I started with two pieces of angle iron bolted to the mounting brackets. This gave me something to weld to that I could unbolt later. Then used the bench and magnetic square to hold a piece of 2x6 box tubing, centered and squared to the truck, using a plumb bob. Then held two small pieces of angle iron in between and welded them in place.

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At this point, I had the 2x6 box tubing in place that I could build on in both directions. Using 2x4 C-channel, I added two pieces angled up and back, then wrapped around to the wheel well.

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Then used 1/8” plate to make the lower half.

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Then I got lazy and quit taking pictures until I was done.

Here it is hanging in the tree letting the paint dry.

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That looks awesome!!!!!!! Looks like it will handle a lot of punishment, Man you got some talent

 

Only thing I would have to do is try and fill in that gap some but damn either way looks awesome!

 

I am interested in hooking up something like this prob not near as good looking as yours, but I would be interested in seeing how much this would withstand say with winching or maybe just giving a tug out. Im more thinking manual winch mounted to a d- mount or shackle mounted not a bumper mounted electric winch. like the build up pics may ask a buddy to draw it up in autocad and test the structure for pull rate.

 

Damn that thing is nice!

 

Nice. Good place to add a winch also.

 

Nice! but your blocking almost half your air flow to your Rad... hope heat does not become an issue.

 

I agree with jondakotaguy lots of blockage of your radiator but drilling some 1in or 1"1/2 holes in that bottom part of the bumper where its just a plate would help some. kinda like the westin grill guards or skids you see everywhere

 

Nice build. I eventually want to build a bumper in a similar fashion. I can add this to the FAQ DIY section.

How thick is the material you used 1/4in?

 

Yeah, I thought about drilling holes, but I didn't wan to expose the bare radiator. On the top half, almost all of the radiator is blocked by the AC cooler, which is much thicker aluminum. So I didn't want any holes where the radiator is not protected at the bottom. I'm guessing that the gap will help with air flow, and there is quite a bit of space behind the 2x6 box tubing, so air can flow down behind it. Looking around, I saw similar style professionally built Dakota bumpers without air holes. And there is a lot of variety in how open the front end of trucks are anyway.

I'd had the scanguage hooked up for most of my driving (because I bought it barely running). Whenever I'm going doing down the road, it doesn't get hot enough for the e-fan to come on. The real test won't be until towing this summer, but I'll watch it. If I have to, I can add some holes. I'd just rather leave it more protected.

re: thickness, yeah its about 1/4". The channel ranges from 0.225 - 0.440. The box tubing and angle iron were comparable.