Raise your hand if you built your own winch bumper.

Or rather, post some pics..

After many months of searching, I am just not happy with any of the bumpers on the market for the 07-13 Tundras. They all suffer from at least one deal breaker on the following list:

1. Far too bulky. Too large, sticks out too far, hangs down too far, not enough clearance, looks like a hemorrhoid hanging off the front of the truck.

2. Made of very light materials. 1/8in or thinner plate, or .095 wall tube, sometimes even HREW tube.. Nowhere near strong enough for a truck this heavy. Some even have 3/16 winch plates.

3. Won't fit a large winch. They either only fit a 9k winch, or they only fit "most" 9k winches with a solenoid relocation kit, and only SOME 12k winches.

4. They have the winch hidden deep inside. You can't get to the free spool handle or the controller pigtail. Some have a small access hole you can reach through from the front, but that doesn't help if you are nose down in a ditch, or up against a boulder. Also means removing the entire bumper every time you service your winch. Why no open top access like a winch bumper is supposed to have?

5. They are way too expensive. I get it. Materials are expensive right now. Especially DOM tube. However, asking $2,000 or more for a bumper made of 8ft of .095 HREW and 3sq/ft of 1/8th plate is just robbery. Even if the bumper is made of proper .120 or .188 wall DOM, and 3/16 or 1/4 plate, they are still asking a lot. Maybe the price is justified due to low volume for the Tundras, but the point is, $2k+ is too rich for my blood.

So, I am going to build my own.. Again..

1/4in plate, 1/2in winch plate for a 12k winch which will have open access on top. The bumper will be high clearance, being mounted high and tight, even if that means cutting the grill or relocating the hood latch and power steering cooler.

Anyway.. Just looking for build pics and ideas from those who came before. I'm used to fabricating parts due to wheeling my Jeep for the last 10+ years. But it seems in the full size truck world, there aren't many people building things.. Seems like everybody just buys and bolts, which I totally understand. I work a lot of hours at odd times so I don't have much time for fabricating anymore.. I was hoping to find a decent bumper to just bolt on in an afternoon. Anyway, hoping to find at least a few guys here not afraid to cut and weld.

Anyway, here is a few pics of the bumper i built for my jeep recently..

 

I haven't seen a fully built bumper from scratch on here yet, but a few of us have bought the weld it yourself kits. I love mine. It's plenty stout, 3/16 plate, and holds a 12k winch that I've used for some heavy shit (winch plate is reinforced very well).

Looking forward to seeing your end product. I gotta build some sliders for mine soon. The price of materials is insane though.

 

Just today I went and bought 28ft of 2x3 box tube to make sliders for my tundra. Couldn't find any aftermarket sliders I was happy with either...

It is still pricey, especially compared to what it was a few years ago, but I always just buy cut-off pieces from the steel yard. They sell for scrap prices which is currently $1/lb. I still have to go back another day to find some 2x2 to make the step and possible kickout.

The plate I bought to make my Jeep bumper was a half sheet (2x8ft) of 1/4in that cost me $185. But even after building that bumper I have more than enough left over to build the bumper for my Tundra and possibly a rear bumper for the Jeep as well.

Scrap is the way to go my friend. Don't go trying to buy new. Not worth it. While I was there, I priced 24ft of 2x2x1/4wall. They wanted $280 for just that piece. At scrap prices it would have only been $55 or so.

 

Also, judging from the Tundra in your profile pic, I think I know which bumper you have and I don't think it is available for the 07-13 models with the goofy bumper cap thing... Of course I could be wrong.. Which bumper is that? Got a link?

 

Here's mine with a 12k winch tucked down low close to the frame rails. 6" channel and 1/4" plate. I was going to add some more cross braces but i havent got around to it.

 

@Kur I usually go for the scrap pile as well, the place I was getting it from raised their proces to 1.50/LB. But just recently moved, so I gotta scope out the steel yard and see what they have. Whenever I built my cat shield/skid plate, I paid around $300 for a sheet of 4x8 3/16. Came out cheaper than buying one, and I have (or had) have a sheet leftover.

The bumper is a Rough Country Pre Runner DIY bumper. I believe they discontinued it though. But it was only $400 when I got it in December 2020, which I thought was a great deal. Put it on my christmas list, and the gf got it for me. I believe I've seen a couple 2nd gens with it, it didn't look bad.

 

I love that you beat the shit outta your truck as well. Love that regular cab.

