with a bolt and nut

 

It's in that write up I linked to

 

yeah, I didnt see it till after I asked. I should probably read through it all the way because I was about to drill straight through the middle of and run bolts all the way through lol...

 

Nice job welcome to the club!