OK Guys,



This is my first samurai, but I've done some fab work in the past. I've got a lot of metal working skills, paint/body skills, and so on...although I do lack in the knowledge of suspension and steering geometry.

I bought this Samurai as a project and as a 'toy' to wrench on, as well as a beach vehicle.

When I bought it, the front bumper was slammed in the center, and looked like a Tin Can that was hit with a sledge hammer.



So, I decided to take it off and make my own Custom Front Bumper as Project #1!

Shortly after I began to remove the front bumper, I quickly realized how thin and lightweight the original bumper is/was, which made me feel even better about the project. Not only would it look better, but it would be a lot sturdier.

The mounting points of the stock bumper are also paper-thin, and I'll be tying my new bumper into the frame a bit more than the original one.

So, let's get started.

First I laid out my 2"x6" tubing to get an idea of the length I would need.



Once I had that laid out in front of the Samurai, I realized that with a straight piece of tubing, the bumper looked a bit plain for my tastes.

So, I cut a 1/2" pie section of metal out of the backside of the bumper on both ends, and folded the bumper in to create a bent look. I then welded the cut to regain my strength. I also fabbed up brackets which would be trimmed later.







Once I had my bends in the main bumper, and figured out how I wanted the first set of mounts (in stock locations), I decided to add some angles and 'flare' to the design. I cut some of the ends off to make it look a little better and hang down a little lower, and further from the tire.









I then modified the bracket to make it as small as possible, to give the tire as much clearance as I could. The brackets are 1/4" flat steel, fully welded to the main bumper.



Although the mounting is as strong or stronger than factory already, I plan to add a few more mounting points.

There will be one on each frame rail, with an 'L' shaped bracket, which is welded to the bumper and bolts to the frame.

There will be a piece of 1/4" flat steel which will weld to the bumper, and bolt to the round horizontal bar that goes between the front frame rails.

After those additions are made, the mounting should be solid enough for anything I could need on the front. In the future, I may remove the outside mounts (original locations) due to tire clearance, but they are fine for now.

Hopefully tomorrow I can add my turn signals, Should they go 'in between the bends', or one the bent out section of the bumpers? I'm probably going to put them on the bent out section so I have room for a hitch or winch in the center.

I also plan to add either 'D' rings or tow points of some type

A front receiver Hitch will be added as well

Across the top of the bumper, should I lay flat steel all the way across, and contour it to match? Or should I leave it as is? I'm thinking the flat steel would look better and would add rigid-ness, but it's solid as a rock like it is. What do you think? I may cut it and lay it out just to see how it looks.

Lastly, Sand off that surface rust, and Flat Black Paint!

After the lights and receiver hitch are added in, I should have less than $30 in this project...and about 5-6 hours of work, not bad compared to the $250-400 that they sell for.

Let me know what you think...

To Be Continued.........

gotta say that's a good looking front bar, and no doubt it will look even better when finished and painted.

even thought i dont have much to do with sammys, i've picked up on a few things on the way, and one is that you will find that you will need to cut the bumper end supports off if you are going to run anything from a 31" tyre upwards.

i dont think i could explain it best with out a pic.



so you need to cut it at the red line-ish, and throw away the ends. hope i could help, and i look forward to seeing more of your projects as they come along.

cheers

here is a better pic. and you could mount the front bar directly to the ends of the chassis rails.

gotta say that's a good looking front bar, and no doubt it will look even better when finished and painted.

even thought i dont have much to do with sammys, i've picked up on a few things on the way, and one is that you will find that you will need to cut the bumper end supports off if you are going to run anything from a 31" tyre upwards.

i dont think i could explain it best with out a pic.



so you need to cut it at the red line-ish, and throw away the ends. hope i could help, and i look forward to seeing more of your projects as they come along.

cheers

Yep,Sikid is right, sad to see that much good work has to be re-done, but you'd better do it or you'll never run bigger tires then the ones you've got now. And don't start with: "Oh, but I'm pretty happy with the tiresize I've got"..................You said it yourself: It's your first Sammi ..................and you don't know what's coming next , empty your wallet for all the nice stuff

We've all been there, thinking the rig would be finished after one mod......................and then you see something else that could be changed.........and again something else....................and then..............

Looks good but I agree with the others to cut the stock mount and relocate it to the two holes on the front of the chassis.

Even if your not worried about the tyre rub now, Chances are if (when ) you whack some thing with the more solid bumper you have now the thin wall mounting tube will just push back against the tyres which would be a total PITA on the trail.

Looks like it's a little low for approach angle

Looks like it's a little low for approach angle

I think you're looking at the pic of before it was mounted, looks OK mounted. I vote for indicators in the bent out sections

OK guys, now are you all happy??? 

