Front bumper w/ winch build for 94 GMC Sierra.

[94GMCK1500]

I wanted to post a more thorough explanation of what's going on....

I'm down to bare bones and starting from scratch... Ideal metal to be used is 2 X 4 boxed steel tubing with 3/16th wall... Nothing fancy, just bare bone basics... Now since this is new to me, I'm thinking this will be plenty strong enough to handle being jerked on...
Inside the frame is the steel plate with 2 threaded holes for the tow hooks, what if I weld those little steel plates inside the tubing with holes milled so the bolts can go through...This I'm thinking can allow me to slide the 2 X 4 tubing into frame end and bolt up like you do with tow hooks...
Would it be wise to maybe drill 1/2 inch thick bolt through the frame, then tubing and bolted down ? Or would the little steel tow hook plates be enough for it ? If I drilled into the frame rail, wouldn't that weaken the structure integrity ?
Am I missing anything or overlooking something ? Appreciate any and all feed back....

 

[Drunkcanuk]

If you drill into the frame rail, make sure you put some kind of sleeve in there so you don't crush the rails when you tighten the bolts down.

 

[GrimsterGMC]

I wanted to post a more thorough explanation of what's going on....

I'm down to bare bones and starting from scratch... Ideal metal to be used is 2 X 4 boxed steel tubing with 3/16th wall... Nothing fancy, just bare bone basics... Now since this is new to me, I'm thinking this will be plenty strong enough to handle being jerked on...
Inside the frame is the steel plate with 2 threaded holes for the tow hooks, what if I weld those little steel plates inside the tubing with holes milled so the bolts can go through...This I'm thinking can allow me to slide the 2 X 4 tubing into frame end and bolt up like you do with tow hooks...
Would it be wise to maybe drill 1/2 inch thick bolt through the frame, then tubing and bolted down ? Or would the little steel tow hook plates be enough for it ? If I drilled into the frame rail, wouldn't that weaken the structure integrity ?
Am I missing anything or overlooking something ? Appreciate any and all feed back....

On mine I put 3"x3" box into the frame rails, I marked where the original bumper bracket bolts went through and drilled the box to suit. I made a plate that matched the bolt holes and welded nuts onto it and tack welded that inside of the box section so that the original bolts went through the chassis, through the first wall of the box section and threaded into the nuts to hold the whole assembly in place exactly how the original bumper was. I am thinking of removing the original tow hooks as I have read some complaints around the strength of them and may go to a large D-shackle type replacement that will bolt through the box section. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the build process to share with you.

 

[GrimsterGMC]

I just remembered, there is another hole behind the 3 bumper bracket holes on the chassis. I used long enough box section that I could put a bolt through that one as well, considering the weight and leverage of the new bumper on the original bolts that gave me the extra support to prevent the bumper from constantly sagging from going over bumps.

 

[94GMCK1500]

If you drill into the frame rail, make sure you put some kind of sleeve in there so you don't crush the rails when you tighten the bolts down.

Yes Sir... I had that done on another project...

 

[94GMCK1500]

I just remembered, there is another hole behind the 3 bumper bracket holes on the chassis. I used long enough box section that I could put a bolt through that one as well, considering the weight and leverage of the new bumper on the original bolts that gave me the extra support to prevent the bumper from constantly sagging from going over bumps.

In the morning or possibly later this evening I'm going to start on a material list... Got some measurements so the idea may be better explained by a drawing... I'm thinking the small plate and 2 1/2 in bolt with nylocks per rail would be quite enough....

 

[94GMCK1500]

Progress so far....

 

[Drunkcanuk]

Nice to see you back working on it. That's a neat idea for the vise stand. You definitely know how to fab stuff up, very much looking forward to seeing your progress and final product.