I'm bored and have a welder…….

Well I've just bought a Sealey 190 automig (now the mightymig) which is a fairly beefy home welder to say the least

So as I'm bored I'm thinking of making a winch bumper for my non existent winch

What do you lot reckon to this design ?

It'll be modified to have a solid base with drain holes rather than a hollow one as can be seen and then I'll weld up a bullbar onto it using some thick steel tubing as my current one definitely wont fit and I like the idea of headlight protection (I also need light mounting points) and I prefer the look. The small light holes also wouldn't be there but I would keep the recovery points.

So I'm thinking the easiest way to make this would be to get the top and bottom panels cut to weld onto a single front piece if I had that all bent up as one then weld in a lot of strengthening plates on the inside before its powder coated.

Then to mount it I'd think using an existing but strengthened front bumper mount off an old bumper I've got my eye on in the breakers yard with a support member being welded into the chassis too.






Oh and yes………..I do have too much time on my hands

Should add I'd be using 7mm mild so yes it will be tough as a brick ****house and I know my MPG might drop a bit

Dr_evil said:

Should add I'd be using 7mm mild so yes it will be tough as a brick ****house and I know my MPG might drop a bit

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Should be able to drive through walls with that fitted

Dewin said:

Should be able to drive through walls with that fitted

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Snigger or next doors corsa

Although I think that 7's a good thickness feel free to correct me if wrong but I thought most winch bumpers were between 5-7mm ?

Dr_evil said:

Snigger or next doors corsa

Although I think that 7's a good thickness feel free to correct me if wrong but I thought most winch bumpers were between 5-7mm ?

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Yeah I always thought that 6mm was a minimum requirement for strength, better to overdo it than have the bumper twisted into scrap when under strain...

what fooking design. I can't see nowt?? Is it the emperor's new bumper??

I've also found a design I like for the rear bumper but front comes first as I currently have a NATO hitch on the rear anyway for recovery but nothing on the front A lift kit will come before the rear one too though as I believe a 2" lift or full set of HD springs and shocks to be the better investment out of rear bumper and suspension

Dewin said:

Yeah I always thought that 6mm was a minimum requirement for strength, better to overdo it than have the bumper twisted into scrap when under strain...

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Thats what I was thinking too, 7mm with strengthening plates running through it should be more than enough. Might as well be built out of old Unimog

redhand said:

what fooking design. I can't see nowt?? Is it the emperor's new bumper??

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You blind ? But incase you cant see it here it is again

Dr_evil said:

Should add I'd be using 7mm mild so yes it will be tough as a brick ****house and I know my MPG might drop a bit

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It's not something I've done yet, but I thought that most winch bumpers were made from 5mm steel.

Have you considered how much a 7mm bumper would weigh, especially complete with winch? And positioned out front of the front axle like that?

It's not just the weight I would be concerned about but the effect of that much weight being placed forward of the front axle - what effect will that have on braking, steering and general safe-handling of the vehicle?


Do bear in mind the case of the guy who modified a Def 110 for off-roading, lost control on-road and ended up in a river with tragic consequences.

The effects of off-road kit on on-road handling can be disastrous.

Dave

I'd love one of those rear bumper's :5bdrool5:

thebiglad said:

It's not something I've done yet, but I thought that most winch bumpers were made from 5mm steel.

Have you considered how much a 7mm bumper would weigh, especially complete with winch? And positioned out front of the front axle like that?

It's not just the weight I would be concerned about but the effect of that much weight being placed forward of the front axle - what effect will that have on braking, steering and general safe-handling of the vehicle?


Do bear in mind the case of the guy who modified a Def 110 for off-roading, lost control on-road and ended up in a river with tragic consequences.

The effects of off-road kit on on-road handling can be disastrous.

