Rear bumper fabrication questions

Hi there fellow quarantinies, I’m planning on building a rear bumper for my 02 Tacoma and have taken a lot in inspiration from HBtacos build and Box Rockets build, and am wanting to do something similar as it’s pretty simple to do. So my main questions where should I use c channel or box rectangle tubing. What gauge metal should I use I was leaning towards 3/16? I’m planning on adding a swing out in the future so I want the bumper to be able to support that. And do I need to cut a hole through the bumper and run my brackets that connect to the frame through that, or would just welding my brackets to the outside of the tubing work fine? Thanks for the help.

 

3/16 is very common. My front bumper and skids are 3/16.

I would use box channel, and use some 1/2" or bigger plate for the frame mounts that will protrude thru the bumper for your recovery points (rather than welding tabs to the outside of the bumper.

If you're adding a swing out, I would suggest making the bumper wrap around the bedsides, then tie a support brace back into the frame.

Kinda like this:

https://www.coastaloffroad.com/product-page/1st-gen-tacoma-high-clearance-rear-bumper-kit

 

Awesome thank for the quick response, so my other question is how should cut throw the box tubing as I don’t have a plasma cutter and my grinder wouldn’t be able to cut a 1/2 wide hole without into the box tube a bunch.

 

According only to me, 3/16 is fine. The real decision for thickness is entirely dependent on whether your local steel supplier has 3/16 or 1/4" "drops" or cutoffs. Ask them to see the drops, the savings is well worth not getting your choice of 3/16 vs 1/4".

In terms of shape, I say tube. Stiffer member (enjoy) and worth the weight increase to not have to deal with the radius curve in the inside of the C channel to install the bumper mounts to the frame.

In terms of real life observations. I used 1/4 x 3 x 2" box tube. Capped both ends and welded sched 40 weld pipe elbows with some sched 10 pipes to act as wraparound for the bed sheetmetal rear of the wheel arch. Well, 3 weeks ago a gentleman decided to test the welds with his Jeep Cherokee. Managed to scrape his passenger fender trying to sneak by and then ran the whole side of his Jeep past the bumper wing. Bent the wing by about 1". Saved the bed from major damage. Probably the difference between having my bumper replaced and having them total the truck.

 

@GHOST SHIP

Cause he's just a badass when it comes to anything welding

 

I don't have a plasma cutter either. It's amazing what you can do with an angle grinder when forced to.

I would drill holes in the corners if where you're going to cut, then get as much as you can with the grinder, then finish with a hacksaw blade.

If you do cut into the box tube too far, just fill it with weld.

Just remember: A grinder and paint make you the welder you ain't!

 

Thanks everyone for the help!! Well I looks like I’m just going to have to continue practicing my welds instead of actually building the bumper, since all the steel yards closed today because of the quarantine. Ohh well practice make perfect.

 

Damn that's unfortunate. At least Home Depots are open, you can get a good variety of flatbar and tube to work with.

What kind of welder are you working with?

 

Don’t bully me too much lol. But I’m actually just bought a higher end dc flux core welder. I have a few reasons for choosing this, I don’t have any 220 outlets available at my house, I have lack of storage at my home and this welder is tiny and only weighs 15 pounds so it stores very easily and I don’t have a big gas bottle laying around. And it can weld up to 1/4 inch material. Here’s a pic of my first ever beads, I’m really excited to practice more and get proficient with the welder.

 

Yeah but what kind of welder?

Inquiring minds wish to know*

 

It’s the Harbour freight titanium 125 flux

 

Ty

I need to pick up welding immediately when the opportunity presents itself

 

I see you have the same trouble keeping a straight line as I do, lol

I've heard some pretty decent reviews about that welder. You could have done worse, lol. You can't beat the size of it for sure.

I'll just share with you my experience with a 125 welder:

My first welder was a Lincoln 125 Home Depot special. It was a great welder, and it built my front bumper, among many other smaller projects around the house:

That said, 3/16's is really at the limit of what the machine could do. In some areas, I ended up having to preheat the material with a MAP gas torch, just to get decent enough penetration. You also will need multiple passes over that thick of material. Multi-pass is especially a PITA for flux core since you have to clean up the welds before going in for another pass. It ends up being pretty time consuming. Totally doable, just not the most efficient use of time. Check out my build thread (link in sig), there's another link in it to my bumper build, too.

My current welder, is a Hobart 210mvp. I'm still running it on flux core, but I can convert it to gas. It's great because the MVP stands for multi voltage, or something like that. In other words, it works on 110 and 220. You just switch out the plug and you're off to the races. The way my shop is built, a 50' 220' extension cable isn't enough to reach where my truck is usually parked, so when I was doing things like tacking my skid plates together, I'd run a 110v cord from my garage, then I'd take the skids off and finish off the welds with 220.

A 210 is WAY over powered for doing 3/16, lol, but it's helpful because I have never run into popping a breaker or over heating the machine because I'm not operating anywhere near the max output.

 

Pro tip: (I'm not a pro, lol)

Get yourself some of that welding spatter spray stuff. Those little BB's will just wipe right off, and it doesn't affect your welds. I spray it on my metal work table, and also on the rest of the part(s) I'm welding together. Cleanup is so much faster. I'm sure it's not super healthy to breath that crap in (neither are welding fumes) so wear a respirator and weld outside unless you have a good active ventilation system.

You also can't have too many small wire brushes, and wire wheels for grinders and drills.

 

Thanks man you have been extremely helpful, I really appreciate it. I’ve heard that stuff spatter spray does wonders for flux core. I plan on building the bumper out of 3/16, and then welding on sliders down the road. So I hope this welder will suffice for now.