DIY pre runner bumper build

Hey guys! Some of you may have saw that I got a kit from rough country for a diy pre runner bumper kit (well my gf got it for me for christmas ) anywho, I wanted to share my thoughts on building it

Everything seemed to be cut very nicely

Instructions were great, it only was missing one thing which I was able to figure out pretty easily

Have a good back or a helper if you're gonna do this

Please please please don't make the mistake I made, and forget to drink beer while you work!!!

Fitment was a 7 out of 10 for parts, but there are alot of angles and such you gotta pay attention to

Take your time between welds so you don't warp anything

The kit isn't perfect, so don't get upset if thats what you're expecting, but its a great kit for a great price

Get yourself a 10lb roll of mig wire, you'll need at least half of it

Pick up a step bit for the frame mounting holes, mine were off by about 1/4.

Get a grinding disc and flap wheel to polish the welds after you grind them smooth

The worst part is grinding all the welds. Grab a respirator before you do this, I didn't have mine, so don't make the same mistake I did.

All in all, for $400 its a really great bumper kit. 3/16th steel and seems plenty strong enough for recovery work or bumping into something

I'm taking it tomorrow to get it line x'ed in premium, gonna run 275 to do, but I chose that over powder coating to cover up any imperfections

 

looking good! i was thinking about going this route because DOM tubing right now is about 8$/ft on average so by the time im all in on material i could get a kit.!

 

Its really hard to beat it for the price. Especially when you see all the R&D that went into it

 

Looks good! Nice welds. I am planning on this same bumper as soon as Xmas spending catches up. I messaged Rough Country with questions on this bumper and they were very responsive multiple times and I made up my mind. winch they sell seems like fair price as well and I might add later. Please post pics once finished so we can check it out.

 

Yeah they answered all my questions as well. I'm thinking about picking up their winch because I know it will fit, but really want one with a wireless remote. Maybe I can add an aftermarket one. I gotta do more research on it

 

Thats a good looking bumper!

 

Where can you find more information on the R&D? I'm considering this bumper but im also wondering how hard it would to add tube to the outer portion like the C4 bumper.

 

You'll have to contact them for info on R&D. Download the instructions online and you can see the work that goes into it. Wouldnt be hard to add a tube to it if you had a bender. You could probably get a fab shop to make one for you once you get the bumper welded up and you show them what you want and where you want it on the bumper. Once the tube is bent itll take 5 mins to weld it on. Should be really easy to do.

Edit: you'll want the tube to be in line with the tow hooks, thats where the main support brace is.

 

Do you happen to have any more photos of your building process of the bumper?

 

No, those are the only photos I took. The instructions you can download online have very detailed steps

 

Bumper looks great. Your welds look really good. What's your welding setup?

 

That looks really good, and I'll echo the above - your welds look great!
I might have to try that on a 2nd gen sometime down the road.

 

I bought a cheap welder on Amazon that had great reviews. It's called a Yeswelder 205ds. It does gas and gasless mig, lift tig, and stick, comes with the mig gun, stick welding stuff, and gas line. Even has an induction setting that you only find on high quality machines. Runs on 100v and 220v. I did all the welding on 110v with no issues, had to even dial it down some so I wouldn't burn through. Takes 2lb and 10lb rolls of wire. I was running mig with 75/25 gas

 

Wow that's awesome. Thanks for the feedback. I've been looking for my first machine so i'll look into that.

 

Thanks for the compliments on the welds guys! Guess my one year spent at welding school when I was 17 paid off haha. I've been welding since then at some jobs and at the house too. So about 12 years. Mig is the easiest welding to learn. My favorite it tig aluminum though. Its tons of fun and sooooo clean.

I highly recommend it after using it. I got it for $314 on black friday. If you get it feel free to pm me for tips on setting it up. Machine only weighs about 33lbs and very small and portable.

 

Got her back from getting line x'ed! It looks better than expected. Now I'm just trying to find some DOT approved fog lights, the slim lights RC offers aren't DOT. Trying to find some 2in pods to fit in the wings

 

Also looking to pick up a winch today. Either the HF badlands 12k steel cable for 300, or the HF Apex 12k synthetic cable for 480 w coupon, it has a wireless remote which i like as well although I can buy the wireless control for the badlands for 30 bucks. Winch won't see constant use. Maybe a handful of times a year, I like the synthetic rope for safety and weight savings, but I drive in sand river beds and gravel roads alot. Not sure how much the synthetic rope would like that all that grit if it gets into it. Thoughts?

Also gonna have to relocate the control box to make it fit

 

@Sumo91 Looks good! Mine is ordered and should be here soon. I was looking at the diode dynamics ss6 lights SAE compliant 6” single row led but the bumper description on rough country’s site shows 10” light in description but pictures look like 6”. What is the measurements on your bumper light brackets?

 

Just measured the supplied fill plates, 7 3/4in

 

@Sumo91 here is dimensions for the diode dynamics ss6 that I’m looking at. Might work?

 

That looks like it'll work to me!

 

Definitely on the pricier side but rigid makes an SAE single row 6" light bar https://www.rigidindustries.com/sae-compliant-sr-series-sae-sr-series.html

 

Finally got the bumper done, coulda had it finished sooner today but had other things to do. Went with the HF apex 12k winch, its nice! And it fit in the bumper without having to relocate the control box, it fits snug against the upper lip of the bumper but it doesn't concern me. Made getting the bumper up in the air and mounted a challenge by myself though. I enlisted the help of some cinder blocks and it went on smooth. Really really happy with this bumper, looks professional, still amazes me that I built it! Hope you all enjoyed the build! I know I did

 

Looks awesome. Thanks for the measurements!

 

I didn’t take near as many pictures but here it is being tacked up last weekend. It is all together now and needs an hour or two of final cleanup for primer but I forgot to take a picture when all together(it’s at a friends house). Raptor liner materials ordered and still need to look at lighting to see if I need to fan a bracket or not and also need to drill sensor holes.

 

I look forward to seeing the pictures when it’s done! My Tundra is white also

 

Looking good! If you plan on installing a winch its better to do it before final mounting.

Edit: you'll have 2 triangle plates left over, you can see where I welded them on mine in the winch photos. I called RC about this and they weren't much help, but it was easy enough to figure out. The plates are right next to the silver bolt heads that hold the winch plate on

 

Unfortunately the winch may be a little while and I did figure out the triangle plates. They are in a photo earlier in the instructions somewhere. They were left over at the end and I was scratching my head also. The diode dynamics fogs are good on width by the way but the bracket on bumper is not deep enough for them but still need to look at light supplied brackets to see if they will work or need welded onto bumper brackets or modify and weld them somehow. Should be easy enough though.

 

I’ll make sure to get a picture on here when done but could be a few weeks though before install. Won’t have light bar and winch on there for a little while though. Lift kit might take priority for a while.

Just looked at your truck. Looks like a Twinkie to mine.