Made a prototype a few days ago.....I was a little tired of all the little tubes people are using and went with 2"x.125" for the main & lower horizontal tubes, most of the rest is 1.25"x.125".



I like the bigger tube in that it ties the lines together better than the smaller where you can see gaps on both sides of the tube. We will likely make 6 or 7 of these before we come up with a design we want to produce so give me some input on what you think......

I kind of prefer plate but this fabricator is getting the desert race bug and he has a Ranger too, both of the shop trucks are Rangers also so we have a few we can experiment with. I think we will build a few very low profile plate bumpers too and I have what could turn out to be a pretty interesting rear bumper idea too.....we'll see but let me know what you think.

 

Totally diggin it! but i'm not much for the prerunner look...I'm more into the "rock crawler" look....like those arb jeep bumpers. But you bumper, I definately do like.

 

When we make a crawler bumper we use 3/16" and sometimes 1/4" in the heavy impact areas if it can't easily be gusseted internally well enough.

But I like the prerunner look if it looks big enough to do any good, we are going to try another approach tommorrow you might like, kind of a cross between the two.

 

Nice work!

 

looks pretty good

 

nice! can't wait to get me one!

 

Looks sweet.
I do have a couple questions about it though
Are you guys looking to go in production with this and if so how much is it going to run?
Is there any room for a winch mount?

 

i am with fx4wannabe. not much into the prerunner look, but that seems solid. cant wait to see what you are doing today

 

So, yes these will come with a winch plate. I will get some side view pics today.

We are considering production of both styles (plate & tube) and cost would be somewhere in the $450 - $950 range, tube being on the lower cost side & a complete low profile plate style on the high end, all would have skid plates of 1/4" aluminum and many light mounting options.

If you like the ARB bumpers you will prefer ours, they are much stronger from thicker plate, most of their bumpers are 10 Gauge steel.

This would be our first step into the bumper sales arena but we have made many, many bumpers before.....

I am pretty sure the rear bumper I have designed will be pretty interesting too. If we get the time we will try and make one this weekend.

 

thanks

 

I'll take a rear bumper, and will be a test truck for a body lift rear bumper haha

 

I think it'll be cool to see your plate bumper designs, but I will certainly not have enough money to afford one.

What kind of pipe bender did you use? My buddy has one that's sortof a cheap type, and we hope to make ourselves some bumpers.

 

I would definitely be interested in a plate style bumper. I have a body lift though, so if you ever do decide to make these would you also make a version for us body lifted trucks?

 

I could only assume since "Ranger driver that offroads" almost always equals body lift. Yah, there's some guys with superlifts and RCDs, but to me the market that is willing to shell out cash for his product is body lift guys.

 

I need an electrician first, somehow we burned up the circuit box and I think I had better get it checked out before I plug the 350 Lincoln back in.....

These are just prototypes so we aren't doing a BL yet but that won't be a problem at all.....We may offer the plate bumpers as kits also.....Just a thought.

We just use a JD squared bender but I have considered buying one of the big European CNC machines if I can find one used, they run about $11,000 for the most basic model new......Self feeding, programable bending, thats the way to go!

If we do go into serious production I would likely have the tubing pre-bent by a big CNC shop I use regularly......

From another direction, why don't I see that many Rangers linked up in the rear?

 

Well keep me updated on the plate style bumper for body lifted trucks cause I will buy one for sure. I've been waiting on a good plate style bumper for the Ranger for a LONG time!

 

i agree that body lifted truck owners seem to have more money... and maybe they just want bumpers that look right after the lift.

 

 

Most of the effort is in the welding, finishing & coating so a kit could be very fairly priced and ship for a much more reasonable price too.....That would be for a Plate bumper, Tube bumpers need alot of fitting prior to welding and a kit would be way "undone" so I don't see us selling tube kits......

 

Yah on a plated bumper it'd be nice to get all the stuff, then doing the boring welding and filing welds down myself. Plus I like building stuff!

I know an *awesome* design for a plate bumper, its made for a jeep, I'll try to get it for you. My jeep buddy showed me it and what I really liked was that it is multiple pieces and had lots of functionality.

 

I'd definately be down for a kit. Do you have any concept drawings of the planned bumpers??

 

Like to build a couple before I put anything in cad, there are always too many changes on the fly as they are being built and cad takes awhile for me so I build the first few and then transfer the design from the finished bumper. I would rather just show you pics of finished bumpers so you can see them on the truck.......I'll try and squeeze a couple of hours out of the schedule this week and make one at night, daytime is caught up with the phone ringing off the hook and keeping up with shipping.......We don't work on peoples junk but we work on prototypes everyday and ship 80-100 boxes first......

 

right on, i would like an aftermarket bumper, but none are really available. i prefer the rockcrawler style as well, something along the lines of the road armor bumpers... i'd like a winch mount, several light tabs, and to retain the factory tow hooks, or nice heavy shackle tabs.

i would also be interested in the kit, and just weld it myself, i'm reasonably competent at welding, and i work with 2 B-pressure welders that i could probably con into doing the more critical stuff... not to mention shipping to canada would suck on a complete bumper!

you've got some time to get it all worked out though, no major mods for me until the truck is payed off, hopefully next year!

 

Ahh here I found it, this is what I think would look sick on a ranger. Obviously some changes in design would help for the Ranger.


http://skidplates.com/BumperFront_87_YJ.asp

My fav part is its moduler, and i think it's really sweet with that flat piece of plate being used as the tow hooks.

 

This is my favorite http://www.smittybilt.com/product/index/34.htm