UPDATED PICS page 5: Front Bumper by Rock Lizard

Rock Lizard · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:05 am

OK, had Teds KJ in the shop all weekend, and finally got some work done on the front bumper. It's not complete, and not perfect, but the pictures will give you an idea where I am going with it. This is about as good as it gets without completely removing the washer bottle (what the heck was DC thinking on this thing???). I also had to leave room behind the bumper for the mounting bracketry, hitch and shackle tab bracing, etc. Anyways, sorry they are bad pictures, I just took them half an hour ago.

Here's the original CAD design:

And here's the poster board mockup:

The bumper will use the stock signal assembly. It will be frenched into the bumper a little lower than positioned here, but you get the idear.

Gringo Loco · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:10 am

Looks good so far, can't wait to see the final product. Thanx for what you are doing.

0311_DoC · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:11 am

OH YEA !!!!! Keep em comming RL...............

ManicMechanicJoe · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:14 am

I want it-it makes the Jeep look taller...better approach angle...a place to put a winch... can't wait to see whats next

SavageSS27 · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:17 am

Looks great!!!

But now i'm gonna grill you with questions...

Will this be a winch mount bumper?
Will it have shackle tabs?
Will it incorporate the stock fog lights?
Any estimates on cost?

Again, looks awesome, keep up the great work

ManicMechanicJoe · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:32 am

in a previous post he (Rock Lizard) talked about all of this:

It will have a front mount reciever built in so yes you CAN mount a winch to it using a cradle.
It will have a recovery point or points of some kind and I believe shackle tabs were the idea.
No stock foglights to save on production costs. The Hella 500 is an excellent replacement though.
Weren't price estimates in the $600 range?

rocketjocky · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:38 am

Ok so this is probably a dumb question but.... How does this bumper ( or the ARB ) take in to account the air bag sensors? Aren’t they mounted in the bumper???

Sorry if this has been asked before.

Gringo Loco · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:39 am

no if I remember they are mounted on the radiator support beams.

ManicMechanicJoe · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:42 am

they are mounted to the radiator core support and operate off of sudden g's (you need to throw two switches at the same time by moving a BB to close the circuit inside of the switch).

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 1:29 am

Hubba Hubba Hubba....

Drool

Drool

Ga Ga

Edwin · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 1:42 am

Very nice! :wink:

jpzkj · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 2:15 am

Looks like its about as tall (top to bottom as the stock bumper cover).

Could the lower portion go back at a steeper angle towards the bottom of the radiator ? Or maybe even flat to allow for Hi-lifting across the front of the bumper ? We can re-locate the washer bottle...thats easy enough.

Maybe just 1/2 of the height from the 1st lower angle and then straight back towards the radiator ?

Sure is nice that someone is making this happen ! Keep up the good work

Rock Lizard · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 2:30 am

jpzkj wrote:

Looks like its about as tall (top to bottom as the stock bumper cover).

Could the lower portion go back at a steeper angle towards the bottom of the radiator ? Or maybe even flat to allow for Hi-lifting across the front of the bumper ?

Sure is nice that someone is making this happen ! Keep up the good work

It is almost as tall, but the stock bumper sticks out 1.5" further and the stock bumper doesn't have the angle the lower section of my bumper has.

There will be "T" shaped slots for Highlift mounting points. Safer that way.

I could make the bumper with a steeper angle, but that stupid washer bottle is just hangin' down there. That is as close as it gets to the bottle without touching. Removing, relocating, or replacing the stock washer bottle would be a real nightmare, and I am trying to keep everyone happy by not altering the stock KJ setup as much as possible.

If everyone would ditch the washer bottle, then this bumper would have a much better angle, but I have noticed a lot of negative reaction just at the thought of even having to trim the flares (yes, you have to trim the flares.)

What do you guys think? Would you ditch the washer bottle for a better angle? I was looking at the bottle with Ted, and he suggested it could be moved or replaced, but it will not be easy. If you guys have the heart to do it, I can figure a way to tear apart the stock bottle and relocate it. There is room for relocation just up from the stock position by the radiator, but the filler neck would have to be cut down and epoxied back together so it is shorter. Maybe I could send a replacement bottle already shortened, and have a core charge, so the buyer sends the old bottle back to me to get there core back so that I can keep shortening bottles. What are your thoughts on this? I don't know yet if that would work with shortening the filler necks on the bottles, but it would be worth a try for a better angle, higher clearance bumper.

Rock Lizard · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 2:33 am

jpzkj wrote:

We can re-locate the washer bottle...thats easy enough.

I guess I overlooked this part of your post. You say easy enough. Care to enlighten us? Like I mentioned, that dang filler neck is a mile long. I looked all over the engine bay, and the only good spot that didn't require rewiring/hoses was the cubby right above the stock position by the radiator, and the filler neck would have to be shortened. How would you do it?

jpzkj · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 2:34 am

CA. Wally has one of the ALL J bumpers and relocated his washer bottle by using a "universal" bottle from auto parts store and mounted the pump onto it.

There was a write up about it on the old board....

Seems like I remember him saying it only took him a hour or so to do the work. The bottle is only 10 bucks or so.

Rock Lizard · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 2:36 am

Wally's got the slick Camo rig right? I'll get ahold of him and see what he used. If it is that simple, I'll pick up this new bottle, test it out, and redesign the front bumper.

Thanks for that info.

jpzkj · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 2:40 am

I did a search and found this on an ARB bumper thread.

[quote="KJ04"]Adam,
no problem in doing it later, took me less than an hour to pull the stock one out, drill holes, ect..

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?categorycode=3052&mfrcode=IDN&mfrpartnumber=BVR4

[/

jpzkj · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 2:42 am

Here's the link to the thread ...I think Wally mounted his near the radiator if I remember right.

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=3999&highlight=washer+bottle+relocate

0311_DoC · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 2:48 am

What about the CRD engine compartment, I think there is a lot less room in there than the 3.7 ????

Rock Lizard · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2006 2:49 am

That looks like it would work. Would that bottle in that location work on all the 02-06 KJ's? Is there anything in that spot that would cause that bottle to not work? Would you guys be fine with relocating the bottle like this? That looks like a very cheap and easy solution for getting a much better slimmer designed bumper. I'll start a new thread asking this same question for better response. If the mods think another thread discussing relocating the washer bottle is inappropriate, please delete it and let me know.

UPDATED PICS page 5: Front Bumper by Rock Lizard

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