Well then this is your lucky day!
What's wrong with this picture? If you guessed stock bumpers you're absolutely right. The last thing that I did on the van was get rid of the stock wheel set that I was testing and put the 35's back on. No real milage difference and a worse ride and no improvement in the handling. The flares cover the tires now and complete the "stance" as they say.
But Lucas wants a winch. And a ladder, roof rack and round lights on top - not the LED strip ones. He's rather specific and correct on all counts. Round lights are way cooler. It was also very apparent that I
need a roof rack. Every shoot I end up standing on top of some sort of unsafe object to get a better view. This van will have a shooting platform.
Anyway, a few weeks back, before my shoot I ordered up two bumpers from
MOVE Bumpers. I put an application in for sponsorship, was "selected for the next round" and then never heard back. Maybe they're waiting to see if I'm cool or not. Gonna be a long wait. Nonetheless the kits aren't expensive - two bumpers shipped to me was a couple bucks over a grand. Steel is expensive so I consider this a deal.
The bumpers are sold as "kits" and come as precut and bent steel plates that you assemble on your truck. Here you see the 12 pieces of a complete bumper.
I ordered a winch from Warn - I was going to get the VR-12S but it was backordered and, really, I wanted to get the one that was made here in Oregon but is more expensive. I ended up cancelling the VR and getting the Zeon 12S which is a better winch.
And to clear up confusion: a winch is a hauling or lifting device consisting of a rope, cable, or chain winding around a horizontal rotating drum, turned by a motor or other power source. A Wench is a lewd woman or pirate prostitute and should never be mounted to the front of your vehicle.
With that out of the way you need a really secure way to tie the winch into your vehicle and generally that takes the form of a bumper specifically designed to transfer the loads to your frame. Years ago I had a Rover with a winch and it was used more than I thought it would be. Much like carrying a gun it makes you think you're tougher than you are and encourages you to do dumb things. If you resist the urge it's a good tool to have.
First things first is to bevel the edges where you're going to weld so as to get good penetration of your weld. The steel on the center section is 1/4" but the winch is rated to 12,000lbs and the van is 8,800lbs. If really stuck you can get very close to that max number and so this is pretty essential to get right.
And that thing in the background - never mind that. It's for one person: Locul. Provided he has very low expectations I will make a video on building the bumpers.
I stocked up on welding rod and got a gas lens for a 1/8" tungsten - this thickness will max out my Miller Dynasty 200DX. Oh and you should really be doing this with a Mig. I don't have one so Tig it is.
The "correct" way to build this is to start with the plates mounted on the bumpers and build out - using your vehicle as the "jig" but Tig requires two hands so I measured instead.
I'm experimenting with pulsing by the peddle - it seems to give me a better result as I can go slower but I'm dumping too much heat in.
This is why you bolt your mounting plates on first and build out. If I'd just tacked it like I should have I would have caught this but I was getting into a groove and just kept on welding...
It's not out enough to mess things up and the bolts will pull it in. I can also probably add more bead on the back side and use the heat to bring it back.
Center section in and lined up. Looks beefy.
The next step is to tack on the wings on the side. Their shape and weight mean that the only way to do it is to hold them in place by hand and tack. I called my fellow van compatriot and neighbor Taylor. He's like Ben in that he's really good at seeing things that will make a project much better but will require a lot of work - and then he points them out to you. He thought I should stretch the bumper to extend out to the flares.
I put my fingers in my ears and went "blah, blah, blah, I can't hear you" even though he's right. I keep telling myself, "Perfect is the enemy of Good" and "I would like to finish
some project in my lifetime!"
The great thing about these kits is that you can modify them to suit your needs. My tires are larger and the ends of the bumpers came too close for comfort so I used some painters tape to mock up how I might trim them.
The plasma cutter requires two hands and so I forgot to take any photos. And because of video - damn you Mikael!
The chevron cut from the lower wing makes a perfect filler now!
Like most of my welding projects - I get better about halfway through. I started to experiment with weaving the puddle but discovered that welding outside means a gust can blow your argon away hence that ugly spot. Nonetheless I'm getting better.
And the sad/happy thing is that all the welds get ground anyway. I'm planning on grinding the weld joints to the same radius as the bends to soften the "origami" look that folded steel bumpers have. I don't mind the look but hard lines don't fit the body style.
What you save by buying the bumper as a kit you spend on flap wheels. Most things that I build the welds are exposed - sort of a badge of honor to show your chops - so it's really nice to make something where all my mistakes just disappear in a cloud of sparks.
Tomorrow I'll finish up the front and get it mounted up while I wait for the winch to show up. I also have a rear bumper which I'm looking forward to building as I'm going to fab up a rear tire carrier on that and then build in a custom bike hauler. Super psyched to get working on that.
Gregor