Dave

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Good point Dave,

Hadn't thought of that in all honesty but I was planning on upgrading to HD suspension anyway as mines still running the originals from 1998 and I was also planning on replacing the brakes soon as I was told they're running a little low last time it was at the garage so I'd change them to EBC's. No idea if that would sort it or not but as to weight I doubt it'll be much more than the bullbar and current bumper put together.
I know the bullbar is nudging 30kg so with that in mind and as the handling hasn't suffered too much I think the winch bumper should equate to the same as the bullbar and standard bumper including the valance but I have taken to driving slower on windy roads now with the mud tyres and I try to stick to 65 on the motorway.

Dewin said:

I'd love one of those rear bumper's :5bdrool5:

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I saw it on google and was just like YES PLEASE , the look very practical and stylish so I think I'm going to build one too as its cheaper than getting the local metal workers to make it up for me. They'd use the same method anyway and my templates so I might as well do it now that I've got a big welder

Dr_evil said:

I think I'm going to build one too as its cheaper than getting the local metal workers to make it up for me. They'd use the same method anyway and my templates so I might as well do it now that I've got a big welder

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Damn right, no need to fill someone else's pocket's if you can do it.

Dewin said:

Damn right, no need to fill someone else's pocket's if you can do it.

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Snigger I could build and sell them theres a powder coating place in town too so about £30 to coat the bugger and all in I'd say theres about £60 max (they're actually very cheap) worth of steel/cutting and bending time to pay for on their part.

Dr_evil said:

Snigger I could build and sell them theres a powder coating place in town too so about £30 to coat the bugger and all in I'd say theres about £60 max (they're actually very cheap) worth of steel/cutting and bending time to pay for on their part.

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Well I'll definately be looking out for pics of the finished product, at that price I might even blag ya to do one for me if they're ok

Dewin said:

Well I'll definately be looking out for pics of the finished product, at that price I might even blag ya to do one for me if they're ok

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Err, err - sorry Dewin, I was somewhat pre-occupied with your siggy

Dewin said:

Well I'll definately be looking out for pics of the finished product, at that price I might even blag ya to do one for me if they're ok

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Well I'm picking up the welder start of next week then I'll probably start drawing up templates after that the local bike shop throws out the massive boxes so I'll just take some of them and break out the stationary then I reckon a couple of days worth of slow work as I wont be rushing it got my grinder discs ready and flap disks too so all ready to go once the welders here and metals cut.

Once I start I'll be putting pics up and might be tempted to make a couple of spares

thebiglad said:

Err, err - sorry Dewin, I was somewhat pre-occupied with your siggy

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Seem's to be a regular occurance, best leave it there

Started doing some more research into cost price of new steel online is ridiculous but should be able to source some cheap…….either way even if I have to buy new it'll still be cheaper than buying a 5mm ARB bumper so if thats the case then I'll be looking at a cost of £150 ish but still gonna be a lot cheaper than a new winch bumper.

Anyway some rough calculations before I draw up a template and measure fully but on the face of things it would seem I'd need these size pieces in order to make it work;

2300x200 x 1 - This will form the entire bended front section of the bumper

250x500 x 4 - These pieces will form the top and bottom corner sections

700x250 x 2 - These will form the winch plate and bottom slam panel


Now these are very generous guestimates but should hopefully be close enough and bear in mind these are just rectangular pieces rather than fully tapered so cut from a big sheet I'd need a lot less for the middle measurement pieces.

So that gives a total sheet size of 4700x2700mm which seems rather excessive :doh: I'm sure that cant be right so I'm just going to leave the measurements til I draw up my templates. But even if thats right I'd be looking at £70 worth of steel (in multiple parts not one big sheet) as I've just found a fairly cheap online dealer

This is going to be an expensive summer :doh: I want this done, that supercharger possibly if I win it, the rear bumper and a lift kit along with guards but at this rate I might just fabricate myself a steering guard out of some 5mm plate and buy a cheap set of bolt on diff guards rather than the full QT style ones. Oh well good thing I'm looking for a new job