Rear Bumper with Integrated Quarter Panel Protection
Well, with no rear bumper and after cutting the rear quarter panels, I started on the rear bumper and quarter protection. I had been looking around the internet at other 60's and other 4x4's, trying to get an idea of what exactly I wanted to do with mine. I wanted to tuck the bumper underneath rear as far as possible, thus minimizing the departure angle. I sketched many drawings and had many ideas and finally came with one I liked.
I decided I wanted an integrated hitch tube (also tucked as far in as possible), shackles, tail lights and backup lights, integrated quarter panel protection, and a spare tire carrier. Here's some sketches:
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At first, I was going to use a large piece of channel steel for the main section of the bumper, but when I brought the piece home, it wasn't going to work. The only other option I could come up with was the more complicated way of starting with box steel and cutting out what I would need. I decided I wanted the bumper 5 inches high and 3 inches deep.
We went back to the metal store and rummaged through their scrap pile until we found the correct size. Had them cut it to the length of 7 feet (a little extra to work with). Also, picked up a 2x5 inch steel tube to use as new rear frame cross-member.
Back at our garage, we removed the rear-most frame cross-member. Cut and fitted the new rear cross-member and then welded it in. Next, we sketched out all the cut-outs needed for the main section. Two small sections on each end to fit the 2x2 tube for the quarter protection, two slanted sections on each side, running diagonally from the top where the 2x2s would fit in, to the bottom where the frame would meet. (This may be hard to understand, but look at the drawings and the pics...) A square hole through the front, just big enough for the hitch tube to run through, was sketched. Three sections would need to come out of the backside. One section where each frame section would go in, and another which opened up most of the back and allowing the hitch tube to continue through and attach to the new cross member.
After it was all sketched out, we took it to a local metal/blacksmith shop to have it plasma cut. When we got there, the plasma cutter wouldn't work, so they torched all the cuts for us. The cuts were not as clean as they would have been with a plasma cutter, but they were pretty clean.
Anyway, we brought it back to our garage and started welding her all together. The way the bumper was designed, I wasn't going to be able to bolt the whole thing together and then bolt it to the Cruiser, so I decided we would bolt as much as we could (which ended up being the main section) and then weld whatever else was necessary. The main section is bolted to the frame. The hitch tube is welded to the main section on one end and then the other end to the cross member. A whole large enough for a hitch pin was drilled through the hitch tube. A section of tube that was just bigger than the hitch tube was welded on the outside of the bumper over the hitch tube for stability.
Next we measured and cut the quarter panel protection tubes. They are made of 2x2 steel tube, 3/16 inches thick. Welded them to the ends of the bumper and then welded a support tube from the quarter tube to the frame. Capped the ends of the quarter tubes with some leftover sheet metal from my quarter panel project.
We were also building a rear bumper for a 97 TJ and so we were back and forth to the metal mart several times and we found some great heavy duty weldable shackles. We welded those babies on the front of the bumper, directly opposite where the frame is mounted. We felt this would provide the best support for pulling.
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Anyway, we taped it all off for primer and painting using newspaper and masking tape. Primed and painted. Turned out as good as I had dreamed it would. If you have any questions, feel free to email me.
