houlster
Isuzu Moderator
Reged: 12/29/99
Posts: 2394
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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So I've had this winch for 2 years or more, but have never gotten around to building a bumper for it. Biggest problem has been that I'm not very "artsy". It's hard to visualize a good looking bumper. So, for the last week or so I've been working on one in SolidWorks.
My biggest problem is that the frame rails are relatively low on the Amigo. Especially with a 2" body lift. It's hard to cover that frontal area without having it look like a giant billboard stuck up front.
This is where I'm at currently:
The winch mount will be fully welded to the frame. I can cut the whole bumper bracket / body mount off and gain several inches on each side this way. The new body mounts are part of the side plates, and 2" higher so I can get rid of the body lift pucks.
The cover is 3/16" and will bolt on over the winch. It should help to secure it as well as the cover will have to come off to get the winch out. 2 clevis mounts are incorporated. Not sure yet if I like them coming out the front or from the sides.
Weight right now is about 100 lbs and I figure I'll loose about 30 with the OEM bumper and brackets I cut off. I have an HS9500i and I will have to cut a notch in the bottom of my grill for the solenoids over the drum. It's better than pushing it out another 2" though to be in front of the grill.
Few more pics:
I'm being a little lazy on this project though :) I can "flatten" all the pieces out with a button click and I'm gonna get a quote for CNC plasma cutting them out. At my work rate, it'd save me a full week at least I think.
Any other ideas? Opinions? I'm thinking maybe a hoop (think mini-stinger) to protect the winch. Bumper cover is 3/16" and the side plates are 1/4". There are 3, .120" wall tubes (2" square & 1"x2") running between the plates.
--Dan
(web fabber' extrordinare)
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Richard Saylor
Roll Me Over
Reged: 08/02/02
Posts: 3007
Loc: Lockhart, TX
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Dan, you sicken me.  But I'm always enjoyed your work and attention to detail. 
Richard 
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Had an 89 Isuzu Pickup
Had a 94 Mitsubishi Eclipse
84 Honda XL185S
Had an 89 Isuzu Trooper w/ 3.4 V6
01 Toyota Tundra SR5 V8 4Door Access Cab
http://community.webshots.com/user/rsayloriii
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onebadtrooper
Body Damage is Cool
Reged: 09/21/03
Posts: 1871
Loc: Mansfield Texas
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Wow!! I wish I knew how to use SolidWorks. I'm going to have to look into it 
Sweet design!!
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89 trooper, tera low t-case gears,5.38's, 3" indy4xsus lift3"body lift,safari snorkle,warn winch,custom bull bar,custom rock sliders,warn hubs,35x13.50r15,custom rear bumper trooper pics
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strawmyers
Isuzu Moderator
Reged: 10/01/01
Posts: 4016
Loc: Lafayette, IN
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Solidworks is cool and all for roughing things in; but I prefer MSPaint for fine-tuning everything before production.
There would actually be two hitch pins holding the winch tray in place. If you made the front panel quickly removable and had the winch on a tray of its own, then it could be taken off. Then some 2x2x.250 tube could be slid into the receiver stock (with stickout on the back) on the winch tray and held into place with the same two hitch pins. The stickout part could be slid into a receiver hitch on the back of the truck and be used from that direction if need be. I know you don't have a rear bumper; so that would obviously require adding a receiver hitch to the back and running wiring back there. I stole the idea from someone else; but, IMHO, its pretty schnazzy.
This would be the only thing I'd suggest doing differently. In the short time I've owned a winch, its been nice a couple of times to be able to use it front or back. Its also nice to not have the winch mounted all the time to keep it out of the elements and decrease chance of theft. I just used the fork lift quick connects for the wiring. If you're not worried about having it mounted to the truck all the time or using it from the rear, then that really isn't worth the extra effort. Bumper plans look really nice.
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Sean Strawmyer
Back and ready to rock...... crawl.
From Indiana or surrounding states and interested in wheelin'? Check out www.mwior.com
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CPOM
Body Damage is Cool
Reged: 10/19/02
Posts: 2285
Loc: Boston (roslindale)
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Dan figured you'd be all over cutting the pieces yourself with that new plasma. I really want to pick one of those things up!
I saw one of these on a friends toyota and it really looks like it would protect very well, hold a winch high up, and not look like something off a tank. I just think people make them too big without any added benefit. You could even take this idea and model it, or take your bumper and squash it in height...
front range front bumper
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CHRIS
98 Amigo, 92 Pup
need a pickup 1st gen fuel level sender
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randii
4x4Wire.com Managing Editor Emeritus
Reged: 08/02/99
Posts: 9030
Loc: Fair Oaks, CA USA
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Looks good. It is tough to set the winch very far back if you want to keep the air conditioning cooler. That seems like a good compromise...
