DIY IFS bumper
Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2022 9:58 am
After hitting a francolin (patrys) some time ago, and having it punch a hole in the front plastic valance, a steel bumper has been on my to do list. The costs of an off the shelf one are prohibitive, so I thought that I would see if I can make one.
I took off the bumper and using manual Cardboard Aided Design, made a template.
Then after some careful measuring, transferred the measurements to real CAD. I've been slowly figuring out how to use Onshape, a free to use for DIY online CAD.
The design is here: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/e3...f7ca3ce79dbafc
I've even managed to make it parametric enough that I can hopefully adapt it for the SFA Hilux that a friend owns and that shares the same chassis and mounting points.
R2.3k for cutting and bending in 2mm flat plate. I've omitted the internal bracing for now, as I need to first test fit to test for clearance.
First test fit after tack welding
More welding and the internal bracing going in:
I hit a snag, the wings of the bumper that meet up with the fenders were being pulled out of position, and the top surface was twisted.
To remove the twist I had to cut my tacks holding them to the centre section. Taking out the twist then left me with a gap up to 3mm wide to fill. Fortunately I found that you can use welding rod with the flux removed or thin pieces of scrap as filler. You create the usual puddle with the arc and then push the extra rod/scrap into it to give you additional material to fill with. It's kinda like TIG welding I guess.
Ready for paint:
Primed with one coat of NS5, then two coats of NS4 and once it is properly dry, two coats of a hammerite finish:
Finished and fitted:
I took off the bumper and using manual Cardboard Aided Design, made a template.
Then after some careful measuring, transferred the measurements to real CAD. I've been slowly figuring out how to use Onshape, a free to use for DIY online CAD.
The design is here: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/e3...f7ca3ce79dbafc
I've even managed to make it parametric enough that I can hopefully adapt it for the SFA Hilux that a friend owns and that shares the same chassis and mounting points.
R2.3k for cutting and bending in 2mm flat plate. I've omitted the internal bracing for now, as I need to first test fit to test for clearance.
First test fit after tack welding
More welding and the internal bracing going in:
I hit a snag, the wings of the bumper that meet up with the fenders were being pulled out of position, and the top surface was twisted.
To remove the twist I had to cut my tacks holding them to the centre section. Taking out the twist then left me with a gap up to 3mm wide to fill. Fortunately I found that you can use welding rod with the flux removed or thin pieces of scrap as filler. You create the usual puddle with the arc and then push the extra rod/scrap into it to give you additional material to fill with. It's kinda like TIG welding I guess.
Ready for paint:
Primed with one coat of NS5, then two coats of NS4 and once it is properly dry, two coats of a hammerite finish:
Finished and fitted: