Trailer Bumper becomes so much more

Printable View

Feb 21, 2019, 09:47 PM
Frank S

5 Attachment(s)

Trailer Bumper becomes so much more

The rear of low bed traveling axle trailers has long been a subject of safety concern for me and my Bud.
We own several semi trailers ranging from flat bed to a couple with axles that move forward to allow the bed of the trailer to be a low angle ramp
Recently the Landol 317 was involved in an accident where a woman drove into the rear corner of it and damaged the flimsy bumper light bar.
So I made a new one that is no longer "A" flimsy and "B" has so many lights that can do more than just be stop tail and turn. By activating a couple separate switches part of the lights become warning strobes for over dimensional loads
And "C" I think it looks soooo much better.
Off with the old
Attachment 28258
2 trailers side by side the one nearest is the one I am getting ready to rebuild what ever is needed
Attachment 28259
Checking for fit axles fully retracted
Attachment 28260
Ready to roll
Attachment 28261
Building the light-bar bumper out of a piece of 8" sq tubing
Attachment 28262
Feb 22, 2019, 05:21 PM
Radioman

How did you cut the holes? They look so perfect they must by CNC? If not you have a very steady hand with a torch.
Feb 22, 2019, 05:47 PM
Frank S

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radioman

How did you cut the holes? They look so perfect they must by CNC? If not you have a very steady hand with a torch.

About half the time I do free hand holes of lights sometimes I center-punch the centers then use
this
http://www.homemadetools.net/homemad...g-attachment-3
Other times I use my plasma and a template
On this one the oblong the 4 1/2 and the 2 1/4" holes were done with a template and my plasma the 2 1/4" holes in the very ends were done free hand.
Then after the bumper was mounted we decided to add a 1 1/2" hole for a 7 way trailer connector socket and a 2 1/2" hole for the air suspension Gage these were done free hand as well. About 10 seconds with a cob stone on a rt angle grinder cleans away any slag left behind by the plasma or the torch.
Back in the days when I was running a yellow iron rebuild shop I used to regularly torch holes through 1/2" plate then thread them to 1/2 13 tpi I have cut holes nearly as clean and precise with a torch as can be done with a drill bit
Feb 22, 2019, 06:35 PM
ranald

That should light the way not to go for followers.
Feb 22, 2019, 06:49 PM
Frank S

Quote:

Originally Posted by ranald

That should light the way not to go for followers.

I t still won't keep the idiots off your donkey, but at least when something happens they can't argue that they didn't see the truck
Feb 22, 2019, 07:07 PM
ranald

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank S

I t still won't keep the idiots off your donkey, but at least when something happens they can't argue that they didn't see the truck

I had 5 rear enders in 10 years (3 were tailgaters & two were extremely over intoxicated). Hate tailgaters esp as I usually stick on or exceed limits by a bit. I guess my backside has a magnetic attraction to bum drivers. As soon as I have a tailgater I drop back from the vehicle in front to allow more room to save the following idiot. Some folk slow down so much that they cause inpatience in others following=recipe for road rage or disaster.
Feb 22, 2019, 10:02 PM
Frank S

Like my bud and I always say if you are so close that we cannot see you in the mirrors then you do not exist period. A driver in 40 ton rig could tap on his brakes to avoid something like a large animal crossing the road and never feel a tap in the rear of their rig but the car striking a slowing rig could be totaled .If it was to hit hard enough to break a plastic headlight this would mean the plastic grill and Styrofoam filled plastic bumper would have been crushed setting off numerous air bags ruining the guys day possibly killing his front seat passenger from the explosive airbag discharge, meanwhile unless the trucker happened to glance in his mirror he would have known nothing about what had happened all while being an unwitting star of the next deadly trucks movie.
I've even had a city police once hit the rear of my pickup mostly because he was not paying attention to my having to stop suddenly since a kids ball had rolled across in front of me and I saw a youngster who looked as though he was going to continue darting out after the ball from the front of a parked car. You're not going to damage the back of my vehicles with anything less than a bull dozer. That's just how I roll
Feb 26, 2019, 04:44 AM
DIYer


Thanks Frank S! We've added your Trailer Bumper to our Heavy Equipment category,
as well as to your builder page: Frank S's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-trailer-bumper"> <img src="/uploads/221332/homemade-trailer-bumper.jpeg"/> </a> </div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-trailer-bumper">Trailer Bumper</a> <span> by <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/builder/Frank+S">Frank S</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href='http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/trailer'>trailer</a>, <a href='http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/light'>light</a> </div> </div> </div> </div>
Mar 5, 2019, 04:00 PM
mbshop