The frame being low is a pain to tie into... big, thick side plates is the only real way - how thick do you plan for the red plates, Dan? I probably went overkill, but 1/4-inch thick 3.5x3.5-inch angle survived well a while back against some pretty good hits (and works quite well even today holding up a heavy layer of shop dust), even at the far end of the bumper where the lever is the longest. I was worried about twisting where the side plates met the frame, so I bulked up that junction with 3/8" additional plate, affixed by two kitty-cornered 5/8-inch grade-8 bolts, fixtured by two built up 1/4-thick tabs. To move more than a few degrees, I'd have to shear at least one tab and a bolt. Dan, what's your plan for tying those plates into your frame -- does your transplanted steering box allow you to mount securely back along the sides of the rails?
I mounted my winch separate of the bumper because I was worried about pulling with such force so far away from the frame. I'm looking forward to how you fabricate this Dan. I'm certain you will make it work, and that as always, your work will be sickeningly beautiful. 
Randii
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houlster
Isuzu Moderator
Reged: 12/29/99
Posts: 2394
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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Quote:
Dan figured you'd be all over cutting the pieces yourself with that new plasma.
I might yet depending on the quote.
Quote:
I saw one of these on a friends toyota and it really looks like it would protect very well, hold a winch high up, and not look like something off a tank.
The only problem is that it's too high. My winch would reach the hood line mounted up that high. I'd prefer to keep it lower and closer to the frame. Where it is now splits the difference between "on" the bumper, and too low to where approach angle really suffers.
I like the frontrange bumper though. It's similar to the Hanson bumpers that I really like as well:
Only problem with this is the bumper on the Amigo sits pretty high on the front end and the grill is relatively short. A winch sitting on a bumper like this would completey cover the grill.
I played with photochop a little bit to try and get a feel for how it'll look. I do need to put in some turn signals and maybe some rock lights as well.
--Dan
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onebadtrooper
Body Damage is Cool
Reged: 09/21/03
Posts: 1871
Loc: Mansfield Texas
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I really like the design you've got!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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89 trooper, tera low t-case gears,5.38's, 3" indy4xsus lift3"body lift,safari snorkle,warn winch,custom bull bar,custom rock sliders,warn hubs,35x13.50r15,custom rear bumper trooper pics
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houlster
Isuzu Moderator
Reged: 12/29/99
Posts: 2394
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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Quote:
Solidworks is cool and all for roughing things in; but I prefer MSPaint for fine-tuning everything before production.
Sean, you've got mad MSPaint skilz. You and bantz have something in common. The removable winch idea is nice, but low on my list. I don't DD this much any more so I'm not too worried. I'd rather bury it in the bumper as much as possible to make it difficult to remove. I'll probably tack weld a few of the bolt heads as well...
--Dan
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houlster
Isuzu Moderator
Reged: 12/29/99
Posts: 2394
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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Quote:
The frame being low is a pain to tie into... big, thick side plates is the only real way - how thick do you plan for the red plates, Dan? I probably went overkill, but 1/4-inch thick 3.5x3.5-inch angle survived well a while back against some pretty good hits
...
what's your plan for tying those plates into your frame -- does your transplanted steering box allow you to mount securely back along the sides of the rails?
The side plates in red are 1/4". Originally 3/8", but this was turning into an anchor quick and 3/8" seems rediculously overkill...
In the following pic, the lower tube is welded to the front of the frame rails. It'll have a small gap between it and the front crossmember and I'll add a few stringers between them, and probably overlay the frame/tube joint with some fish plates on top and bottom.
The side plates extend back overlapping about 6" of the frame rail. As far as I can go with the steering box. It's not shown, but I'll try to run some angled braces from the upper tube (middle one in the pic) down and back as far as I can to the top of the frame rails. The plate in this area is about 2" taller than the frame rail so I can run some more braces down from the top of the plates.
I'm actually more worried about the frame rails themselves. They thin down substantially at the front where they arch up. I wish now I would've beefed them up a bit during the SAS or engine swap.
Quote:
I mounted my winch separate of the bumper because I was worried about pulling with such force so far away from the frame. I'm looking forward to how you fabricate this Dan. I'm certain you will make it work, and that as always, your work will be sickeningly beautiful.
I believe yours is mounted through two hitch tubes right? It's been a, uh, well, a *while* since I've seen UZI  Thanks for the vote of confidence.
--Dan
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