brush guard, push bar, bull bar.

[allmntrider]

I got my brush guard at the swap meet for $60 it's off a 93 suburban it's called the rancher and is made by Go industries here in the U.S.A. It came with the o.g mounting hardware which I adapted to fit my custom bumper. First I'll explain the custom bumper. I used my original bumper and another one from the junk yard. I cut a few inch's off the ends of the original then cut 2' off each end of the JY bumper. I then screwed the 2' pieces to the original with a foot of overlap and welded it from behind. I mounted the bumper back up. I took a straight edge laid it up against the wheel wells across the ends of the bumper and marked it. I then cut it, welded 20 gauge to the sides. I ground it to match the contour of the bumper, filled the lap where the two bumpers met,and ground it flush. My next step was mounting the brush guard. I had all he o.g hardware which wasn't that close but I made it work.(I mounted it by myself it was heavy) First I got some ratchet straps and some scrap 2x. I strapped the guard to the front using the blocks of wood to evenly space the bumper from the grill. After I was happy with the position of it I altered the brackets. The top brackets I reshaped. First I flattened them out on my welding table with a double jack( 8lb sledge hammer). I then put them in my vise and used a cresent wrench and a ball pein hammer to reshape them to fit my bumper. I got the pieces mocked up and drilled the top holes where they needed to be. Next I took some angle iron I had laying around and drilled a few hole with my drill press. I then plug welded it to the inside of the guard and drilled more holes in the bumper using the new hangers as the template. Next I unstrapped it all and laid it on the welding table. I took a lot of 1/8x 3" steel strap. I drilled some more holes for the bolts and stitch welded it to the inside of the bumper. I made the pieces long enough to span between the bracing on the bumper and welded it up. coated the bumper with herculiner and mounted it up It's real solid. The skeleton I made from the strap really made it rigid. I'll take some pictures of the inside of the bumper for a visual reference of what I did when I mount the receiver behind the bumper for the movable winch.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Very nice, thanks! I like the way you modified the stock bumper re-inforcement with pieces from a second bumper and end caps.

[Astrophysics]

Very clever!
I may copy that approach to install a brush guard on my 2003 AWD.
Or I may reinforce oem bumper and then bolt on a HD Warn winch bumper.

AP

[allmntrider]

thanks AP. Weight is a issue for torsion bars. that's why I didn't fab up a beefier bumper from scratch. my bumper and brush guard weighs around 70-75 lbs that's way less then a plate steel warn style bumper. in my opinion that's about all the weight these van's should handle on a daily bases. Add another 80+lbs for a winch and gravity takes over. (we all know about gravity and sagging right?) for the sake of not wearing out my torsion bars I'll mount a receiver behind it for a remote winch I can leave at home till I go out where I might need it. besides being able to use the winch front or rear is key for easy recovery while wheeling. I wish my fj40 had a rear winch it would be al lot easier then chaining blocks and shackles to my axles to feed the winch line through for a reverse pull.

[Astrophysics]

Yes the weight could add up fast. Hopefully aluminum Warn or ARB bumpers will someday be common place.
Good idea on receiver mounted winch.
AP