Bumpers and body accessories are the first
line of defense for our off-road vehicles, but that is just one of many jobs
they perform. Bumpers provide anchors for spare tire mounts and hold extra fluids
and maybe even a cooler, a winch, or a Hi-Lift jack. They also provide tow
points for trailers and for extracting your buddies when they get stuck (we’re
sure you never get stuck). In short, these areas of your rig do many important
jobs, and it’s not a good idea to cheap out on them. Or is it?
If you’re like us, you like
saving a dollar and gaining the knowledge and sense of accomplishment that
comes from doing things yourself. Shiny new parts with installation
instructions fresh out of the package are nice, but everything old is not
garbage. One place that is full of stillusable parts and ideas that could add utility
and strength to your 4x4’s bumpers is the junkyard. Used parts are inexpensive,
and you never know what you might find in the yard. Always keep your eyes peeled
while at the dirt-head wonderland that is the junkyard.
We love pick-a-part junkyards
because you never know what you might find there. A benefit of the popularity of SUVs over the past 15years is that the junkyards are now full of them. Towhooks and other usable parts
are there for the takinger, buying. Need a six-lug bumper-mounted tire carrier
for your Toyota? How about parts from one of the thousands of Isuzu
Rodeos/Honda Passports littering junkyards around the country? We bet you could
retrofit the carrier to the tube work on the back of a trail rig. All the
engineering is there for you to use.
If you don’t want the tire rack, the latch assembly is pretty cool and
could be modified for use in any number of projects on a trail rig.
Need to flat-mount a tire in the back of your wheeler? This junkyard-fresh
mount (from an Isuzu/Honda, hence its 6-on-5 1 /2 bolt pattern) would be easy
to modify into a flat surface mount. This could hold a wheel and tire for any fullsize
Jeep, Toyota, Nissan, GM half-ton, and so on. What if you run a 5-on-5 1/2 bolt
pattern? Look for parts off of a Kia Sportage or Suzuki/Geo of sorts. For
eight-lug tire rack parts, you’re going to have to look to an H2 Hummer.
This towhook is off a 2000-2010ish Toyota 4Runner (although Yotas back to
the ’80s have similar hooks). The hook itself is going to be more than adequate
for most 1/4- to 1/2-ton trail rigs. It is mounted using two bolts and has a
stamped anchor plate made out of 1/4-inch plate. You could use the hook on your
bumper and the stamped plate mount to hold down a spare tire, a jack, a cooler,
or what have you.
We can’t wait till the old road-driven H2s and H3s start to trickle into
the pick-a-part yards. They have lots of cool beef y towhooks and mounts on the
bumpers (not to mention Gen III engines and heavy-duty drivetrain parts). Until
then, ’90s GMs, Toyota, and newer Fords all have pretty decent tow points.
These huge eyelets are from a Ford Super Duty and mount inside the framerail
via three large bolts. It would be easy to add one or two of these mounts to a flat surface at the front or rear
of any off-road rig.
A receiver hitch is another part that’s easy to grab from junkyards and
may already fit your vehicle. Some have seen almost no use and, with secure
mounting to the frame, can be a great
place to start fabbing a front or rear bumper. You can then add a
receiver-mounted winch and
towhooks, or use a front-mounted receiver to help back large trailers
into tight spots.
Some yards will have medium-duty flatbed trucks on site. These can be a
great place to grab cool parts, racks, and usabl e steel . We always look at
the back of these trucks for pintle hitches, usable recessed signal lights, towhooks,
straps, and toolboxes. Pintle hitches add military style to
the back of a trail rig. Plus they are a functional place to connect a towstrap
and can cost more than $100 new. At the junkyard expect to pay $15 - $20.
The rear bumper on this old camper is 2x4x0.188-wall rectangular tubing.
That’s a great platform for just about any bumper.
An old rental van could provide your tow or overland rig with a heavy-
duty rear step bumper. It’s even dimple-died for extra traction and has a
heavy-duty hitch. Just trim down the ends to match your truck’s width and come
up with a durable mounting solution, and you have a bumper with easy camper/bed
access.
Lots of medium- to heavy-duty trucks have long lengths of straight
channel or tube in their frames or bed that you can repurpose to make bumpers.
Cut off a few feet of this truck’s frame, lay it flat, and you’ve got a great
channel to build a custom winch mount. Who cares if it’s got extra holes or a
little patina? We’re betting you can get it for less than having channel cut at
the steel store.
Ew! Booger welds that look like they are about to break under the weight
of a tow-hook are not adding utility to any truck. Mounting this hook with graded
hardware would have
been easy and much less likely to fail when those crappy welds let go.
Some parts at the junkyard are better left to the steel smelter. If you’re not
a qualified welder, bolt on your new towhooks.
If you’re a low- budget home fabricator, you can save a dime if you have
the time, tools, and knowhow. But if
you’re better at making money at your day job and you need something that’s
functional, fast, and guaran-teed to work, then rely on the professional s. We love
the bumpers that Randy Ellis builds. They look effortless, work well for all
their duties, are custom made to fit, and border on art—but you’ll have to visit
Phoenix to get one built.
