Just Empty Every Pocket

JEEP - always a never ending project, no matter how built it gets.

Dedicated to my current jeep project, Red Beard, a 1997 Jeep Wrangler TJ. Nothing too crazy this go 'round, just an all around capable, get me out there with enough to get me back, type of rig. Keep watch for updates and changes!

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Front bumper changes...



The previous owner of my TJ made front and rear custom bumpers. 
Some things I liked about them, some things not so much (like the square stinger).
I met a guy that liked the front bumper I had and actually wanted to buy it, so I sold it to him and found myself in need of something new.

I know John Buzzell from my last jeep build, where he helped me get ridiculously good prices on Rubicon Express long arms, front track bar, and a few other small items. 
He said he had a JK (2007+) Wrangler front bumper from Poison Spyder Customs that he could cut me a crazy deal on. 
Being one to almost never pass up a great deal, I bought it and went abut seeing how to make it work on my TJ.
The bumper measured 1/4" more narrow than my front frame/crossmember so I knew I needed to cut any and all excess metal from the front end, and on top of that I still had to plasma cut off the bumper's side plates to get it to fit my front end. 
Enter Dr. Smash. Eric Bevans has a custom fabrication shop in Carson City, NV and he will build anything, seriously. He is a wizard of metal.
I contacted him to see if he could help me out and sure enough, he came through in spades. 
He cut the front plates off, chopped the inner gussets which were too long and basically made the bumper fit like a glove, and he did it all for free.
Thank you again, Eric!

Here is the bumper pre-surgery-

here are the inner gussets-

and here is the plate freed from the bumper-

After the bumper was made ready by Eric, I still needed to do a few minor things in order to make it all bolt down easily.
I mentioned before that the mounting is slightly different from TJ to JK, so I needed to widen the holes by about 1/4" each.
I had to drill them out and viola, it all fit. There are locations for 4 bolts to mount on top and 2 for the bottom, and this goes for the TJ and the JK.
The difference is that the upper rear mount holes for the JK (the ones nearest to the grill) are actually in the same location as one of the mounting holes for the TJ sway bar. 
I went ahead and ran the bolt through the sway bar mount and into the bumper. 
I did have to add a washer to the rear mounts of the sway bar to level it out, but it worked perfectly.
I still need to drill out 2 more holes in the top of the bumper to mount 2 more grade 8 bolts in the stock TJ bumper bolt locations, I just ran out of time today.
The 6 bolts holding it on will do for now though.
Eventually I will also weld back on the side plates for a cleaner and finished look and some added strength, but again, its current form will do for now.

the front end, basically done-

the bumper fit nicely with my existing steer box guard too-

and finally, a detail shot of the poison spyder cutout - a very, very nice touch I think-

Overall, I am extremely pleased with the build quality of the bumper. 
Poison Spyder Customs' attention to detail is amazing and the fit and finish is top notch. 
I highly recommend them for all your Jeep aftermarket needs.
Thanks again to Dr. Smash as well for his unparalleled service and help. 


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