Eccracer104’s build 2.0 - a work in progress

eccracer104 · Jun 30, 2025

QOL update: door locks are working again! The body control module/under dash fuse box junction module was the culprit. Replaced that and everything is functioning normally again.

steezy · Jul 31, 2025

Would you build and sell one of these? Sorry if you’ve been asked multiple times.

eccracer104[OP] said: ↑

More progress! Bumper still isn't done, but getting close and wanted to start putting some of my notes up here before they escape my memory.

Starting point:

(of course I'm going to slip a Moose pic in lol)

End of the year left me with some time off of work, and I got a wild hair to build a bumper! I used almost all of a 20' stick of 1.75" x .120 wall HREW tube which from calling around ranges $70-85 in my area. Fortunately already had the welder, but needed to get a tube bender, and for $150 I was willing to roll the dice with how the harbor freight bender would fare. (it did about as good as you'd expect a cheap bender to do)

I made some bumper mounting plates and then started with pvc pipe to get the angle I thought was best. I had never done this before, so starting here felt right.

++

After a few variations I landed on a 42 degree cut on the forward tubes off the mounting plates.
This ended me up here which I felt good about.

Then i decided why not start on what I thought would be the most daunting part - bending the main tube.

I started with a 8' section of tube and marked the center.
(not pictured are more markings every foot and 6" intervals. Then in the regions that will need to be bent I added down to the inch hash marks in sharpie)

The very middle does require a slight bend

This is the point where I started to realize the tube bender is indeed the tube kinker like the internet claims haha. For what it's worth I didn't pack the tube with sand or preheat it.

pump pump pump bend release scootch tube over an inch or two aaaaaand repeat.

After this I got a little overzealous and made an oops.
I got excited and welded the tubes to have a solid base to continue working off of - this is also the moment where I realized how important proper tube coping is, I hadn't learned my lesson yet but did learn it is important. More to come later.
But next up I needed to cut this leg off. It moved enough so that it wouldn't bolt back onto the truck, my coping was too sloppy and I thought welding it off the truck was a better move and live and learn!

I should also mention that I eyeballed a very large amount of this. 95% was solo so sometimes holding something up my eyeballing was "ehhhhh yeah looks good-e-nuff" * bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz * melting metal. I would try to measure the pieces to be uniform, but some stuff isn't quite right, and some of the gaps lead to the not being quite right.

The replacement leg was fit to the tube better -

This coping shit is not easy, but I will say by the end I could make them smoother, just tricky to get the angles and depth right (hence why that Centurial tool would be nice)

The next several stages I was trying to move too fast, time flew by and before I knew it I had exceeded my time window. I didn't take so many photos, and it was also the parts that were more challenging.

I wanted a bottom bar that if I were to hit something, it would hit this before my frame, but with the location of the stock cooler it would need to be bent. I didn't have the confidence that the HF bender would make a tight enough bend for what I wanted, so I cut and coped two very short pieces to connect the bottom tube. These were a challenge as the axis for these small pieces was different that both tubes it would connect.
Eventually though, I got them made, but like I mentioned before, hadn't fully learned my lesson on coping tubes and gaps - so those unions got a little fugly but not too bad.
I also made some supports for the main tube, cut the ends off after deciding the HF bender can't accommodate such a tight radius at the end of the bumper, then capped off the main tube.
I also slapped a temp skid on so I could get to work without running the risk of road debris into the radiator.

I wanted a "push bar" on the front, and thankfully had just enough material for this.
A couple small pieces cut and coped then join all three pieces together. This was a real treat to hold all three in position with one hand while tacking it up with the other haha.

Today after cleaning off the rust, added some light tabs, shaped the temp skid a bit, and threw some paint on so it wont continue to rust as much. I still need to weld some end caps on to the two open tubes, then also get some more tabs and the final skid material and figure out the end position for that.

But there she is! My first go at this and I'm stoked how it's coming out! I could have cleaned the tubes up some more before paint, but it's just rattle can so I can clean it up later if needed. This way people who know more than I can be all "you see whatcha did wrong here was blah blah blah" and I'll be a bit more prepared for the rear bumper!
Click to expand...

eccracer104 · Jul 31, 2025

steezy said: ↑

Would you build and sell one of these? Sorry if you’ve been asked multiple times.
Click to expand...

Haha thank you! I’d think about it for sure, but my welder died so no more welding for me. The cost to repair would exceed the cost to replace it and where I live now doesn’t have 220 power so I haven’t replaced it.

des2mtn · Jul 31, 2025

eccracer104[OP] said: ↑

Haha thank you! I’d think about it for sure, but my welder died so no more welding for me. The cost to repair would exceed the cost to replace it and where I live now doesn’t have 220 power so I haven’t replaced it.
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I have 220V and an older welder if you want to build me a bumper

eccracer104 · Jul 31, 2025

des2mtn said: ↑

I have 220V and an older welder if you want to build me a bumper
Click to expand...

Haha! Literally on Saturday I gave the tube bender to a buddy

des2mtn · Jul 31, 2025

eccracer104[OP] said: ↑

Haha! Literally on Saturday I gave the tube bender to a buddy
Click to expand...

Good thing I have a neighbor with one

I'll probably get my own and build a bumper eventually. Been building a roof rack off of my existing Inno cross bars.

eccracer104 · Jul 31, 2025

des2mtn said: ↑

Good thing I have a neighbor with one

I'll probably get my own and build a bumper eventually. Been building a roof rack off of my existing Inno cross bars.
Click to expand...

Hell yeah!!

I was talking with my buddy about it, the time it would take me to do it makes the time invested outweigh the price kind of thing. But honestly they’re really fun to do! I used tube guides when building mine but I’d recommend a tube notcher for sure. I used one at my friend’s when building the skid supports and it makes a huge difference.

eccracer104 · Aug 3, 2025

Mammoth and surrounding areas -

^ This peak was 11,673’

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