Oh those sexy front curves

[bigytwotone]

Only for the Summer? What do you run in the Winter? I thought these tires had pretty good bite in the snow last year.

well i run motomasers from Canadian tire the big reason i don run the big foots in the winter is because in Canada we have to have winter rated tiresView attachment 23265 not all seasons those are illegal in the winter

 

[Shdwdrgn]

The first layer of primer is STILL gumming up when I try to work it, so I'm going to let it sit until next Spring. In the meantime, I finished painting the pushbar and was able to slip on the rubber strips from my old WAAG, so that is finished. I also got the back side of the bumper cleaned and sprayed with the rubberized undercoating. WHEW that stuff is stinky! But it made a nice coating for the back, and hopefully will do its job over the years. I managed to get a little bit of bondo work done around the fog lights, but its not quite done yet.

So... in the spirit of the season, I got my corpse mounted up to the new bumper...

Oddly, I didn't realize until today that the primer gray matches the body trim pretty well.. almost as if that were intentional Now I'm tempted to leave the bottom bevel in gray when I paint the rest of the bumper so it still has that stock look.

 

[v7guy]

That turned out really really nice. I really enjoy seeing someone build something totally different. I hope my bumper turns out half as good.
On your problem welding threaded pieces... I always wrapped a bolt in teflon tape with the nut threaded on. The teflon mostly burns up during welding but protects all the threads. Just peel off the tape and unthread everything. Works like a charm.

 

[Boog2006]

That is absolutely beautiful work! Wish I had that skill.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

@v7guy - That's a really interesting idea, and the teflon tape is cheap. I'll have to try that next time. Thanks!

@Boog2006 - Several years ago I needed a custom 20' trailer built. I cut out all the box tubing, and someone else did the welding. I touched up a few pieces after everything else was done, but basically that was it for my previous experience. Making the cardboard patterns first was a huge help. I could see how everything would be going together so I could plan out the build. Cutting out and bending the pieces was the worst part, but then I just tacked them together to make sure the fit was good, and sometimes I'd have to cut the tacks and re-shape the pieces. Its a slow process, but it gives you plenty of time to think about how to do each step. I think the only critical step was getting the mounting holes lined up just right so the bumper would sit square on the frame... Everything else can easily be adjusted as you go.

 

[Boog2006]

Guess I just need to buy some tools and get trying then...

 

[RavenWolf]

It looks great!

 

[Wishbone]

Wow, I haven't kept up with this thread since apparently late July. That looks fantastic! Very nice work...

 

[BoldAdventure]

How about $2,000? Come on, it's a bargain!!!

That is by far the best looking bumper I have ever seen on one of our trucks! I'd personally send you 2K just knowing that's currently the only one. Nice work man.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

For that kind of money I could probably get someone to professionally build these, especially since I already have all the template work done. I honestly have no idea what it would cost, nor any idea how to calculate the time to build another one.

I still haven't had time to start fabricating a skid plate, but I've been thinking about it recently. My highway mileage has been horrible (under 17mpg), and I'm wondering if I need the skid to smooth out the airflow under the front of the truck. I also made up some lightweight brush guards for the headlights last Fall, but still haven't had a chance to mount them.

 

[Darkrider_LS]

Bumper turned out great man! I may have to give some serious thought into having one similar fabbed up for my TB later on. As odd as this sounds im going to wait till i have paid into it for at least a year before i change something like bumpers. How much do you figure you have invested into the bumper so far?

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Materials cost alone, not including welding supplies, sandblasting, or painting -- I'm sitting right about $350 for both the bumper and pushbar. It took me around 2 months of work, and I would guestimate about 150 hours of work to put it together. Of course everything was done by hand, using only a 4.5" angle grinder to cut everything out, so a professional shop could have a faster method of cutting and shaping the parts. And if I had used something lighter like 10ga steel, it would have gone much faster... but what's the point of building a new bumper if you can't use it?

 

[Bartonmd]

150 hours... WOW! It is a really cool bumper, but that's the reason that the ones I make are seams, instead of rolled curves!

