New Rock Bumper and Tire Carrier

[90Xjay]

Well I have been busy and not been on the site much. I have been working with a friend and we built a rear rock bumper and swing out tire carrier for my XJ.

Since they run $600 to $800 everywhere, I thought I would just build one myself. I am really happy on how it turned out and building and designing it from scratch gives you a great sense of accomplishment.

Take a look at it if you want to

http://members.cox.net/mark-s1615/jeeppage2.html

[TwistedCopper]

That's a nice looking bumper - Good job!

[mud4feet]

Great job! Kinda tells ya' what kinda' mark-up they've got on those things!

[currupt4130]

not bad at all, i like the way its offset and the way you carried it all the way to the other side, lots of oppurtunities to place other mounts

[Joopin]

NICE! Question: where is your plate gonna go now?

[Saurian]

Was wondering the same thing, looks like the licence plate is just a wee bit obscured, they'd have a field day with that one in Michigan...

The bumper looks excellent, really like how it turned out... Congrats!

[90Xjay]

Question: where is your plate gonna go now?

Yup, I know..

I thought about different ways already to move it eventually.
I am currently looking for one deal that mounts it into the center of the spare Any info would be appreciated.

I also am thinking about mounting it in the lower right hand corner to the swing so it will pivot out and I will have 12 volts handy for the light.
Since it is not a daily driver, I have not been really been too concerned although the Texas DPS will nail you for failure to display.

I just finished building my own pull point/ ring for the reciever, so the plate mounting will be the next thing to tackle.

[mud4feet]

Maybe you could make a receiver plate mount?!? Should work unless you want to tow something.

Or get one of those magnetic ones like the dealers use! :P That would last a day or two 'til someone stole it!

[mingez]

Looks good 90Xjay!

I think this might work with a little fudging.. just run a bolt through the large hole in the upper portion (see pic). Mount plate to 5/16" slots on bottom portion. (Or flip it so that slots are on top)
http://www.midwayautosupply.com/deta...tion.asp?10716


You could relocate your plate onto the leftside of the tail gate. Of course, the recessed area it normally goes onto would still show a little. Just get a bigger tire to cover that up! Here is a write up on that:
http://www.4x4wire.com/jeep/tech/bod...ense_relocate/


Here is an example of a license plate mounted on the spare:

I like how he relocated the lights.

[90Xjay]

Thanks for the links. I will with think about it and more than likely go with the area that is easiest to get the lights to.

[Junkpile]

That's nice. Good job.

How much does it weigh?

[NiteDog]

Nice job! Are you takin' orders yet?

mike

[90Xjay]

No, not taking orders just yet.

When you are fabricating as you go, it sure takes a long time to build something right, I can imagine people who do build for production, having to build a prototype for each model.

My next deal is building my own rock-sliders, which brings to mind a question. Have any of you seen 1X4 retangle steel before?

[Junkpile]

Have any of you seen 1X4 retangle steel before?

I'm sure I have. It's just going to be hard to find and probably only available in a thin wall......Or are you talking about solid bar stock. I've got some 1x6 bar on the floor right now, so I imagine 1x4 isn't too hard to come by.

[90Xjay]

I guess something about 1/8" or around a 10 guage is what thickness I would want to build rock rails from. I don't want to just use a 2X2, I would want them to be maybe 1X4 and be more flat to the surface like skis..

[Sully]

It looks very smooth and tough! The liscense plate isnt in a bad spot either. Very nice work, cant wait to see what you build for the front!

[90Xjay]

Thank you all for the compliments. It means a great deal considering the crowd of talented folks on this board. I really mean that.

The front bumper will have to wait till spring or early summer, I am still kicking ideas around on it.