winch bumper build

[ned]

Hello all. I'll start with a pic, always a good way to start. I'm building a bumper for my truck.
I'm putting this in the sculpture forum because I'm viewing it as a sculpture project.

I have a few questions and I think its worthwhile creating this thread, as I usually learn stuff whenever I do so on mig-welding.co.uk

Where to start though... okay so my plan was/is to build a frame and then wrap sheet metal around it. So I bought an 8x4 of 2.5mm sheet mild steel.
However then I realised I had cooler material available to me. Where I work was built in the early eighties, and they installed bins then. Bins I hear you say, yes bins.

So the steel in these bins is what attracted me. The bins were replaced lately and I got two of the old ones. They have really cool perforated steel. At a guess... I'd say its 4mm thick.

To my eyes this material has three advantages -

• It will be stronger than the 2.5mm sheets
• It wont weigh that much
• It will look cool

As you can see its curved. Has anyone any ideas how I can get it flat? would love some suggestions.

I'd like to make the bumper look factory made, for the sake of the vehicle test here in Ireland, and also because it would be nice too.

Normally I would just weld two pieces of steel together, grind it flat/flush and say job done.
However, on this occasion I would like to weld different sections of the above material together and make it look like they were never welded.
A polished look that doesn't reveal any of the marks normally left by an angle grinder is what I'm aiming for. Again would love suggestions, I haven't done this before.


Thanks all for reading, appreciate it.

regards,
ned .

 

[brokenbiker]

is that a unimog?

with regards to flattening it...good luck...its not going to be easy. i have been trying to flatten some 3mm steel froma gas bottle and ended up having to cu the shapes i needed from the curved piece than hammer that flat, and it wont ever be totally flat...might be easier with the stuff you have due to it being full of holes so less material to actually flatten but if it is 4mm thick then i would expect it to be difficult...

i used a BFH and brute force to flatten it but it wasnt a quick process

 

[ned]

hey there, no its a bremach. Italian utility vehicle with an Iveco engine.

I see the problem yes. I might have to bring it to an engineering place and get it rolled flat, or something, is that even possible?

 

[Robotstar5]

Use the 2.5mm plate and 4mm perf for decoration, but make the real winch mount out of minimum 5mm plate and make sure it's suitably fixed to the chassis.
Are you aware of the forces involved of a winch under load?

 

[ned]

yes I'm perfectly aware of the forces. Have experience using them. Dangerous things.

The mount is 7mm plate, the uprights are 10mm x 7mm. The uprights are bolted to the chassis with 8 bolts, 4 bolts each for each upright.

The bremach has mount points built into the front of the chassis, normally used for snow ploughs and other attachments.

 

[GW8IZR]

yes I'm perfectly aware of the forces. Have experience using them. Dangerous things.

The mount is 7mm plate, the uprights are 10mm. The uprights are bolted to the chassis with 8 bolts, 4 bolts each for each upright.
The bremach has mount points built into the front of the chassis, normally used for snow ploughs and other attachments.

Thats the makings of an impressive vehicle, is it for commercial purpose or a project?

 

[ned]

i have the effing thing for years, three i think. When I got it it looked like this

well okay, i had taken some bits off at that stage, but you get my point. Now it looks like this

but honest, i cant see it ever getting on the road. Yet it makes me happy to work on, its pretty, does my brain good.
So i look at it now like an art project, how can i make this thing better looking. Prob sounds funny doesnt it, but thats the truth.


sooooo. i had a superwinch husky that i restored a few years back. its a very good looking winch, I think. So i thought I'd build a bumper around it. Deff a good starting point for a bumper.

when i bought it, covered in oil and bog dirt, a very nasty combination.
Dirtiest thing i ever paid money for, and I've bought some wacky stuff.

takeapart

now

 

[GW8IZR]

Nothing wrong with seemingly pointless projects, got loads of them sat round here awaiting completion :-)

When the A55 road construction finished there was a big auction and some even bigger earth moving stuff that went for very small amounts of money.... I was so close to buying some of it just to pull to bits and play with

 

[ned]

yep i need things I'm enthused about to work on, couldn't agree more.

 

[GW8IZR]

sooooo. i had a superwinch husky that i restored a few years back. its a very good looking winch, I think. So i thought I'd build a bumper around it. Deff a good starting point for a bumper.

Really good winch the Husky, mine came on an ex utility LR 127 in about 1995 +/- and it hadnt done much work (then) but it got put through its paces many times after that. I stripped it some years later and not a spot of wear so I just stuck it back together.

Still got it but its currently under my bench - I keep looking for something to put it on.

(EDIT) now I look at the pictures, that looks bigger than a Husky?

(EDIT 2 ) Optical illusion , its same as mine :-)

 

[Parm]

Nothing wrong with seemingly pointless projects, got loads of them sat round here awaiting completion :-)

When the A55 road construction finished there was a big auction and some even bigger earth moving stuff that went for very small amounts of money.... I was so close to buying some of it just to pull to bits and play with

There's a farmer down the road from me and he's got loads and I mean loads of trucks and assorted agricultural machinery. I'm often tempted to make him an offer on a small tractor that he's got, no cab and just a nicely shaped seat. It would look really good tided up in my garden

 

[GW8IZR]

There's a farmer down the road from me and he's got loads and I mean loads of trucks and assorted agricultural machinery. I'm often tempted to make him an offer on a small tractor that he's got, no cab and just a nicely shaped seat. It would look really good tided up in my garden

Me and 'er brother have a '54 Allis Chalmers which is a pretty tractor and its not a long way from show condition.. but it started getting hard to start / turn over and I think its picked up the mains at some point so thats another project :-) anyway sorry for the thread hijack

 

[ned]

haha ) no need to worry, i love the idea of a tractor as a garden ornament ) bang on the money, thats almost what this is at this point

 

[Shox Dr]

but honest, i cant see it ever getting on the road.

I ca see the reason why, you've built a brick shed on the back.

Nice winch, you cant beat a worndrive, far stronger and safer than direct planetary.

 

[Kent]

Such things can create legal minefields if used on the road
Lots of forces involved make sure you have more than finger in the air guessing to go off as although you hopefully won't need it the calculations could be gold dust if something goes wrong one day

 

[ned]

Kent do you mean the ability of the bumper to crumple in a collision?

 

[Kent]

Kent do you mean the ability of the bumper to crumple in a collision?

Or hit a pedestrian making thier injury worse even if it is thier fault you hit them
This is already covered under bull bar legislation. Type approval and more
But I also mean if it's not already covered by being a lifting item under hse have you got calcs to show the bolts you used were adequate. The plate and the welding. Design etc on and on
I don't think utility companies and the forestry commission started putting winches in the back for no good reason

Just the way things are now you need not only cover yourself in law but also in liability / negligence

Don't want to detract from your thread just saying get something done and recorded to cover your back adequately incase the worst happens

 

[ned]

good point, thanks for making it. Will have to look at that.

 

[clift_d]

If you've got the original bumper, is there enough space behind to flip the winch and mount it next to the towing eye with the motor on the right, then bring the cable through a fairlead fixed to the bumper? That way you'd still be using the OEM bumper installation as per the manufacturer's original design and the winch would be safely encased / tucked away in a collision.

It would make a great expedition camper if you can find a suitable box for the back.

 

[ned]

nah the winch wont fit behind the OG bumper. Plus the bumper is not a happy bumper, its warped passed the point of recovering it.
I'm going to finish this bumper regardless, I'm enjoying it.