starting stock stubby / hidden winch project

got the plastic welder today. need to see if 4wp has the smitty built 8k xrc comp instock (synthetic line) and have to go back to harbor freight to get the winch plate.

will post up pics as i progress... then again this may turn into a "why i should have bought a shrockworks bumper" thread...

word of warning...welding is SLOWWW process and isn't as strong as you think it is going to be. I ended up welding my one of my bumper ends the first time around (as a test) and did the "kick" test...after 2 swift kicks, off it flew! That's why I ended up going with the rivet/weld attachment detail for my stock stubby. Just 2 cents from someone who's been there and done that.

I've actually dinged a small tree with the end in Spring Creek and it is still on with no damage. And at Tree's, my front tire rubbed the end during some crazy flex moment...didn't tear it off although it sounded like it did for sure!! Plastic welds may not have been so lucky!

thanks for the tip... i will reinforce the welds with some duct tape on the inside

:worthless:

i have not started yet... i thought i was going to start yesterday, but that didn't happen...

You have to commit man!

jeeperjennie wrote:

:worthless:

Why is this so small?

i guess like cutting fenders, the hardest part is getting started and making the first cut. with the temp dropping, i think i will wait till wednesday to make the cuts.

i hit a good bonus at work today, so i am half way to a real bumper anyways. I am thinking a rugged ridge or something simple like that. i really am liking the idea of a hidden winch though... oh well.

oh yeah - screw mitchell hill!

Searching for a stock stubby write up and found this old thread.

It looks like there are two options, plastic welding or rivots. Are there any pics of either method? I don't have either tool. Anyone have one I can borrow or are they cheap to buy? What can be used to cut the bumper? All I have is a typical powersaw and a rotozip. I don't know if the rotozip wheel blade would cut a straight enough line.

I was talking with a friend at work about doing the stubby cut. He offered me his basic X stock bumper with no fog lights to practice on. So I can cut it and try it out without risk to my bumper.

Any advice?

Paging akonious. Your experience is needed sir?

i have to find the site that i had... i think it was on the bad forum...

JK-fredd0 wrote:

i have to find the site that i had... i think it was on the bad forum...

hehe...yea, you prob read my post on "The forum we speak of"! LOL!

Bizarro wrote:

Searching for a stock stubby write up and found this old thread.

It looks like there are two options, plastic welding or rivots. Are there any pics of either method? I don't have either tool. Anyone have one I can borrow or are they cheap to buy? What can be used to cut the bumper? All I have is a typical powersaw and a rotozip. I don't know if the rotozip wheel blade would cut a straight enough line.

I was talking with a friend at work about doing the stubby cut. He offered me his basic X stock bumper with no fog lights to practice on. So I can cut it and try it out without risk to my bumper.

Any advice?

Bizarro - Give me a bit and I'll post up my writeup on this forum, I did a full writeup last year on the "other" forum. I'll put it here in the "Home Brew" thread. I basically used rivets *and* welded...sounds like you already have what you need to! I used a jigsaw with a good wood blade to cut the plastic and the rotozip to chop the steel inner bumper. For the welding - a good high wattage soldering iron will do...but you'll need a spade bit. Should have the post up later on...pm me with any questions.

akonius wrote:

Bizarro - Give me a bit and I'll post up my writeup on this forum, I did a full writeup last year on the "other" forum. I'll put it here in the "Home Brew" thread. I basically used rivets *and* welded...sounds like you already have what you need to! I used a jigsaw with a good wood blade to cut the plastic and the rotozip to chop the steel inner bumper. For the welding - a good high wattage soldering iron will do...but you'll need a spade bit. Should have the post up later on...pm me with any questions.

Sorry for bringiing this thread back to life, but after some JK soul searching I think this is the route I want to go for now. This offers everything I want (mid-width and winch) until I'm ready (skill wise and dollar wise) to pull the trigger on a lift and other goodies. This thought is further cemented by the fact I am having to switch daycares for my 2 year old becuase he just got bit for the 3rd time since he started in February (WTF!?) - the new place is a lot more expensive so JK mods will need to sit for a bit, but hey, that's parenting right!?

Anyways, to the point, did this write up ever get posted? I haven't seen anything although I guess I could do a search on everyone's favorite forum...

Thanks, as always!

EDIT: Found the write-up on JKF. Great write-up by the way, just not sure if I have the skills/patience for this...

Art,

Just do it. Take your time and you will do just fine.
If your not happy with the result, it is always easy to find a new stock bumper somewhere. Or look for a donor bumper first, and then start your project.

This is one of the many projects I'd like to attempt once I have a garage. It's going to be a minimum of two years before I can upgrade my front bumper so I'd definitely like to make it a little more functional and chop it down.

Great Pumpkin wrote:

This is one of the many projects I'd like to attempt once I have a garage. It's going to be a minimum of two years before I can upgrade my front bumper so I'd definitely like to make it a little more functional and chop it down.

I have a garage, you can come over and we will do them both...yours first though!

That's a mighty far drive to use your garage. I've been keeping an eye out for a cheap bumper so experiment with in case I butcher it. Mine is the basic X bumper with stock front hooks cut into it (which was much more of a PITA than I expected). I'm hoping to find an upgraded bumper with the fogs and hook cutouts already to chop up.

I've go a free plastic bumper cover with ding in the passenger side. you could expirement with it.


FREE ..... just get it out of my garage......... please

if it has foglight and tow hook cutouts I would be very tempted in picking it up. I'm heading down to Kingsville this weekend and I may have to figure out a way to swing wide and get close to you.

yup. fog light & tow hook cut outs. fog lights are gone tho. I'll be out of town this weekend, but can prolly leave it with someone in town if anyone is avail.

Ugh, that's so tempting but I don't know if the wife is going to want to turn the already 3.5 hour drive out to Kingsville into a 6 hour haul.

JK4AER, you should scoop up this bumper to take some practice swings on.

Great Pumpkin wrote:

Ugh, that's so tempting but I don't know if the wife is going to want to turn the already 3.5 hour drive out to Kingsville into a 6 hour haul.

JK4AER, you should scoop up this bumper to take some practice swings on.

I think I'm going to go for it the first time with mine, probably won't get on it for another week or two though. If I screw mine up too bad, then maybe I'll take jkx0778 up on it!

Damn IT !!! i can't get rid of this thing and it's FREEEEEEE

Great Pumpkin wrote:

Ugh, that's so tempting but I don't know if the wife is going to want to turn the already 3.5 hour drive out to Kingsville into a 6 hour haul.

JK4AER, you should scoop up this bumper to take some practice swings on.

man, how fast do you drive to make it to kingsville in 3.5 hours? used to take us 6 hours when we were on the king ranch