I learned looong ago to stay clear of trailers of any size. Saw a guy kill himself running into the back of a trailer at full speed.
Mar 6, 2019, 12:42 PM
wizard69

Quote:

Originally Posted by ranald

I had 5 rear enders in 10 years (3 were tailgaters & two were extremely over intoxicated). Hate tailgaters esp as I usually stick on or exceed limits by a bit. I guess my backside has a magnetic attraction to bum drivers. As soon as I have a tailgater I drop back from the vehicle in front to allow more room to save the following idiot. Some folk slow down so much that they cause inpatience in others following=recipe for road rage or disaster.

Tailgaters suck. Mind you this is just a pickup truck but I had one guy following me one night and It thought he turned off as his headlights where gone. Come to find out he was right on my bumper. Considering it was that time of the year when dear are running a rather stupid move on his part. I feel lucky that I've avoid a few close calls from stupid drivers (lately with cell phones stuck to their ears) over the years.
Mar 6, 2019, 12:46 PM
wizard69

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank S

Like my bud and I always say if you are so close that we cannot see you in the mirrors then you do not exist period. A driver in 40 ton rig could tap on his brakes to avoid something like a large animal crossing the road and never feel a tap in the rear of their rig but the car striking a slowing rig could be totaled .If it was to hit hard enough to break a plastic headlight this would mean the plastic grill and Styrofoam filled plastic bumper would have been crushed setting off numerous air bags ruining the guys day possibly killing his front seat passenger from the explosive airbag discharge, meanwhile unless the trucker happened to glance in his mirror he would have known nothing about what had happened all while being an unwitting star of the next deadly trucks movie.
I've even had a city police once hit the rear of my pickup mostly because he was not paying attention to my having to stop suddenly since a kids ball had rolled across in front of me and I saw a youngster who looked as though he was going to continue darting out after the ball from the front of a parked car. You're not going to damage the back of my vehicles with anything less than a bull dozer. That's just how I roll

Sadly it really seems like drivers are getting worse these days!

In any event a very nice bumper build. I doubt it will stop anybody from running into you but I like fine craftsmanship and people that try to do the right thing.
Mar 6, 2019, 02:06 PM
ranald

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizard69

Tailgaters suck. Mind you this is just a pickup truck but I had one guy following me one night and It thought he turned off as his headlights where gone. Come to find out he was right on my bumper. Considering it was that time of the year when dear are running a rather stupid move on his part. I feel lucky that I've avoid a few close calls from stupid drivers (lately with cell phones stuck to their ears) over the years.

Unfortunately, once I was guilty of no lights and following a car in Easter break of 1971. It was in the middle of nowhere & my car's regulator went kaput and with all the outback murders around that time I followed a couple of vehicles (one turned off probably because of my "no lights") till i got to the next big town where I could find a phone booth. Couldn't do that these days as everything is electric & not even a mechanical fuel pump.

Reminds me of my almost hitting a bike cop in mid 70's who rode without lights on my flank in the blind spot. I went to change lanes & when turning to look over my shoulder I caught a glimpse of him. Silly bugger was probably following one of the cars in front. these days cars beep (mine is too old) if anything comes close like that.
Mar 6, 2019, 02:39 PM
Frank S

Quote:

Originally Posted by ranald

Unfortunately,
Reminds me of my almost hitting a bike cop in mid 70's who rode without lights on my flank in the blind spot. I went to change lanes & when turning to look over my shoulder I caught a glimpse of him. Silly bugger was probably following one of the cars in front. these days cars beep (mine is too old) if anything comes close like that.

Once while on vacation the wife and I were driving from Sydney to Melbourne I was about as far left in my lane as possible without driving on the narrow strip next to the guard railing when I noticed this brown actually sharing the same lane with me just behind my window. We drove along like this for must have been a kilometer or more I had no idea what his problem was then suddenly he shot past nearly clipping my side mirror after a while I noticed he had someone pulled over. I figured he had been trying to use my vehicle as a shield against either a cross wind or to hide from a right lane driver waiting to see if they were overtaking someone or driving out in the rt lane.
I don't trust badges in any country to have expert driving skills especially those riding motors or driving in SUV's or sedans and plain wrapped high performance cars but at the same time I try not to need to test their driving skills when ever possible. To me most are just trying to do their jobs but I have no use for the ones who are nothing but revenue traps.