I would say that's a SOLID $2k bumper from a shop, if you were making several of them. just making one, I would say it would be more than that.

Mike

 

[jrSS]

It is a pretty sweet ass bumper!! I could never do something like that or what mike does. Nice job!!

 

[Shdwdrgn]

150 hours... WOW! It is a really cool bumper, but that's the reason that the ones I make are seams, instead of rolled curves!

I would say that's a SOLID $2k bumper from a shop, if you were making several of them. just making one, I would say it would be more than that.

Mike

Also keep in mind I've never built anything remotely like this before. A lot of time was spent just trying to figure out how to get the pieces to line up the way I wanted them, or trying to correct when then curvature pulled things out of alignment. I don't know how many times I worked the ends back and forth to keep them in line with the body. Honestly I'm sure now that I've done it once, I could easily build another in half or even a third of the time.

 

[Bartonmd]

Oh yeah, absolutely! The thing is, to make it like that, there can't be any bends at the top and bottom piece. Without a giant punch-press tool that makes it in one piece, you'd still have to weld and grind the whole length of the seams. Also, rolling stuff that's thick, and welding it together, has its own set of issues, as far as matching them up right the first time. It's doable, but it would be expensive, no matter how anybody does it.

Mike

 

[BoldAdventure]

If that was body color, I bet people who didn't know better wouldn't even notice it being a steel bumper.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

If that was body color, I bet people who didn't know better wouldn't even notice it being a steel bumper.

That was actually my intent - to make it look like a factory option that nobody else got. Yeah, I'm weird, but it tells me that the people who notice are the ones who have taken the time to get to know their vehicles. I'm planning on matching the body plastic grey from the underside bevel, and the original blue for the rest of the bumper, then see if I can find a simple black pinstripe to separate the colors. With the black pushbar and tow hooks standing out in contrast, I think it will come out perfect.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

So I'm finally getting started on the last part of this build... the radiator skid plate. I'm going a little thinner on the material for this piece, only 1/8". I don't plan on doing any heavy off-roading like some of you guys, and the ribs down the length should greatly increase the strength.

The goal is to cover the gap left behind from the original bumper, and add some protection to the radiator itself. At the same time, I need to allow for airflow around the radiator and the bottom of the engine. This shot gives a good idea of what all is exposed now...

Below are the primary pieces of the skid. The strip across the top will bolt up over the oilpan skid, and the strip at the bottom will bolt into a recess I built into the bumper. The angles at the left and right will be bent up at 60 degrees to wrap around the radiator itself.

This shows the initial bends in the center piece. The left and right pieces will have a similar 1" bend in them, leaving about a 2" gap between each panel. I will weld some 1/4" expanded steel across that gap, protecting the underside from rocks and debris, but allowing a good amount of airflow. The bends will be facing up towards the engine, so the expanded steel will be recessed, and protected from any direct hits from underneath.

That's it for today. This should be a fairly quick project compared to the bumper, but since I'm working again I won't be able to spend all day cutting and welding. Once I have all the bends made, I can take measurements and use the two gaps to set the final width of the skid plate.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Between the weather and helping out friends, its taken me awhile to get back on this again. I finally got some work done today though. The major pieces are now shaped, and I got the front and rear mounting plates welded on to the center section -- strange how they still look flat in this photo

So the next step will be locating where to drill holes for the oilpan skid plate to go through. After I do a final fit-test with just the center section and make sure the bolt holes all line up, then I can weld the outside pieces into place and tack down the expanded steel.

I still have to figure out how I want to attach the late to the radiator mounts. I'm thinking some kind of heavy rubber bushing might be good... hold the skid in position, but give some cushion so a heavy hit doesn't damage the radiator. After those mounts are done, there's nothing left except rounding of the corners and cleaning it up so it looks good.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Wow, has it really been 3 months since I've worked on this? My poor naked radiator!

