New front and rear bumpers

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I’ve been working the past 2-3 weeks on some new bumpers. As you all know stock bumpers are near impossible to find. I decided to make my own. I had a local steel shop bend some 10 gauge metal to the shape I wanted and proceeded to make my own design. I think they turned out pretty nice. I know they sure are heavy.
    Prior to the bumpers, I spent quite a bit of time putting electric power steering assist in the truck. This turned out to be quite a lot of work. There are no direct bolt in kits, so I had to do a lot of fabrication, lots and lots of it. Some time ago I had put independent front suspension in along with parallel 4 link in the rear with air bags. Tons of work and a lot of head scratching!
    Over the course of my rebuild I given a lot of thought where I’d like to end up with my truck. Don’t laugh, but I think I’d like to make a “tow truck” out of it. Kind off like “Mater” in the Cars movie. Really won’t be able to tow with it, but I think it will look kinda neat. I try to get pictures posted when it’s done. Patience please.

Man those bumpers turned out Fantastic!!! I bet you’re going to get requests from A100 owners to replicate them. I think the tow truck look would be really cool . I can’t wait to see how this turns out! You da man...man!

Bumpers look Great !

sweet .. nice work,

Very nice. What do they weigh?

Never did weigh them, but the rear one is pretty big. If I were to guess, I’d say 30-40 pounds, maybe a bit more. That would include the new mounting brackets I made from 3/8” thick steel. Had a local shop water jet cut them. Quite a process to watch!

w a y beyond factory. Fun to watch.

Man those turned out great... Your truck is going to be one sweet ride!!!

Those are Great looking, I wish that I had the talent to do work like that. The only thing that I would change is no license plate area on front bumper and add one on the rear. Like I said those look great and much better than I could ever hope to do.

bigdougalas wrote:...would change is no license plate area on front bumper and add one on the rear...

yeah w/a pitch or open for the water to run off...
keep upda good wrk, bra

Nice job looks great and the tow truck would be kool as well

Very nice job!

Appreciate the comments guys. It’s been a bit of a chore, but I like the challenge. Right now I’m trying to figure out some sort of non slip surface for the back bumper. Thinking of expanded metal, but not real thick, maybe 16-18 gauge. I’m also going to put a license plate pocket in the back very similar to the front. Seriously considering a hidden receiver hitch as well. Bit of a head scratcher there!

there IS a sand-paper-tape our DPW in town uses on slip surfaces of their vehicles. It is black & 'step approved' as they have muddy boots, etc.

I like the expanded wire style which seems to be a 1/4 or 1/8th inch plate which is stamped out. This is cuz I am probably more utilitarian than urself. This stuff has holes (diamond shape) where the plate has been moved from the horizontal plane to the vertical. Not only that but some how in the manufacturing process those edges sticking up now are sorta serrated. As U walk it the stuff falls thru the diamond holes and the serrations grip the shoe sole. Tough to explain but U may have seen anyway. That stuff is really good for bumper tops, etc. Different strokes U say?
8^0

Ever heard of the Little Red Wagon? Yours is a perfect candidate. Put a hemi in it while you are at it. Pretty impressive, your fabrication skills. Save the wrecker look for a short bed dually.

    Made a few changes on the back bumper. Decided on a hidden receiver and expanded metal. I’ll add a flip up license plate holder later. I’ve really been enjoying working on this lately.
    Yes I’ve heard of The Little Red wagon. I’ve had my days at the drag strip. My nephew and I just competed in The March Meet  at Famoso Raceway. We won it last year in the Hot Rod class, and same in runner up this year. Our car run 9.50 @ 140 mph. Lots of fun!!

"... flip up license plate holder..."
on tail gait?

"...the Hot Rod class...'
sounds wide open, what is that &/or who drove what with you?

Flip up license plate will hide receiver hitch when not in use.


This is the car my nephew and I built 20 years ago. He owns and drives it now.

You're like the Coolest Uncle with that one!!!

OK, x2. thnx

Got the bumpers and hitch sand blasted to clean them up. Welded the expanded metal on the rear bumper and put a little primer paint on temporarily to protect from surface rust until I’m ready to get them powder coated. Thinking of a color called extreme chrome. Should look pretty good. I still want to mount some fog lights recessed into the front and some good size lights in the back when in reverse. Still got some shopping to do for those. If anyone has any suggestions, I’d appreciate the feedback.

I hope you don't mind...I was straining my neck trying to see the second pic so I resaved it and straightened it out...Great job on the Bumpers!

I don’t mind at all. Actually appreciate it. I would’ve done it myself if I could figure it out!

All I did was open the pic with Microsoft Paint and re-save it. Then just brought it back in to the thread. For some reason, Microsoft Paint seems to straighten the pics out when you open the file with it and you just save it. I stumbled on to this by mistake once and now I use it anytime a pic shows up crooked...

Thought I’d tidy up the corners. Looks much better.