Winch Bumper Construction... FINISHED!!!

   As I decided to build rather than buy a Winch Bumper (I had already spent far too much on this Ranger according to my wife), I tried to figure out how much labor would be involved in cutting, bending, shaping and welding sheet steel into some form of winch bumper. Most quality winch bumpers are expensive, or so I thought! I had been busting my butt with a friend of mine, trying to save some money and attempting to build my own for many weeks. I have had some success but the tough part was yet to come. Enter Custom 4X4 Fabrication of Oklahoma City...
   Thanks to a thread on Ranger-Forums.com, I stumbled onto Custom 4X4 Fabrication's web site and was pleasantly surprised. I had several chats with Mike, owner and product designer. Mike makes a quality product but for Jeeps; he assured me that I could adapt them to a Ranger. His prices are very reasonable considering the quality of his product. I cut and fitted the brush guard, added my stock fog lights and trial mounted the bumper with winch and roller fairlead. Everything looked fine, so off to be powdercoated!
   After powdercoating, we brought everything back to the shop and started to meticulously fit it together. I spent my entire Saturday fitting, assembling and installing the bumper, winch and brush guard. I also installed the original rock sliders the we built 6 months ago. It's been a long, tedious, seemingly never ending project (click the link or scroll to the bottom). I would do it again though... even though I spent more than I had anticipated. The ability to make it the way I wanted it and the fun of designing and fabricating was a BLAST! Enjoy the story and pictures!

 

Sah-weeeet!

 

Can't believe it's done...

 

Close-up of winch detail...

 

I gained a significant amount of approach angle...

 
   I had a Westin Sportsman grille guard and we cut the blades so we could attach the upper portion of it to Mike's basic Jeep ZJ bumper. The finished bumper is mounted directly to my frame rails with new brackets that I fabricated and I was able to eliminate the lower 11 inches of the Westin's upright blades to gain some added approach angle. The Milemarker PE8000 winch and roller fairlead are mounted to the ZJ's mounting system! I also have two 3/4" D-Rings on the way for the bumper's tow points and a Warn receiver tow point with D-Ring for the rear hitch. Thanks for following along with my project... hope you enjoyed it!
 

THANK YOU!

   I'd like to wish a sincere thank you to John Pellegrini, without whom this probably wouldn't have even happened! John is a good friend and fellow employee who has many years of welding and fabrication experience and lays down one beautiful bead! I'd also like to thank Dave Reis, my boss for letting me spend long hours in the shop, out of the cold and snow, to get this project completed. Thanks too, to Mike of Custom 4X4 Fabrication for cutting my project time by getting me the "ZJ" shell built to my specs to fit the Ranger. And last, a sincere thank you to my wife for putting up with me being at the shop instead of at home where I belong! Also, thanks to all the folks on rangerpowersports.com, ranger-forums.com and therangerstation.com who offered ideas, advice and solutions!
 

- Project Log -

 

Front crossmember removed...

...to attach mounting brackets.

Removal creates room for winch box...

...outer brackets remain.

My buddy Jim bolting on...

...the new mounting brackets.

Bumper's winch box sits nicely...

...and bumper height is good.

My brackets clamped...

...to Custom 4X4's plates.

Initial trial fitting...

...with Westin Brush Guard.

Painted brackets in place...

...and bolted down.

We modified stock fog light mounts...

...and mounted them to the new bumper.

We fabricated aluminum brackets...

...and used galvinized carriage bolts.

Next came the ex-Westin brush guard...

...again, modified to work as needed.

Back from powdercoating...

...nicely in gloss white!

I painted the mud shields white...

...to help with the unsightly gap.

Bumper & Brush Guard on...

...finished and out into the sun.

At Sandy Neck Beach...

...tryin' it out!

 

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