 

Every time i see a regular cab it makes me wish i would have got one. But i do like the extra space in the double cab..

But that bumper looks way better than it has any right to look considering what you made it out of. I am impressed.

Though I'm curious how you get to the free spool lever?

 

Ah, yeah. Rough country. They sell everything for the tundra, except for things i actually want. No bumpers, no sliders..

Oh well..

And a cat shield was the very first thing i did after getting my tundra. But i didn't want to take the time to make one so i bought one for $650. Protects all 4 cats.

I didn't want to risk taking the time to make one. Cat thefts are a huge problem in my area. At least 2 vehicles a day are hit where i park for work.

Eventually though i am going to replace that expensive aluminum with some much stronger steel skid plates. Hopefully I'll be able to sell the aluminum shield for a decent price when that happens.

 

Trucks are meant to work and beat up imo. That's a radical idea nowadays lol.

I wish it wasnt so friggin' heavy though, i dont wheel it much during the rainy season when the mud gets deep. It sinks like a rock.

I love the regular cab, but i often wish i had a crewmax instead. I dont blame people for buying the extra doors. If gas wasnt so damn expensive i'd probably shop for a sequoia.

Ive made a couple bumpers with rebar i think it looks cool. Something your grandfather would have used to make a bumper with. It's heavy, but it bends easy and it's cheap. I can reach the free spool from the front by reaching up under the 6" channel or with the hood open.

 

Now this is a thread I can get behind! I agree that everything on the market is too bulky, too thin, or way too expensive.
I made my own rear high clearance bumper out of 3/16” with a main crossmember of .250 DOM, and I’ve had plans to make a front one for a while.
https://www.tundras.com/threads/custom-rear-bumper.77683/
A coworker gave me a 3’x4’ sheet of 3/8” aluminum plate that would make a great front skid plate under the bumper, and I got a Harbor Freight winch plate when they were on sale. I already welded 1” thick recovery points to it and some more 1/4” bracing.

@beehivetundra made a sweet looking, very high clearance front bumper, maybe he can share some more pics of it?

There was one on Facebook marketplace for a while somewhere in Ohio that I really liked, and was planning on buying if I could get up there. It seemed well thought out, and I liked how it didn’t stick way out of the front of the truck. It’s not listed anymore, but here’s some screenshots I saved from the ad:

 

One thing to note is that the frame and bumper mounts are only 1/8" thick at best.

I cut the old bumper extensions off and welded them on to add some more meat to the bumper mounts.

 

Yeah, I'll take care of all of that.

The "frame" on my Jeep is just 16ga sheet metal (its a unibody) in the places where it is single layer. I cut the end caps off and found that a piece of 2x4 box tube fit perfectly inside. Got some 1/4 wall box tube roughly 14in long and got them inside the frame rails as far as they would go. Then I cut some 1/4 plate and sandwiched the frame rails on both sides. All of that held together with 5, 5/8 grade 8 bolts through each frame rail.

Then I built my bumper on those 2x4s. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of any of that. The old Jeep forums I was on at the time I made the winch mount have long since closed down and all my build pics are gone.

I'm pretty sure my entire Jeep will rip in half before that bumper comes off. I'll figure out some type of high strength mounting system when I find the time to work on the Tundra.

 

I like the bumper on that blue truck, but I would much rather remove that bumper cap and move the whole bumper up and have top access to the winch.

Maybe it just isn't that east to do.. I won't really know until I start pulling things apart I guess.

 

I paid pennies for all of this. ~600ft 1.875 x 0.19 wall and ~250ft 1.5 x can't remember. Buying JD2 bender, die, notcher, some SWAG accessories, and material came out to what most guys pay for a bolt-on front bumper.

Currently finishing a stand for the notcher. The stand for the bender is done. At some point going to begin designing armor.

One thing to mention - bumpers are energy absorbing structures. Building them 'stiff as hell' is not a great idea. They should be engineered to protect you and, if you have kids especially, their necks. I've had to develop rear bumpers for trailers and there are specs which must be met. Simple analogy: running head on into a solid concrete wall is not good, you'd rather it be thin with some reinforcement. There's a reason OEs use aluminum tube and mount pillars behind the fascia.

 

Got a hook up for your steel supplier?

 

It helps having friends in the tube industry who can get you scrap prices. Just wish I knew someone in the bar and plate markets.

