custom bumper mounts

[Luxton]

hey all... buildin a bumper, was wondering if someone could lend some guidance on the mounts.

this is what I have so far



as you can see, I have it mounted to the body, what you don't see is 2 chunks of 1/4" steel welded together and mounted to the 2 holes in the frame the tow bar is attached through as well.

So, what I'm wondering... should I remove the body mounts and ONLY have the bumper mounted through the frame rails?  Kinda concerned that the stress on the bumper might pull on the body more than the frame rails and end up messing my body up.

Tips appreciated

[sys_eng]

On mine I used the Facory mounting holes and with a little grinding put a pice of 2X2 1/4 inch angle iron in side the frame rail that goes back about 24 inches, I fit every thing together & marked the holes, I then welded nuts to the inside of the angle iron. Currently I have huge washers on the outside of the frame rail, I am planning to put some 3x4 angle iron there instead, btw I used the factory bolts to mount to the original mount point and 5/8 inch grade 8 for the angle iron (iirc 6 per side) I might be able to take some pics later if you would like. The way i did mine any stress is spread over quite a large area, going way back into the frame rail (about 10 inches farther than the factory hitch mount) insures that I should not have any problems towing or during recovery.

[Luxton]

pics would rock!

thanks!

[cablesmurf]

Here is a pic of a bumper that my buddy built for my first XJ. We made new beefier (body) mounts for the factory location, and we used some 1" flatbar and ran it down the frame rails and attacted them to the factory hitch holes. Sorry, I don'd have any pics of the mounting setup.

Hope this helps.

[Luxton]

Thanks Dan... that does help.

nice gas tank skid plate

[cablesmurf]

hehehe....believe it or not, that's not the one I sold you!