Offroad Bumper: Mulligan

        I've decided to restart the bumper I'm building for my truck. The main reason for this is that I've found a much better design online, which looks much better:

        

        I can build this new bumper with metal twice as thin, but It will be even stronger, as the metal has a much stronger structure. I didn't really have a clear idea of what I was doing when I was building my first bumper attempt, and the fact that I had to build it at school meant that I didn't have a way of checking if the pieces I made fit properly.

        The bumper will fit onto my truck by simply sliding onto the frame ends, and bolting in.

        I'll be able to start building version 2 of my bumper once I get a working arc welder, and build a welding table. I've also made a 3d rendering of what my overall plans are for the truck.

Lift kits 101

      Currently, I've been doing some research into buying a lift kit for my truck, and I've noticed a lot of confusion among people in the same situation. I'd thought I'd help by writing down everything I've learned so far.

      First and foremost, there are two basic types of mainstream lift kits:

Body Lifts

      Body lifts lift up a vehicle by simply using blocks to lift the body of the vehicle off the frame. This makes body lifts incredibly cheap, simple, and easy to install. However, they offer almost no performance improvements.

This means that body lifts are really designed for people looking to get a slightly lifted look, or to make room for bigger tires, without spending lots of money. It would be extremely uncommon to find a body lift kit bigger than 3 or 4 inches.

An example of a body lift kit.

Suspension lifts

      Suspension lifts are the real deal. Anyone serious about off road performance should get a suspension lift. They lift a vehicle by replacing and adding key parts of a vehicles factory suspension system. These new parts lower down the wheels from the frame, and allow bigger shocks. This allows the addition of bigger tires, and more wheel travel, which is how much the wheel can move up and down.

An example of a suspension lift kit. Note the bigger shocks.

       The suspension lift kit that I am planning to buy is produced by a company called Race Car Dynamics, and offers 5" of lift. The main reason I'm interested in it is that it has received extremely positive reviews from many people, and it adds additional equipment that other kits don't, such as traction bars, which act as a brace between the rear axle and the frame, and high quality Bilstein shocks. 

What the RCD 5" Lift looks like installed.

Offroad Truck Bumper Part 1

     I've decided to build my own bumper for my truck that will increase it's capabilities, allowing it to be more agile over rough terrain. I've looked into buying a bumper, but there aren't too many available for the 97-03 generation of F-150s, and all the one's I've found are highly expensive. The style of bumper that I've chosen is prerunner/baja. These bumpers are widely used in desert racing and offroading in areas such as Mexico and Southern California.
         




The main point of these bumpers is to improve the clearance of the front end. Normally, if you were trying to drive your truck from flat ground onto a steep incline, the bumper would hit, and you'd get stuck. These bumpers expose much more of the wheel, thereby allowing the truck to handle drastic changes in incline.  




      
     
     To build my bumper, I would first need to find a way to mount it to my frame. The old bumper was bolted onto 2 large brackets that were welded to the end of the frame. To mount my bumper, I would need to chop the ends of the frame off to allow the skid plate to have shallower angle, which will keep air resistance to a minimum.




    

    First, I drew up some designs for the mounting brackets of my bumper. I then cut out the pieces I would need with a plasma cutter. I used 1/4 inch iron, as it would give my bumper a good strong base to sit on.
         





    


   
    I used a mig welder to join the pieces together, and once I had both brackets built, I arc welded a piece of tube in between them to get the width right.

     

Meet The Truck

 





Allow me to introduce my truck, it's a 1997 Ford F-150.










  

  As you may see, it's not in mint  condition, but that's the reason I bought it. I'm fixing it up and adding a few modifications to make it my own unique vehicle..

 


  
...Residing under the hood is a 4.6L V8 engine. It may not be the most economical, or environmental choice, but there are few things in this world better than a good V8 engine.

    And good it is. The engine is of the 'Triton' series: Which has a  reputation for being extremely reliable. So far, this reputation has rang true, as the only part that has broken in it's lifetime is an exhaust manifold (which I still need to get around to replacing).