 

That is several thousands of dollars worth of tube there. You could make a ton of money just selling it.

Also, I'm not too worried about the safety aspect. I don't plan on driving head on into solid concrete walls. I'm also not building the bumper to survive 70mph freeway collisions. I am building it to survive dropping 3ft onto a boulder, or maybe a 15mph collision with a log. Besides that, the Tundra frame has its own "crumple zones" behind the bumper mount that are designed to give for safety as well. Combine all of that with seat belts and the myriad of airbags inside the cab, I'm not at all worried about safety.

Besides, I grew up in the 80s riding around in cars from the 60s and 70s. Cars made like tanks where the back seats didn't even have a seat belt, much less shoulder belts, and there were no crumple zones or energy absorbing bumpers. Yet I managed to survive being in 3 crashes.

In my book, safety is not first. Never has been. I'm more in line with Mike Rowe. Safety third. Maybe fourth or fifth..

 

All the excess is going into trusses. Otherwise, exactly, would turn it into profit. Selling one stick would cover my total cost.

You driving into a wall wasn't meant to be literal, it was an analogy regarding stiff vs intended crumpling of front/rear bumpers. Given the materials and the alt usage of armor, it's obviously going to be stiffer. Just making the statement because it should be made. I've looked at a bunch of homebrew armor and this fact seems skipped (bracing all over). My gut tells me the aftermarket plate bumper suppliers are using thinner stock for more than cost savings.

Safety aside, a fender bender could turn into a frame/BIW bender. There's a monetary risk regardless if that happens to be with a boulder, log, or another vehicle on road. The energy has to go somewhere. Might as well put it into a consumable.

Clearly not trying to deter... I'll be building my own, too.

 

Yeah I built a high clearance bumper for my tundra because I too disliked the majority of the offerings for the 2nd gen.

But unlike what you have in mind, I built mine with zero intent of running a winch.

I built mine for maximum clearance, approach angle and strength. I am building a few additional ones same design for those wheelers that share the same mentality and are not after just another ‘overlander’ look. Anyway, I call it the Beehive Bumper appropriately

You can see photos of it on build thread titled Beehive Tundra

 

I'm not building for any look. I'm building for functionality. Winches and winch bumpers have been around far longer than "over landing" and for good reason. They are incredibly useful.

But having a winch doesn't mean you have to sacrifice clearance and strength. I had 4 entire forums full of people telling me I'd never get the clearance i did with my jeep if i was going to mount a 12k winch. But i managed to pull it off. It is literally the tightest winch mount on a ZJ that hasn't been torn apart and rebuilt as a buggy.

 

Of course, and I got the gist of the fact you’re going for purpose than looks so hopefully I didn’t come across as such. All I’m saying is why I built mine the way that I did.

I’m sure you can fit a 12k on the front without impacting too much. I’ve relocated my oil cooler and can see there’s space to run an inset winch plate that would reduce the amount it would protrude forward but it will still impact your clearance. The higher you go the less of an impact it will be though.

Unfortunately the radiator and condenser do limit how far in you can go.

 

Nah, it's all good. I was just explaining my motivations.

and yeah, Mounting the winch higher does help. But it puts more leverage on the frame during a hard pull. It's all a delicate balancing act.

Having the grill attached to the hood also doesn't help...

 

I have a theory I’ve been exploring and I haven’t yet figured out the exact year/model but I believe at some point the Sequoia got a hood/grill revision so they are two separate pieces. Since they share the same look, I believe the two piece grill and hood of the sequoia should fit the 2nd gen Tundra and probably just need to change out the latch mechanism to go with it.

I’ve been planning to try this out and do it to mine but that could be an option for you to have a fixed grill that won’t get in the way of the winch.

 

hmm.. That does sound interesting, but also expensive. Especially if it is only one or two model years, those could be difficult parts to come by.

But that does make me wonder how difficult it would be to just separate the grill from the hood myself. Hard mount the grill on the front, and relocate the hood latch to the hood...

Again, I haven't gone in and taken it apart to see how it's all put together yet, but it is just an idea I had off the top of my head.

 

Following

 

Might be a while before I start work on this. Summer is getting into gear here in AZ. And welding, cutting, and carrying heavy steel in 115-120 weather is not a good time. Then again, I am getting impatient about it, so we'll see what happens. lol

 

I’ll take one! Awesome work

 

Thank you! I used the C4 Fab Hybrid bumper as inspiration.