So I decided to make my own bull bar/bumper guard thingy.... And here's my story:

First... using highly technical software much like AutoCAD or SolidWorks.... I first drew up my design. The program I used is called Paint. It's pretty advanced, so if you don't do this kind of stuff for a living, just cut up some 2x2 as I did in my mock up thread.


After you find something relative to what you think you'll like, it's really best to use some 2x2's as a mock fit up before you start hacking away at expensive tubing. But once I was ready... I started with the mounting brackets. I'll preface this by saying, my mounting method is NOT the strongest or best way of attaching this... but it was easy and it does the job.( I actually got the idea from another member's old thread who was working on doing the same thing) I used a piece of 2.5" angle with another piece of 2' X .500" thick flat bar. Pictures explain the rest. Something I would recommend... is TACK everything... Weld nothing until you're sure it fits and satisfied with how it looks.




Now you can start building your guard, one piece at a time, doing the exact same thing to one side you do to the other. Measure twice, cut once. Everything was done from this point using 2" X 2" X .125" Square tubing.









It's worth noting... put something between your work and the truck even when tacking... I have a Flux core welder that throws a lot of spatter, you don't want tiny hot flying pieces of metal landing on your vehicle.

Once you've tacked everything up and fitted everything the way you want it... take it off the truck to weld solid. When you start welding... Make sure to move around to keep the heat down, this reduces any risk of any kind of warpage, you want to make sure nothing has moved so it will fit back the same way it did when you took it off. Now I don't have any actual welding images, but that part is self explanatory, get your heat right and zip it all up.

Now your ready to grind those beautiful welds, unless your welds really are that beautiful and you want to show them off, then don't grind them


After grinding... clean the whole thing with something like acetone. Let it dry, then prime and paint as you would any project.






I'll stop here and say before showing the final look that I used mostly ALL Harbor Freight tools and supplies. Not everything .... but my saw, grinder, welder, cutting blade, etc was all Chicago electric Harbor freight specials... they may be crap, but unless your doing this for a living don't let anyone tell you they won't get the job done and done well. I've had the welder and grinder for years.. the saw was new... but worked fine.




Now I also plan on adding a 22" curved light bar to the guard, but haven't ordered it yet and was itching to post. So here it is, and I'll update with a pic when I get the light bar. Thanks for reading... hope this helps a fellow tinkerer like myself.

 

Thats awesome!

 

Wow! Great job.

Look at that guys, somebody not bitching and moaning that there is nothing "custom" available for these trucks and doing something about it!!

 

That's some nice work there, looks good.

 

That only happens in the facebook group, you know, the ones who have never heard of the forum???...

 

I found a place called Move Bumpers that makes a weld it together kit for 3rd gen Dakotas that looks really good, and is much cheaper than most. I'm getting one for mine when I get other things finished up of higher priority.