Re: Rear Bumper

["Steven Stegmann" <s_stegmann@domain.elided>]

Tom,

Here's what I made.

1- Cut a 4x6 inch piece of 3/16 wall steel tubing to the desired width. 
Cap both ends with a slab of 3/16 plate.  6 in is the vertical side.

2- Make a pocket in the right end to take a vertical 2x2 post to hold 
the spare tire gate when I get around to building it.   Maintain the 4x6 
tube air tight so I can use it for an air tank when I get to it.  My 
pocket goes straight through from top to bottom so I can weld 
everything.  Then I put a piece of 3/16 plate over the bottom and cut a 
hole in it so I can bolt down the gate post.

3- Cut a hole straight through from front to back for a class III 
reciever bought from a local trailer outfit.  Weld the reciever to the 
4x6 tube wherever you can get to it with a welder, maintain air tight.  
Oh yeah put the hitch in the middle of the bumper.  The bottom of the 
reciever lays on the bottom of the 4x6 tube.  The hole is right near the 
bottom of the 4x6 tube.

4- Cut two 6in lengths of 4x4 x 3/16 square tubing and weld to the front 
of the bumper.  These are the spacers that position the front edge of 
the new bumper where the front edge of the stock bumper was.  The 6 inch 
dimension of these spacers are horizontal.  Weld wherever the spacer 
touches the 4x6 piece.  Do not cap the ends of these as you will need to 
get a wrench in here later to tighten bolts to the frame

5- Cut two 12 in lengths of 1/2" diameter cold rolled and bend into U 
shapes.  Weld these to the bottom of the 4x6 and the reciever tube.  
Weld anywhere they touch anything.  These are for the safety chains.

6- Cut two 24 in lengths of 3x3x1/4 angle iron.  Position these to run 
forward under the frame and cut two holes each to match the provided 
holes in the Scout frame for the class III trailer hitch.  These stick 
back to within 1 inch of the rear surface of the 4x6 tube.  These will 
need to be notched to fit over the 4x6 tube.  I had to add 3/16 flat 
shims to take up the space between the bottom of the 4x4 spacers and the 
top of the angle irons.  I welded the shims to the spacers, and 
separately to the angle irons.  I then made one pass over both these 
welds to make it look a bit nicer.  I then welded anywhere possible 
between the spacers, angle irons and 4x6 tube.  Weld from both sides of 
the angle where it is notched over the 4x6 tube.  Everything is pretty 
much welded solid so no water can get between the parts anywhere.  
Corrosion is a pretty serious issue here.

6a- Install new gas tank.

6b- Install new springs, shocks, bushings.

7- Bolt bumper to frame.  Use 4 5/8" grade 8 bolts through the frame and 
the angle irons. Torque these to 100 ft-lbs & use anti sieze. This is 
how a class III hitch is bolted to the Scout (mine was anyway).  Then 
use 4 grade 8 x 3/8 bolts to bolt each spacer to the back end of the 
frame where the stock bumper spacers were.    

Oh yeah.  The 3/8 bolts that are between the main frame rails and behind 
the gas tank have to be welded to the frame (before you install the gas 
tank) because there is no way to get a wrench anywhere near them to 
tighten the bumper spacer bolts.

So, the angle irons take the pulling load of the trailer.  The spacers 
will help carry the vertical and lateral loads.  The whole bumper is 
welded into one solid piece and weighs 110 lbs,  I think this assembly 
probably really stiffens the back end of the frame.

God help anyone who hits this thing.  

Course now I have to add longer shackels because the Scout sits nose 
high.  Maybe the bumper caused this, maybe not.

Any comments?  Make sense?

I've not had a chance to test it yet.  Next time I get near a tractor 
I'm going to pull the Scout with brakes locked and see if anything 
breaks.  I want it to break here and not when I'm pulling a trailer.

On the someday list for the bumper is:  Air fittings, Spare tire gate, 
Towing eyes.

Steve

Steve



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