Custom rear bumper build

Well, I've been getting tired of the plain, boring rear bumper on my jeep. It also sucks having the put a 35" spare in the back seat on trail rides. I plan on making the rear to match the custom front winch bumper I built a while ago. Nothing too fancy, the entire bumper will be built from 1/4" plate and 4"x2"x0.250" rect tubing. I wanted to have the same angles as the front; the corners angle in and angle up, and the bottom of the bumper will be angled too. For now, I'll just be building the bumper itself, then in about a month or so I'll be making a tire carrier for it.


This is the front bumper that most of the design was based off of




So, one day I decided to remove the rear bumper/hitch/gas skid. after driving around like this for a few days, I was finally motivated enough to actually start building.





I started with the mounting system first. I wanted to have the beefiest, most overkill mounts possible. Little bit of measure confirmed the fact that a 4"x2" rect tube would fit inside the framerail. This meant trimming the rear crossmember, trimming the shackle bolts, and removing that one spot on each side where the factory nutstrips jump up and over.







Once the 4"x2" fit inside, it was time to drill out the mounting holes and make a new nutstrip outta a 1 1/4" wide peice of 1/4" that would fit inside the rec tubing. all mounting hardware is 1/2" Grade 8 bolts and nuts.

Started to get the main rails to fit right. then it was onto the actaul bumper peices themselves. I started with the top peice first.







Made some D-ring mounts to match the front ones. it was alot easier to cut the 3/4" plate with a 4.5" grinder then i thought it was gunna be. Biggest drill bit I had was 1/2", so i decided to buy some bigger ones since these wont be my last set of mounts.

Next up was the vertical front peice. I made a cut about half way through on the sides so that I could bend them in slightly. Followed by slots so the d-ring mounts could pass through the bumper face.







this is how the bumper currently looks. the rest of the peices are smaller, so those should be quicker and easier to make. I'll be updating this thread as I get more work done on it

Looks good man! I see a lot of potential in that! Are you going to put corner protection for under the quarter panels in too?

~Scott

looks awesome

Muddy Beast said:

Looks good man! I see a lot of potential in that! Are you going to put corner protection for under the quarter panels in too?

~Scott

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Yeah, I plan on using a piece of the 4"x2" and making it hang halfway out from the quarter panel. this will leave enough of room so that someday i can run tube over & around the wheelwell and tie back into the rockrails.

thats a great looking bumper so far. are you goin to add any additional mounting points?

trippled said:

thats a great looking bumper so far. are you goin to add any additional mounting points?

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it uses the stock 5 holes on each side on the framerail and i will be adding mounts to also use the stock 4 holes on each side. I'll probably hold off on the stock ones, since I plan of plating the rear framerails and rear crossmember. When I plate the rear, I'll be replacing the stock nuts with some more 1/2" Grade 8 hardware. All in all, it'll have 9 or 10 1/2" Gr 8 bolts per side. That should be more the enough in my opinion.

i think if i do another rear bumper im definitely going to have to do my mounts like that. thats way more stout than anything ive ever seen

i am actually at the point of remounting my bumper from the stock mounts to this. got a couple questions

1. You think 4x3 would fit in there?
2. What was the square you cut out on the bottom? (were the bolt would go up into the tube)

thanks man

The square that was cut out was for the Driver side frame rail. That was to clear the fill and vent tubes that run through the rail. He then boxed it with 1/4" plate. (You did use 1/4" plate right Ross? I can't remember)

Looks nice Ross. I'm very tempted to post that pic of you and Colin.

Begster said:

I'm very tempted to post that pic of you and Colin.

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:roflmao: That was funny.

Definitely sweet Ross. Be sure to learn all the mistakes on this one, so when you build mine it's even better (if that was possible :thumbup.

Looks pretty cool, good job!!

Looking Good!

Are you planning on building a tire carrier as well.

kmanxj5050 said:

1. You think 4x3 would fit in there?
2. What was the square you cut out on the bottom? (were the bolt would go up into the tube)

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1. 4"x3" will NOT fit, 4"x2" is the biggest possible
2. I believe your reffering to the bottom side of the stock framerails. On both sides in that spot, theres a flared hole/raised area that sticks up about a 1/4" into the inside of the framerail. on factory nutstrips, this is what the raised area on the nutstrip clears. I wanted a flat, smooth mounting surface, so I cut it out.

Begster said:

The square that was cut out was for the Driver side frame rail. That was to clear the fill and vent tubes that run through the rail. He then boxed it with 1/4" plate. (You did use 1/4" plate right Ross? I can't remember)

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This is true. Since I havent raised the tank, the fill lines still pass through the framerails. About the last 8" of the DS mount step down to a 2"x1.5" section which was boxed back in with 1/4".

guther66 said:

Are you planning on building a tire carrier as well.

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Yes. I'll be doing this later on though when I have access to a tube bender. It'll either be closer to a traditional style swing-out or something with a rear stinger look to it.

yeah i am going to be doin the same thing so i will cut it out to.

foxwar71 said:

Yes. I'll be doing this later on though when I have access to a tube bender. It'll either be closer to a traditional style swing-out or something with a rear stinger look to it.

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Oh BS, you trying to copy my idea?

Begster said:

Oh BS, you trying to copy my idea?

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With that type of attitude, I'll cut up your ARB bumper to use as parts. We both had the same ideas idependantly, only to realize we both want the same thing.

good work. i'll have to bookmark this thread.

foxwar71 said:

With that type of attitude, I'll cut up your ARB bumper to use as parts. We both had the same ideas idependantly, only to realize we both want the same thing.

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Ha, fair enough. I was only kidding. Bumper looks good so far.


Now for some actual tech. Are you going to re-use the hitch, or had you given any thought to integrating a hitch into the bumper? Also, any plans for a new CB mount, as I see your old one was attached to the bumper?