Rear Bumper with Tire Carrier build project.

[OK75Bronco]

Hello fellow Bronco enthusiasts. I wanted to share my recent bumper and tire rack build. I based it loosely on a lot of the aftermarket bumpers available for classic broncos. I guesstimated the dimensions and made paper board templates to get the ball rolling. It turned out pretty good. Way stronger than the stock tire carrier and I believe it will hold up fairly well off-road. Lots of pics, but it kinda shows the steps I took to arrive at the final product.

 

[Shimmy]

nice work!!

 

[gnsteam]

Very nice.

 

[JSBX]

Great job on the bumper.

 

[OK75Bronco]

Thanks everyone. It was a lot of fun to build but really time consuming. I was cutting everything by hand with a Milwaukee saw and a plasma cutter. I bet I have 45 or 50 hours of fab time in it. Enough time that I just ordered a Hanson bumper for the front! I do plan to add a brush guard to the front bumper when it gets here. That seems to be a controversial issue with most of my friends around here. Most say no in the brush guard idea. I think it will look cool though if I can get my idea into metal like I think it will look.

 

[cldonley]

Really nice work. I've been planning on a project like yours, and your pics help a lot! Really like the way you incorporated the receiver hitch. Why would folks say no to a brush guard? Appearance?

 

[jamesroney]

Hello fellow Bronco enthusiasts. I wanted to share my recent bumper and tire rack build. I based it loosely on a lot of the aftermarket bumpers available for classic broncos. I guesstimated the dimensions and made paper board templates to get the ball rolling. It turned out pretty good. Way stronger than the stock tire carrier and I believe it will hold up fairly well off-road. Lots of pics, but it kinda shows the steps I took to arrive at the final product.

Can you please provide details on the closing mechanism. I see a toggle clamp, and something that looks like a Tooling handle that might be a pin, or it might be a threaded connection.

I believe that I have tried every closure known to man. Many long hours using failed door latch mechanisms, over-center cam pulls, toggle clamps, eccentrics, and at the end...I am convinced that the ONLY valid (meaning rattle free) closure is a threaded bolt / nut and a big hand wheel, or a wrench. I'm also convinced that anything that is good will be made from steel, and it will rust. The overseas aluminum 1/4 turn t-bolt does not rust. It also does not clamp.

Kinda curious to know where you landed.

 

[OK75Bronco]

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It’s an indexing pin from this company. Where I used to work we had a tooling fixture we used to assemble a product. It was indexable and had these pins. I had to replace one once and after I got my hands on the part I was impressed. I ordered one for myself for the specific purpose of using it for a tire carrier latch. It wasn’t cheap but so far I don’t have any rattles.the pin on the right is just for holding the gate open when I don’t want it swinging back on an incline. It’s just an Amazon special spring loaded pin.

 

[OK75Bronco]

Really nice work. I've been planning on a project like yours, and your pics help a lot! Really like the way you incorporated the receiver hitch. Why would folks say no to a brush guard? Appearance?

Yes I have been told the brush guard is too old school. I don’t think that’s a thing in the bronco world though.

 

[nvrstuk]

Can you please provide details on the closing mechanism. I see a toggle clamp, and something that looks like a Tooling handle that might be a pin, or it might be a threaded connection.

I believe that I have tried every closure known to man. Many long hours using failed door latch mechanisms, over-center cam pulls, toggle clamps, eccentrics, and at the end...I am convinced that the ONLY valid (meaning rattle free) closure is a threaded bolt / nut and a big hand wheel, or a wrench. I'm also convinced that anything that is good will be made from steel, and it will rust. The overseas aluminum 1/4 turn t-bolt does not rust. It also does not clamp.

Kinda curious to know where you landed.

Mine never rattled with a locking toggle clamp & I've been told I should be a product tester . I had UHMW btw the rect tube keep down pressure on the swing away part and as the stop to keep the assembly out of the tailgate.

It was a locking toggle from McMaster (of course). I packed a 35" spare on it for yrs then a 37" spare on it for about another 12 yrs. Seriously James, never a rattle. I did shear the 1" dia center shaft as I dropped off a rather large ledge lol and the spare dropped on it and sheared it off.

Here it is: https://www.mcmaster.com/products/toggle-clamps/latch-style-toggle-clamps-with-locking-handle/

 

[OK75Bronco]

Mine never rattled with a locking toggle clamp & I've been told I should be a product tester . I had UHMW btw the rect tube keep down pressure on the swing away part and as the stop to keep the assembly out of the tailgate.

It was a locking toggle from McMaster (of course). I packed a 35" spare on it for yrs then a 37" spare on it for about another 12 yrs. Seriously James, never a rattle. I did shear the 1" dia center shaft as I dropped off a rather large ledge lol and the spare dropped on it and sheared it off.

Here it is: https://www.mcmaster.com/products/toggle-clamps/latch-style-toggle-clamps-with-locking-handle/

I thought about using UHMW but I used a pair of prothane bump stops instead.

 

[OK75Bronco]

Bump update, took my bronco wheeling at Disney OK with my dad for Father’s Day. Weather was perfect and it wasn’t crowded! We covered a lot of cool trails in a fraction of the time when you have a lot of other people there. My buddy came in his YJ on 37s and hung out with us. Finished it off with lunch at mooneys sunset bar and grill on the lake side of the dam. Bumper held up great while out on the trails. The tire is still rock solid and doesn’t squeak or bounce around at all! I’m happy with the build so far! Just wanted to share!

 

[OK75Bronco]

Update! Front bumper is finally complete! It’s a Hanson, when I got it it needed some help. The welding looked horrible and wasn’t actually penetrated in several places. I cleaned it up and rewelded it where needed. I bent up the brush guard and welded it up as well. The winch in a Warn 9.5XP I also posted this in the what have you done to your bronco thread.

 

[nvrstuk]

Looks great! Always nice to build/modify something and have it work the way you wanted! nice job.

 

[OK75Bronco]

Thanks! Slowly but surely this thing will be where I want it someday. Although I have found that a project is never truly finished.