ZJ front bumper mounting points?

[tirus89]

Well, I tore my front stock bumper off and well, I dont know where to mount this bumper im planning on fabbing? Does anyone have any pictures or any information to help me out? Thanks!

[tirus89]

anybody? anything?

[Darthteddy]

If your looking at the front of your jeep, you will see 2 rectangular holes in the sheet metal that have rounded corners. They lead to the "frame rails". On said "Frame rails", there will be holes for a factory tow hook package. Your gonna have to fab up a plate that slides in there, and run bolts through the "frame rail", as if the bumper were the tow hooks. Then attach your bumper to the other end of the plate and your all done.


And geez...have some patience. .. . It had only been 30 minutes after you posted that you posted again.

[Trouble Maker]

Most people also take a Dremel or grinder with a zip-cut wheel and trim the sheet metal out so there is a straight surface to work with. You end up with a rectangular hole about 2" x 4" if you trim it out. When I did mine I used the factory tow hook brackets to sandwich a 4" by 1/4" flat bar in between the bracket and unibody and built off of that. IMHO it is best to use the tow hook brackets as a building base because they tie the rad cradle into the unibody rails to give as much support as possible and they were engineered to take the stress that pulling on the unibody causes.

[tirus89]

Originally Posted by darthteddy

And geez...have some patience. .. . It had only been 30 minutes after you posted that you posted again.

Sorry, I was a bit giddy this morning

Thanks for the help, now to find my Dremel...

[footinmouth47]

i found a sawzall works wounders. a dremel is very slow if you are impatient like the rest of us (which it looks like you are). good luck and dont let anyone get you down with design isues unless they have done better themselvs, in that case they should have helped you alread. i used 1/4 and it is beffy, i would consider going thiner on the outside to reduce weight, but keep the 1/4 in the center for strength. good luck.
her is mine if it helps i still need to cut off the metal of stock one on the sides where it is showing but you get the point

Greg

[tirus89]

Well, I dont own a sawzall (wish i did) so either Dremel or Hacksaw blade will have to do, i'll do it like saturday morning because I have school + work all week. Then i'll find some 1/4 to make some mounting brackets out of.

footinmouth47, do/did you have any drawings or picture that I could take a peek at? If you do that would be great!

Thanks!

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by footinmouth47

i found a sawzall works wounders. a dremel is very slow if you are impatient like the rest of us (which it looks like you are). good luck and dont let anyone get you down with design isues unless they have done better themselvs, in that case they should have helped you alread. i used 1/4 and it is beffy, i would consider going thiner on the outside to reduce weight, but keep the 1/4 in the center for strength. good luck.
her is mine if it helps i still need to cut off the metal of stock one on the sides where it is showing but you get the point

Greg

don't you usually remove the factory bumper when installing aftermarket?

[Darthteddy]

He doesnt mean the bumper....I think he means the sheet metal from the unibdy that you can see on the lower edges of the new bumper.

[footinmouth47]

Originally Posted by Darthteddy

He doesnt mean the bumper....I think he means the sheet metal from the unibdy that you can see on the lower edges of the new bumper.

thats exactly what i meant. it is like a metal bumper under the plastic one.

no i dont really have any drawings but i used 1/4 by 6 inch wide, if i did it over i would have put a 2or 3 inch vetical piece between the horizantal and undercut piece just to coever up more and help mount the winch. one thing you may have is a jigsaw with a metal blad could work if you have one or know someone who does.

this gap behind the winch was not planed for and im still thinking of a way to get rid of it i have some ideas but nothing solid yet

Greg

[sandman]

greg, i never saw a done pic, what did you end up doing with all that metal behind the bumper?

[footinmouth47]

i havent done anything yet but i recently saw a pic where all of that had been removed so i feal confident cutting it out and might do it this weekend. i just didnt know if it was structural and now i know its not so we shal see what happens, i might just get that bloodlust for takingout sheat metal and do the fenders too.
Greg

[Colorado 5.9]

I assume you'll be flipping the charcloe camester too.

[tirus89]

I like that design Greg, but I want mine to go a little lower than yours. What did you use for the core or middle of your bumper for support? Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to learn from other people.

Also, what does Trouble Maker mean by "factory tow hook brackets"? Little confused on that.

[Trouble Maker]

Originally Posted by tirus89

Also, what does Trouble Maker mean by "factory tow hook brackets"? Little confused on that.

http://www.lovewellfence.com/zj/towhook/

You can see them towards the bottom of the page in the link. They bolt on with 4 bolts on the frame rails and 2 bolts on the core support on each side. The factory ones come with a plate with the nuts welded on that slips into the frame rail. I used 4" x 1/4" flat bar sandwiched vertically and extended forward enough to weld a plate to to support the winch. I welded my winch plate across the bottom of the flat bars and notched and formed 1/8" x 6" rectangular tube for the wings on each side.