If you took those line drawings to a local fabricator, he should be able to do a "bang up" job for you and I doubt that it would cost as much as what that bumper lists for. Having someone else build it would give you the opportunity to add/subtract/change the looks to some degree without affecting the price. For the bumper skin, I wouldn't use anything thicker than 1/8" and the "skeleton" can be done mostly with 3/16" with 1/4" in the area that will hold the winch & how this would mount to the truck. To sculpt it so that it looks good, I found that I need to use an intermediate medium that's easy to use & change and is also cheap - I use cardboard & duct tape. Sometimes I also find it convenient to make a quick mock-up mount out of plywood, put that on the vehicle, decide if I need a few strips of wood for ribs to hold the cardboard in place, and then I cut and tape the pieces of cardboard together into what I want to make out of steel. With this, I can easily visualize the interior skeleton, so that I can draw the templates and cut the pieces. Tacking the mount and skeleton together is a big step forward - if I've taken care with my dimensions and alignment, the skin is fairly easy to make. I start with cardboard again and paste the pieces on one side, make sure they also fit on the other (proves you have a symmetrical structure), and then I can use these cardboard pieces as templates for the skin. Once the pieces are cut, you can decide on how good your welding is - if poor to medium, I'd take the tacked-together mount & skeleton and all the skin parts & have a good welder spend an hour or so finishing the welding and grinding it smooth.

 

Have an update yet on your progress?

 

Well, I did alot of research on TAG due to the responces I got on my post, so I'm not going to go threw them. Im picking up some steel in TX nxt month and I have a fabricator here in Jacksonville, Fl who is going to do the work for me. Ill keep everyone posted on my progress and upload some pics once we get started!!!





- My 05 Dakota, "PLECO"-
dodgefourm.jpg

 

****Thought I would copy a post on this thread for an update on my steel bumper****

I have already removed the front bumper cover, and primered and Plasti Dipped the bumper as well. I did have to cut my wheel wells a bit, if thats what there called... Ill need new ones later anyways, my old 22in rims and tires rubbed like hell and ate most of the inside corners of the wheel wells. .. Im in the long process of Fabricating a steel bumper, should be done in the next 2-3mos, but in the mean time, this will do great.. you can see my black housing inside the headlights in this pic...
**** oh how I want the shaker hood....****
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- My 05 Dakota, "PLECO"-
DODGEFFF.jpg

 

Dumb question....is it worth u fab guys making some tow hooks for us or is it better off trying to find some online?

 

Im not a expert fab guy, just know the basics, but I would imagine ebay would be your best bet, just depends on what type of tow hook your looking for.... If you have a fabrication shop in your city, you could ask them if designing one that would fit your needs would work.



- My 05 Dakota, "PLECO"-
DODGEFFF.jpg

 

***** UPDATE *******

Just got the steel for my bumper. To top it all, just finished moving in, and found out my neighbor builds bikes, expert welder. So, were going to work together to fab up my bumper. Should have some pics up with in the next 2-3wks. We are going to try to knock it out in 1 day.

***** UPDATE *******

 

My FIRST time using a plasma torch and my first time welding, a buddy gave me a 10 minute crash course on each, and when I had time went to his garage and had at it..

Now weld these 3 together, than start on bottom half, than alot of grinding, paint, than install lights and license plate... hopefully I finish soon..

(no money for a winch.. Ill get that added on later, but the mount will be on frame, and so all I have to do is cut hole for cable and mount the cable guide on front.. )

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Looking good!! I'm sure you've had an ear full of tips, but here are some more

• Weld each seam the full length.
• The corners can be easily smoothed by using a flapper disk on your angle grinder - I like 80 grit. Be careful with this disk, it can take down corners really fast. I use a grinding wheel to do a rough "smoothing", then go over it with the flapper for a really smooth finish. If you do this on corners, weld on the inside of the corner first, otherwise you're likely to remove too much of the outside weld and loose the integrity at the seam.
• If you want things like tow hooks and winch platform, design those right up front and then put the sheet steel covering in place. Both the hooks and winch platform need to be strong points and there should be a section (cross member) between the 2 round bumper mounting posts to stop them from bending inward or outward when you put a lot of angular force on them.
• I'm assuming you're using .125 plate mild steel. If you design a strong bumper center/frame, you can use thinner plate and save a lot of weight while maintaining the strength with a few ribs.

For not having any previous welding or cutting experience, you're doing a bang-up job - don't be afraid to experiment & ask questions to expand your fab knowledge.

 

I wouldn't build my own. Tow hooks of any style and strength can be found in quite a few places & they can come with bolt-on or weld-on mounting solutions. I wouldn't buy them from places like e-bay but would go to places like farm-machinery suppliers, heavy equipment sales/repair shops, trucking accessories suppliers & off-road suppliers (the off-road suppliers will often be the most expensive option).