Time for a winch bumper, IDEAS?

[Mo4wd]

Hey, just about everything is in order on my little 83, and I'm ready to design and build a new tube front bumper with winch and light mounts. We have a lot of deer here and I need something with good coverage but still lightweight enough to keep the front from sagging too much. This poor terc has murdered 2 antelope and 1 deer already. Has anybody built one from scratch before? and I mean a bolt on replacement, not just a bull bar added to the factory bumper. Approach angle is important here

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[Petros]

do a search, lots to find in this forum:



I like this German dealer option front winch, hidden behind the licence plate:







this last one is from Australia where they call them "roo bars", same issue we have with "deer guard".

[Petros]

the red one on the right is synth's old ride, it has a decent home made front bumper:



I think it is same one on this green one in the foreground here:

[Dirtmagnet]

Here are some photos of my son and my "Work in process" for the Redneck Rover. We wanted to keep the square look to match the lines of the car. Will add receiver plates later front and rear to accept a 2" receiver with a winch mounted on it. That way we can use in front or rear. Will also add lights later.

We cut of the stock mounts and welded them to the new bumper. Worked great.

Front


Rear


Side view. When the weather breaks, she gets a new paint job.








Cut-off saw and 2" tubing


Rough plans

[Petros]

"Redneck Rover"? That is funny, hard to imagine any real redneck driving around a 4wd econo-box. I guess you can be an "econo-red neck". The receiver hitch at both ends is a great idea, lots of uses for that, from winch to bike racks, and even a trailer hitch too.

I do not care for the look of most front pipe bumpers, too heavy looking for the Tercel4wd, but after hitting deer a few times in the past, I understand the need for it to be sturdy. Also do not like the way it harms fuel economy with the extra weight and drag. I would not mind a light and stream lined one, but most are design by someone suffering from "testosterone poisoning".

I really would like to replace that ugly and bulky Federal bumper, a nice stream lined rack with places for lights and a receiver hitch might be an improvment.

[TURTCEL]

Dirtmagnet, great name. I really dig the bumper, but my concern would be weight too. Did you weigh the stock bumper and the new custom one to see the differnce?

I would really like a winch too. My thoughts were also to run a 2" receiver and carry a winch that could be mounted front or rear when needed.

Peace

[dlb]

dirtmagnet, i think your front and rear bumpers look amazing. great job. your terc looks super burly.

[Dirtmagnet]

Did you weigh the stock bumper and the new custom one to see the differnce?

We were also concerned with weight, and we did weigh before and after as they are now. We used 1/8" wall tubing to keep the weight down. I cannot find the numbers at the moment. I will dig them up and get them posted.

[marlinh]

Barto has a great bumper both front and rear that he built.

[Petros]

Here is the Barto set-up, not bad looking at all:





The barto rear bumper with built in receiver:



Twins!

[terceldude]

Awesome pictures! Thanks for sharing!