ChuckVA > 1991 Ford Bronco > open folder Rear skidplate & Bumper

I got a good deal on unused 24"x32" 1/4" plates at scrap price, so they'll be used for a number of t...
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Even with only about 50% weld penetration (a single 1/8" MIG bead), the plate still has no trouble h...
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New bumper endplates cooling after being cut out of 1/2" plate with the torch. Lots of cleanup stil...
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Putting a square peg through a round hole ...
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JB drilling the end plates.
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Gussets tacked in place, one test bead run.
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Lots of spatter and not the best penetration, but the remainder of this piece is overengineered. I'...
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Pretty good heat affected zones on the backside, but the tack in the foreground is ugly as hell.
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Backside cooling down after finish welding.
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Business end of the bumper. Welds around the receiver tube are three pass fillet, chain plate is fi...
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I'd been fighting my welder the whole time, and like an idiot couldn't figure out why I was having t...
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Time to make the final cut to length so we can mount the bumper between the endplates. Daddy's got ...
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Tacked in place and ready to be unbolted for final welding. Right now it's secured by half the endp...
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Finish welds on the end plates.
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All done except the top plate and the reinforcement around the shackle points. Oh, and still need f...
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With a little cleanup, these two rough ovals will become the reinforcement for the rear shackle poin...
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A "little" cleanup. New toy makes short work of rough edges on a pair of plates that total 1" when ...
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Plates are drilled, then beveled at the ends and tacked in place ...
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Followed by finish welds. Single pass 5/32" or so fillets are more than sufficient for the required...
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... which is good, since that's the maximum capacity of this welder in a single pass. More strength...
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The infill at the end. I did screw up doing the bevel on the opposite end, and had to grind out abo...
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Two endplates, plus four tabs to help support the skidplate. Then we quit on the truck for the day ...
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I was asked for calcs and an illustration explaining why I said the factory mounting holes in the fr...
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Illustration of the block shear failure area, and necessary dimensions.
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Illustration of the rotation failure dimensions.
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Design for a simple removable winch mount, much stronger than receiver mount and without the clearan...
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We had a discussion on T4W about doing big jobs with a little welder. Here's an illustrative series...
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Get the pieces lined up straight and clamped in place. Remember the typical MIG guidance about not...
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Then strip back the paint at the weld area, and clean. That filth on the paper towel was from one s...
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Tack it up ...
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Then connect the dots. In this shot, I've just finished the middle section, as you can see. I had ...
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If you want decent penetration, don't ask the welder to do more than it can. Going slow just piles ...
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Run the second bead on the right side. My garage was a high traffic area at this point, so even wit...
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Run the lefthand bead. Fewer stops this time, too, which is good since it's easy to trap small pock...
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Now, flip it over and get a look at the backside (I've already given the plate time to cool and clea...
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Tilt your 4-1/2" angle grinder up 45* and V out the backside. Start with the worst spot, and open i...
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A single fast pass will finish the backside. I probably could've skipped these last steps if I were...
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But I'm grinding this plate smooth on both sides, because it's highly visible. Where's the weld...
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I need a 2-1/2" flange at the backside of this plate, so we decided to see if we could clamp itt, he...
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Not a chance! Of course, if I'd known last weekend how Dave was doing his bends I could've done tha...
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Alright, here's the forward side of our new reinforcing flange, a 2x2x1/8 angle. These PL2x2x3/16 p...
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First pass down the root of the fillet complete. Honestly, I could probably have left it like this....
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Three more passes complete the fillet. Trying to keep it hot and fast as I can.
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Another two passes to finish the weld of the endplate to the winch plate. Note the little bit of po...
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Opposite endplate, likewise three passes below and one on the top.
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The whole stiffened winch plate assembly, flipped upside down end for end so I can clean the bottom....
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Back where it should be, with areas to be welded now cleaned of paint and grime. Just needs to be c...
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After screwing around with the little MIG welder all morning, I decided I should really use the weld...
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Still haven't chipped the slag from the last rod. Not the prettiest thing in the world, but I could...
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I really need to spend a lot more time practicing with the big arc welder. I think I'd end up getti...
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One of the areas I ended up having to grind porosity and run a second pass on. I ended up deciding ...
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Another section of the area where I did two passes. Still need to work on my rod control and get a ...
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