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$100-ish Rear Bumper....

CJ7Pilot

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My Scrambler came without a rear bumper, because somewhere along the line it was ripped out of its bolt holes, leaving the rear cross-member mangled (see cross-member replacement here: https://www.cj-8.com/threads/rear-cross-member-replacement-body-on.49395/#post-411353 ).

I've never liked the trailer lights that were slapped on to the backs of our CJs, so I decided to try something different.

I started with a piece of 3x5x1/8 steel tube (I've had this for a while, but I think it cost around $30-$40):

bumper - 1.jpg

I laid out the size and shape:

bumper - 2.jpg

It was a little wide at first, but I trimmed it down to the width of the body:

bumper - 5.jpg
 

CJ7Pilot

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Next, I laid out the cut-outs for some LED lighting... I think the lighting was around $65.00:

bumper - 6.jpg

I cut the holes:

bumper - 8.jpg

And they worked out pretty well:

bumper - 10.jpg
 
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CJ7Pilot

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Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my plasma cutter? Yep, I know I have.

Honestly, this little tool, along with the small wire welder underneath, has handled 90% of my metal working needs:

bumper - 11.jpg

Anyhow, here's the mock-up of my bumper:

bumper - 12.jpg

bumper - 13.jpg

The good thing is, I don't have to hack the wiring harness too badly... I'll just pull it inside the bumper through a grommet, and hook it up!

Yes, the trailer lights will be removed from the back of my Scrambler.... :eek:

I'll keep you posted! :cheers:
 
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Belizeit

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That looks good to me ! Are they water proof for river crossings ? Just asking. :)
 

CJ7Pilot

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They should be, yes... but I'll probably never know for sure.... :shrug::wave:
 

mhinchliffe

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W-S
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NC
well done, great execution. box out those ends with some plate and make a few small weep/drain holes in the bottom. Powdercoat?
 

CJ7Pilot

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Boxed ends for sure, with a surprise touch. ;)

No powder coat though... Rust-Oleum hammered metal makes for a nice bumper finish. :thumbsup:
 
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bigwalton

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Boxed ends for sure, with a surprise touch. ;)

No powder coat though... Krylon hammered metal makes for a nice bumper finish. :thumbsup:

Love me some hammered finish spray paint. I use that stuff all the time, so easy to touch up.

Have you already looked behind the stock tail lights to what you’ll be exposing?

Removing those is kind of like putting a YJ grill on a CJ to me, they’re iconic, but to each their own! Bumper looks great.
 

mhinchliffe

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W-S
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NC
had a buddy that made one out of well casing, capped the ends and used it as a portable air tank. It didn't have penetrations tho. The hammertone is definitely a cool finish!
 

CJ7Pilot

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Love me some hammered finish spray paint. I use that stuff all the time, so easy to touch up.

Have you already looked behind the stock tail lights to what you’ll be exposing?

Removing those is kind of like putting a YJ grill on a CJ to me, they’re iconic, but to each their own! Bumper looks great.

Yeah, I'm not really sure what I'm going to do there.

I'd really like to install round flush mounted tail lights... I think that's the iconic look you're talking about.

I think the trailer lights were an easy answer to changing lighting requirements in the 70s, and somehow they stuck around for decades! They always looked like an afterthought to me, though.

When I was first thinking about this bumper, my plan was to build in dual swing-away carriers that hinged on the ends, and latched in the middle. I was going to put the spare tire on one side, and gas cans on the other.

Covering up the whole back end meant that I would have to relocate the tail lights, so in my mind I moved them to the bumper.

I've abandoned the swing-away carriers, but I wanted to give the bumper lights a try. I can always change it later. :wave:
 
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bigwalton

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Obviously I don’t have too much issue with it as I went flush mounted when I got my armor. Didn’t realize I needed to order the version to keep those lights so it was kind of forced by my screw up.
 

Belizeit

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I'm no fabricator, but I like your idea on the swing a way carriers, especially if you are out of the n the trails a lot.
 

ag4ever

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With your new hard top, I'd still go tire carrier, but swing the whole thing in the direction of the barn door.
 
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bigwalton

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FWIW From my own experience with the adjustable mounting setup for the spare on my TNT tire carrier on the CJ and the adjustable GR8TOPS carrier on the LJ, the limiting issue with that plan is how far centered the tire has to be in order to swing out the carrier without hitting the body. I wanted to have mine (35”) further to the driver side but when I tried it, the tire hit the rear corner of the body too early and I basically had to center the tire.

Without pushing the tire out further from the body or radically changing the pivot location, this becomes your issue. Pushing the tire from the body just increases the leverage and instability, so you end up with what you see with most carriers centering the tire. I suppose if you outboarded the pivots pretty drastically you could get around it though.
 

CJ7Pilot

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My pivots were going to be way out on the ends, like on a Runck.

Dang-it, now you guys have me thinking about it again! :crazy:
 

walkerhoundvm

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Really nice execution, and good choice on paint. I had a guy in CO make me a set of bumpers, wish he'd had the option to embed lights like that, but I didn't even think about it. He used a rustoleum textured spray, and I'm thankful all the time because it's so easy and cheap to touch up every 5yrs or so. Really nice contrast with shiny bits, too.
 

designerRob

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barrys

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designerRob

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