Toyota FZJ80 rear bumper build

[Greg]

I started with ordering some parts from McMaster-Carr. I bought 2, 700# draw pull latches for securing the swingouts, as well as 2 spring-loaded pull pins. The pins will hold the swingouts closed in case the latches fail, and they will also be setup to hold the swingouts open, when needed. I have the idea in my head, we will see how well it works out in reality.

I decided to go ahead and cover the bumper with POR15, since it had already been riddled with rust. I cleaned it up best I could, but it had seen a significant amount of scaling and rust damage. Not wanting it to rust up again, I thought POR15 would be a good choice, somewhat affordable and something I could apply in my garage.

I bought the POR15 Solvent because I intended to spray it, not brush or roll it on. They recommend thinning it with 5% Solvent, but not just any solvent. They claim that not all solvents work well with their product, so I went ahead and picked up what I needed.

I mentioned spraying it... I have applied POR15 with a brush before and it's long, tedious work. I really liked the idea of spraying it and knew I could do a good enough job, so I bought a super-cheap HVLP spray gun from Harbor Freight. Yeah, I know... I hate cheap tools too, but for $15 I decided it would be the easiest way to apply the POR15 and if I had to, I could throw the gun away if it wasn't working right or got destroyed by the POR15.

I prepped the bumper, wiped it down with thinner and removed any junk that I didn't want in the way. I spread a drop cloth in the garage, covered up anything important and started spraying, after thinning the POR15.

I was actually very impressed with how well the cheapo Harbor Freight HVLP gun works! The bumper looks great, the gun cleaned up quick and easy and it will last for quite a bit longer. I think it will become the official POR15 spray gun. I will apply a 2nd coat of POR15 tomorrow, then cover the the entire thing with Rustoleum Gloss Black, to provide a UV protectant for the POR15.

I still have swing-outs, tire carrier, jerry can carrier, latches and much more to figure out, but I think it will really help me out to get the bumper mounted on the FZJ and continue building from there.

 

[Caleb]

Nice, I like the idea of those spring loaded pins as secondary mechanisms to keep it closed as well to keep them open. I look forward to seeing how it comes out.

 

[SAMI]

Lookin good Greg. I've seen the spring loaded pins used to hold the swing outs open, but not as secondary locks in the closed position; I like it.

 

[SUPERFLY]

Very cool! Maybe this will motivate me to do something with my 80 stock bumper that's falling off

 

[1995zj]

Nice! I'll have to bookmark this thread so when the time comes to build a bumper for my 80 I have something to check out!

 

[ricsrx]

Subscribed!

 

[Greg]

Well, the bumper is painted and on the FZJ! I sprayed a 2nd coat of POR15, let it get tacky and after a couple hours, I hit it with an overcoat of Rustoleum. I must have been used to the thick POR15 because I ended up with several runs of the Rustoleum, mostly in the vertical panels. Oh well, it looks OK... just not as good as it could.

It was a fight to get it back on, first of it's just plain HEAVY. Second, some of the holes were off. I used ratchet straps and a come along to get it into place. Once it was bolted up I added the Slee Offroad receiver hitch, and the supports that go behind it. It's not built for a heavy load, but a small trailer will be just fine.

After all that, I went ahead and installed the cheapo JC Whitney lights. I moved the light mounts back in the bumper, as both lights were broken out when I got the bumper. I'm believe that I will still have plenty of useful lights, but that they are now better protected. I will wire them up later on.

Here's how it ended up-

I'm putting off fabbing the swingouts... Not because I don't want them, but that it's going to require some good technical thinking and I was burned out, didn't feel like thinking that hard this weekend.

They'll come soon enough, I was really in the mood to do something else though, so I decided to start on the front bumper and winch mount. Linky! http://www.rme4x4.com/showthread.php?p=748758 :greg:

 

[MOODY]

Looks fantastic...80's need something to drag around on the rocks.

 

[Greg]

Looks fantastic...80's need something to drag around on the rocks.

Thanks Roger! It should provide the needed clearance and beef for the arse end of the fat FZJ.

 

[Greg]

A couple months have passed and I was sick of the 35" spare banging around in the back of the FZJ.... it was time to build a swing out tire carrier!

I already had the spindle built into the bumper, so I started from there. I cut a piece of 2" square and bent it to match the bumper, and tack welded it and fit it in place. I also used the circular saw to cut down some HDPE, which was originally a cutting board I bought at Sams Club. The HDPE is meant to be the support for the whole thing, spreading the weight over a decent distance and taking most of the load off the hinge while bouncing down the trail.

I started fitting things up, seeing where I wanted the tire to sit. I decided to leave the lower sleeve out, since the added height was a bit much for my need. The lower brass bushing sits on the weld... not perfect, but it works.

I wanted the tire carrier to be very beefy and not flex at all. I added quite a bit of bracing and triangulation to accomplish this. The tire mount is actually a rear axle shaft from an early Toyota mini-truck. Thanks for the axle Shane! I also added a stop using some beefy plate steel, so the carrier wouldn't swing into the tailgate.

It was really starting to come together, time to add the hardware! I welded in the pull-pin that will lock the carrier opened and closed, and drilled the holes into the bumper, that the pull pin will drop into. I drilled and tapped the bolt holes for the latch, then drilled, tapped the bottom of the carrier and counter-sunk holes in the HDPE for bolts to sit inside the plastic.

I was pretty happy with it at this point, so out came the paint.

Guess I need to move the location of the license plate now!

Then it was time for the trail test, to make sure it was rattle and squeak-free...

 

[Greg]

I took a quick trip out to Rabbit Valley in the evening and hit the rocky roads and wash crossings to see if the spare tire mount was solid... and it was! No movement at all, looks great to me. We'll see how well it works over time.

Next up... the swing-out fuel can carrier!

 

[Caleb]

That looks awesome. I usually don't dig most swing-outs, but I think this one turned out very nice. Good Job!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Looks great Greg!

 

[solidfrontaxle]

I love what you've done with the thing! Good planning on making it as stiff as possible. By the end, it looks like it will be similar but much better than the 4x4labs one. My 'labs bumper has tons of flex on both swingouts and my highlift jack braket has broke off twice from fatigue.

 

[Greg]

That looks awesome. I usually don't dig most swing-outs, but I think this one turned out very nice. Good Job!

Looks great Greg!

Thanks guys! To be honest with you, it's not as 'finished' as I would have liked, I kind of rushed thru it. I built the swingout over an easy day and it still has some rough edges still. It works fine though and I'm happy with that.

I love what you've done with the thing! Good planning on making it as stiff as possible. By the end, it looks like it will be similar but much better than the 4x4labs one. My 'labs bumper has tons of flex on both swingouts and my highlift jack braket has broke off twice from fatigue.

Thanks! This bumper is so heavy... without the swingout! It better be beefy! The top plate I added was way too thick, I should have gone with something much thinner. I don't ever plan on taking the bumper off... I don't know if I could ever get it back on.

The bumper itself has been great, I've put a lot into it so far, but it made a great base to build off from. It's super beefy, that's for sure!

 

[Panos]

Looks good, what size tire are you running ?

 

[Greg]

Looks good, what size tire are you running ?

Thanks Nick! Those are 315/75/16's.... or 35's, if you prefer.

 

[Panos]

That size looks perfect I think I will run that on my new build. I love 80's so much. I will have one one day.