First things first, make new brackets where the factory(?) tow hooks were bolted to the main frame rail.





Then I used the sawzall to remove the original bumper mounts to allow for larger tires, as mentioned in the previous post. (I was planning to do this eventually, and think I mentioned it in my original post, but I'm glad you talked me into it now so I wouldn't have to touch up paint the bumper LATER after removing the brackets). So, I took care of it now, why not?



Now, Should I put a round plate over the end of that tubing I cut off? Or leave it open? Remember, I'll be in a salty/sandy environment.

Here's a detailed view of the bracket before any reinforcing was done:




Complete Bumper on the table, after bracket reinforcements were made to prevent lateral and vertical bending. I'ts probably overkill, but it looks cool  :



On the table again:



(The welds on the bent areas are from where I removed the previous brackets.

Drivers Side view from the side:



Passenger Side view from the side:



Here's a front 1/4 shot that shows how the bumper looks overall (same as before, but with different mounting):



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Now, a few questions. Where can I find amber lights that 'FLUSH MOUNT'. I checked my local truck stops, and they are all surface mount. I want to sink the light into the bumper.

Also, should I run a piece of 1/8" flat iron all the way across the top, matching the shape of the bumper on the front, and flat across the back edge? I think this would look much better...but didn't have time to do it today.

Does it appear that I could clear a 31" tire as it sits?

Lastly, should I add on a piece to the end of the bumper that points toward the doors of the samurai, or should I leave the ends of the bumper alone?

Thanks for the opinions/help, constructive criticism at it's finest!

Let me know what you think

ShawnQ

Forgot to mention the tools I've used.

Hand Tools:
Hammer, wrenches/sockets to remove original bumper and new brackets, pen/marker

Power Tools:
Angle Grinder, Jigsaw, Drill, Welder.

(Yes, I cut that 1/4" flat iron with a jigsaw...WHAT A PAIN!! I need a plasma cutter!

Oh...and don't mind the dalmatian wheels  ...I'll take care of that next week!

SQ

Go to a trailer supply store or a boating store.  They have seeled lights that flush mounted.  They are used on boat trailers.

ok, i dont mean to pick on you, but i cant really see how you've mounted it to the chassis rails.

i see that you've made new mounts on the front bar, and braced/gussetted it a bit, but where it mounts to the frame, is it only on the inside 2 holes? if it is, i think you should make a crush tube for inside the frame (GREEN), and put a bolt all the way through the frame (RED).



i have seen the frame tear apart, and usually, its either the inside holes, or the outside holes.

but if you've done that, then it should be plenty strong enough to fit some rated eye bolts to the bar, and you can use those for recovery. looking good now.

maybe you can have a look around at a wrecking yard/pick-n-pull for some indicators off another make of car. just a suggestion.

and for the end of the round tube that you cut off, a lot of us have just left it open, as you can just get the hose in there and hose anything out the other side. if you cap the end off, you will never be able to see whats going on inside. i dont think it really matters though.

well, looking good, and the rear bar shouldn't be too far behind now..... right?   

lil_truck,

I got to thinking about the trailer supply store today...unfortunately they were closed. They will most likely have what I am looking for, and I'll check them out tomorrow.

SiKid,

Thanks for all of the comments. As far as a crush tube, I am definitely planning on that. I was going to do it today but ran out of time.

I suppose I'll buy some 1/2" tubing, or similar, cut it to fit, tack weld it in, and run a bolt through the full length of the frame. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to the hardware store today for the bolts...so the tubes wouldn't have helped much anyway.

Do you think adding a second bracket on the outside of the frame rails would be benificial to the point that it is worth the time? I would think it may help, but seeing as how well I supported the current points, I wouldn't think it would be needed.

I am going to make a mount in the very center of the bumper/horizontal frame tube. This will be a 2 piece bracket that will have half of it welded to the samurai (round tube I cut the ends off), and half welded to the bumper, then bolted together. There will be two of these, right near the center. Those should take care of any lack of strength I have on the frame rail mounts.

It should be plenty strong to pull all of those jeeps out 

Hopefully I can get the lights tomorrow, and finalize my mounting points. Maybe even start sanding the thing down for paint!

SQ

Looking more like it now 

Here's how I did the crush tubes and beefed up the chassis a little ..



Although now the 10mm plate wasn't such a good idea as we want to run a shackle reversal kit on it and it won't fit around the plate 

For the front crossmember: find a piece of tube that fits snugly into it, drill some 10 mm holes in the frontmember, hammer in the tube that you got and have that sticking out about 1 centimeter each side. Weld the tube at both ends and through the drilled holes. Voila: extra strength !



Sorry for the small pic, it's from my website, I can mail you the original bigger one, but I guess you get what I mean