Well I finally got a chance to poke at it a bit more today. The first step was dropping the front two bolts from the oil pan skid so I could mark and drill the holes through the radiator skid. With only the center section welded together, it was fairly easy to do the trial fit and make sure everything was going in the right place. That finished, I welded the two side panels on, completing the bulk of the skid. I did another test-fit, and was amazed to see that everything fit perfectly... The side panels cleared everything underneath the vehicle, and I was able to bolt the whole assembly in pace.

I know this is a bad shot, but it shows the 2" gaps between the panels which will provide airflow to the radiator.

Here you can get a better sense of how the new skid sits. The mounting bolt for the radiator bracket is in a good position, so I plan on making a tab on the skid that allows me to bolt each side up to the radiator brackets. There is also a wide gap between the front of the skid and the bottom of the bumper... that will need some shaping later on.

The back corners of the skid ended up just barely (1/8") clearing the tires when they are turned fully in. I'm going to cut the profile back so I have a couple inches of clearance

With so much of the underside exposed by the new bumper, I've actually wondered if the profile has made an impact on my highway mileage. Take a look at the next two pictures, and see how much the new skid is going to clean up the airflow (not to mention any rocks I might bounce over)...

If nothing else, it just looks so much cleaner with the skid in place. Alas, I was not able to finish enough work on it today to actually leave it on while driving. It seems that when I was building my bumper, I used up every last cutting wheel I had, and I won't take a chance of that back point of the skid catching my tires. I'll have to make a stop later this week to grab some more supplies, then I can finish making a few small pieces, including the radiator brackets, and finish off the welding. Another couple hours of work, and I should be able to bolt it up in place and test it out.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

That skid scares the crap out of me. Just asking for a stick, log, piece of metal, fence post...or million other things to reach up and stab that radiator. The gaps defeat the purpose of the skidplate.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I guess I didn't show it in the previous post, but I have 1/4" expanded steel that is going to fill in the slots. Its still not as strong as solid steel, but my needs are really only a step beyond mall-rated. Once I get some filler pieces made up, I'll finish the welding and get some more pics.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I pretty much finished up the welding tonight, so now I can show the radiator vents. The hardest part was working the angles at either end of the vents, so I had a smooth transition from one level to the other. The expanded steel is tacked on the back side at every single contact point. Of course that wouldn't stand up to a full blow from a large rock, but hopefully it will stand up to most anything small enough to get up inside the slots.

I still didn't get the wings cut off to clear the tires, plus you can see where I marked the back edge to cut off about 1/2" for clearance around the oil pan access door. I'll have time to work on it again Thursday, and get it bolted up for a test-run then.

 

[v7guy]

It'll probably be fine, but the vents you added let air into the engine bay and behind the radiator creating higher pressure. Stock, the lower air dam hangs down to create low pressure behind the radiator so air will be pulled through it to the lower pressure area by the fan or vehicle speed. With the skid vents you're letting air in where it was intended to never be. So you're basically doing the opposite of what was originally designed. Something to keep in mind if you have cooling issues.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I guess I'll have to watch and see... What you say actually goes against everything else I read. In old discussions about making a radiator skid, there were concerns about overheating due to the skid blocking airflow to the radiator. This was the exact reason why I included the vents in my design, was to ensure that there would continue to be good air flow around the radiator and engine.

Of course now that I think about it, when the skid is mounted in place, it will still be allowing much less airflow than what I am getting now with the entire underside exposed, and there were no cooling issues last year during the hottest part of Summer.

 

[Conner299]

It'll probably be fine, but the vents you added let air into the engine bay and behind the radiator creating higher pressure. Stock, the lower air dam hangs down to create low pressure behind the radiator so air will be pulled through it to the lower pressure area by the fan or vehicle speed. With the skid vents you're letting air in where it was intended to never be. So you're basically doing the opposite of what was originally designed. Something to keep in mind if you have cooling issues.

Roadie was giving me crap the other day, on ORTB, for still having my air dam on the truck... Just curious to know, how many lifted Blazers, with no air dam and a stock bumper experience cooling issues?