front bumper for Masda pickup

[Frank S]

The front bumper will serve as a means to store the tow bar inside of it and also there will be other storage areas inside the bumper for related safety equipment such as safety cables tow lights and a connector cord to plug into the tow vehicle

Cut out to be the door hiding the tow bar

bumper clamped in place

tow bar folded in stored position

Will have to add small cut outs so the door can be closed while tow bar is in use

Nothing beats my plasma cutter for these projects

Even though I may never finish doing the mods to my folding break it works perfectly
For bending the bumper parts shown is a plate which will serve as one of the mounts and a back for the built in storage compartment

[Frank S]

Update for the bumper
This is my plasma machine, In the construction of this bumper I used just about every cutting tool imaginable
Plasma, Oxyacetylene torch angle grinders, band saws, die grinders, belt sander Drill press, lathe, and a pipe cutter. About the only things I didn't use were the chop saw and the mill

fitting the grill guard

the door measurement is done via 2 captured bolts passing through the verticals

from inside the bumper there is a hole to access the nut that keeps the bolts from falling out when the door is open also should the need ever arise the bolts can be replaced

this is the mating nut welded inside the door hinge /lock channels when the door is closed you have to know to look behind the grill guard or you might not know that the door opens

A little etching primer

Black bumper ready to be re mounted

[Frank S]

the bumper is now on the truck with the tow bar mounted inside
http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/tow-bar-mount-68720




In case anyone is wondering the push bars on the door serve multiple purposes
the hinges on the bottom and a means to secure the door

[ranald]

LOVELY work Frank. Will the extra weight affect the wear on suspension etc?

[Frank S]

LOVELY work Frank. Will the extra weight affect the wear on suspension etc?

The bumper itself weighs about 20 lbs more than the stuff I took off of it and the towbar weighs 32 lbs.
So if an extra 52 lbs is going to effect the suspension much then if will have to be what it is.
I've seen a lot of couples driving these and both persons would hit 350 lbs each me and my wife combined don't hit 350

[ranald]

OK, I was wondering as I've heard that the big bull bars really bugger up the front even on 60's & 70's tanks.During the early 70's I built a bull/roo bar for my ute and I used hi tensile thin walled RHS shaped & plugged the ends : put a bung top & bottom & it held a sumpfull of spare oil in case of needing it out bush. It didn't seem to affect the longevity of the front end but they were much heavier then.

By the way, I had a head on in that vehicle & walked away from it. Those old Holden Utes had a full length box chassis. In the same vehicle I copped a rear ender while stopped at a red light : the drunk who hit me was doing around 60+ Mph in a 35 zone according to an off duty police eye witness. the drunk walked from his vehicle (don't know how as the bonnet was pushed back to the front seats).

[stillldoinit]

Very nice work Frank! Didn't you do one on a ranger a while back?

[Frank S]

Very nice work Frank! Didn't you do one on a ranger a while back?

I think the ranger you are referring to is the wrecked one that I have been working on that had the crushed frame horns. Right now that one is just sitting under the tent while I try and complete some other projects

[Frank S]

I always liked those old Holdens Also liked the older Toyota landcrusier UTE with the AU 6 wheel drive conversions I bought one while in Kuwait that had been converted to left hand drive it had the hard as an anvil 4.2 engine about all I did to it was to install duel wheels on the rear widened the bed so the fold down sides would clear the tires and sold it for a nice tidy profit

[12bolts]

Nice work Frank. What happened to the cutouts for the tow bar when "in use"? Or did you use a different work around?