Unless you are dead-set on a TUBE bumper...A plate bumper isn't really all that hard....I built my rear bumper for around $250. I know...pics or it never happened.....I know the mounting would be a bit different for a front bumper...I have an ARB on the front, and I mounted it myself....Wasn't about to pay someone to do that.....A homemade front bumper isn't gonna have have the R&D behind that an ARB has....but it's definitely do-able. The nice thing about a plate bumper, from a home fabrication standpoint, is that foam board comes in 3/16" thickness....Around $3 for a 2'x3' (?) sheet....I built my rear bumper by making a mock up using several sheets of foam board, some masking tape, a straight edge, a razor knife and tin snips (for cutting foam board...tin snips cut foam board cleaner than scissors...) I transferred my final designs to 3/16" A36 steel plate, for all of the outer shell, and inner gussets. The bumper is mounted using 1/4" by 1 1/2" (?) angle steel....the angle steel is welded into two receiver hitch inserts that I cut two sides off of the receiver section, to weld the angle onto...the ball mount part of the receiver hitch inserts come through the shell of the bumper, and are welded to the shell front and rear, and extra gussets are welded to them on the inside...The angle steel mounts to the stock frame hitch, and gas tank skid bolt holes....I got the idea for using the hitch inserts from people here on LOST who were using them to make front recovery points...so the idea is totally do-able...Oh yeah...I cut all the steel with nothing more than a 4 1/2" angle grinder, and all of the welding was done with a Hobart Mig...Yes, it's a 110 volt...do I trust that for a serious pull on my recovery points....not fully...Gonna re-do those now that I have a 220 volt....do I trust those welds on the shell of the bumper...oh yeah.... My total cash outlay, including the price of welder was probably around $900....can I count the welder as cost for the bumper...nah...but making your own stuff is priceless....There's no feeling like saying "I made it myself" when someone asks "Where'd you buy that bumper?" I also bought about twice the amount of steel I needed...It was cheaper to buy a full 4'x8' piece...I had other projects in mind also....
_________________ Black '05 Renegade. Front suspension: Frankenlift, Moog HD LBJ's, Audiboy cut CV's Rear suspension: OME 948's, 2 extra upper ISO's, Rancho RS 5000 shocks. 31X10.50X15 Duratrac's/ProComp 152's ARB bumper, Mopar skids, JCR stage III's, Reese hitch with tractor lights, Champion shackle insert, "homebrew" on board air, 1000 watt inverter
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