Bumpers and Rock Sliders

<Click on any image to enlarge>

The Chief originally had a badly dented steel front and a faded aluminum bumper. Neither one of these are capable of deflecting objects that may be encountered during typical 'wheeling, and certainly they will look rather awkward following installation of the  2" body lift. I wanted steel bumpers that gave some corner protection, have two integrated mounting points for tow shackles, restored the original relationship of the bumper to the body, and could be used as a step if necessary. The front bumper had to have provisions for mounting a winch in the future, and a brushguard would be more desirable. 

A search through the four wheeling magazines and the internet failed to show any manufacturers that made anything that fit these requirements. I did see a lot of pictures of home-made bumpers, and encountered one company - True Radius Bending - that made mandrel-bent grill and brush guards for FSJs. I decided to build my own bumpers with the help of my friends  Ernie (Big E) Prevedel and Lee Myers.

The front bumper is based from a pair of 2X2X10" rectangular 3/16"  steel tube supports that are welded to the inside of the original front frame horns such that they are square, plumb, and parallel to one another and to the Jeep's frame. Two additional pieces of 2X2 tube connect the front and rear points of these supports. Over the top of this frame is placed a piece of 3/4" steel plate that runs from corner to corner of the Jeep and is welded to the support and to the frame. The bumper itself is made of 2X5 rectangular 1/4" steel tube that takes a 15 degree mitered bend at the visible edge of the grill, then another 54 degree bend around the corner towards the fender flare. Holes are cut in the bumper face for a pair of 1X4X7 inch pieces of solid  bar stock that have been drilled and shaped for use as shackle mounts. They were welded to both the front and rear faces of the bumper before the ends of the bumper were capped. I purchased the grill-brush guard from True Radius and cut off it's lower mounts such that the remaining uprights fit exactly inboard of the 15 degree bends, and the holes for the headlights were evenly spaced around the headlights. They were welded and gusseted for strength. Everything was them ground, finished, and primed before being sprayed with Rustoleum's finest semigloss enamel.

The rear bumper was made from a piece of 2X6" steel rectangular tubing, with 90 degree mitered joints at the ends that protect the rear corners. Two shackle mounts similar to the front were made. They are mounted on two long pieces of 2X4X6  3/16" pipe that are bolted to a backing plate behind the rear frame crossmember. These mounts were adjusted to bring the bumper up to the lower lip of the body. It was also finished and painted in the same way as the front bumper. I could not safely include a Class III trailer receiver hitch into the bumper , so I ordered an unit from Draw-Tite that also does double duty as a great skidplate.

Both bumpers weighed around 135 pounds each,  and the horizontal step surfaces were later coated with Herculiner for durability.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

I needed some rocker panel protection for the Chief, but felt that the now-standard flat rectangular tube style skid bars don't particularly work well on FSJ's.  In contrast to the CJs, YJs, and TJs who have no rocker panels and just high flat doorsills, FSJ's need a little more protection from side impacts to the rocker panel and door that protrudes out beyond the rocker.

Through the FSJ Mailing List I learned that David Schwartz, a FSJ enthusiast in Michigan and co-owner of David Allen Racing, had a limited supply of custom mandrel bent tube nerf bars that he had made for his own highly modified Cherokee. I purchased a pair, prepped and painted them before covering them with Herculiner, then slid each side over three pieces of stout 2" pipe that were welded to the frame through a backing plate. The bars were then adjusted to the desired amount of side protrusion before the mounting bars were crossdrilled and bolted. They fit perfectly and really do complement the Jeep. The bars did a great job in Tellico without any damage.