Nates4x4 Painting Advice for Bumpers and Related Accessories

A quality DIY Paint Job.

Paint always comes into question as we provide all our parts in bare steel only. We may be expert fabricators but we don't claim to be expert painters! Keeping that in mind, this is the general advice we give regarding painting.  With expectations of continued maintenance, it has proven relatively fail-safe to use these methods:

Without a doubt the three most popular painting options are Powdercoat, Spray On Bedliner, and Rustoleum/Krylon. Spray on bedliner can be a do-it-yourself project with a visit to your auto parts store, where aerosol cans can be purchased for around $10/ea. Take into consideration the local climate and working environment in your choice of finish. You can go low or high quality in any of these three categories. Some things to consider are self-etching primer, uv-resistant powdercoats, and most important and often overlooked: Read and carefully follow the instructions on all product labels.  Drying times are for real, don't rush it.

Clean Surface Contaminents with Solvent

The prep work we recommend is at Minimum: Wipe down and clean with solvent. Soap and water works but consider something stronger like mineral spirits or acetone. Follow directions on the solvent you use.

Better: Do above and also sand to rough the surface for better paint adhesion. Most slag/bb removal will be done already, but anything missed could be touched up with a sanding wheel.

Best: Skip above and have sandblasted by a blaster with enough capacity for a part this size. Immediately coat as it will be susceptible to rusting right away.

 

Sandblasted Bumper makes for excellent paint adhesion.  Removes mill scale and leaves sandpaper-like texture.  Rusts Quickly, coat immediately.

There are many factors to consider in making your decision for the paint, including time, money, ability to do it yourself or need to hire it out, and suitability for the intended use. The choice is yours to apply the coating that best meets your needs.

Ryan's Rear Suzuki Samurai Bumper by Nates 4x4

Yesterday we published an article about the front winch bumper we built for Ryan's 1992 Suzuki Samurai.  After completing a conversion of our popular Model 2 Winch Bumper to fit the Samurai, we went on to design and build a rear bumper for the same vehicle.  Ryan indicated that he wanted a simple, yet sturdy bumper with an integrated receiver hitch for his ride.

After inspecting the rear end of the vehicle for factory mounting holes, we were satisfied to see that there were three easily accessible holes on either frame rail.  This meant a straight-forward build that resulted in a direct bolt-on bumper system, which could easily be introduced into our growing line of off-road bumpers.

The bumper itself was designed similar to our bumpers for Jeep Wrangler (2006 and older, that is).  We used a 52" long piece of 5 x 2 rectangular tubing, plasma cutting a 2 1/2" square hole through the center to weld a receiver hitch tube through the bumper.  We used our classic end cut on both ends of the bumper, capping them off, and sanding them smooth.

While the lower mounting brackets were relatively straight-forward, we did put a couple hours into designing the upper mounting bracket.  That may seem like a while considering what you will see in the picture below, but at Nates4x4 we are committed to producing accurate and consistant results.  We must be able to duplicate the part quickly and reliably, since when the prototype vehicle leaves the shop, we no longer have a template to test-fit the final product.

Our CNC Plasma Cutter has helped us considerably in duplicating parts that we use on every one of our bumpers.  But what about accurately forming the two bends in each upper mounting bracket?  We recently purchased a tool called the Model 20/40 Compact Bender (left).  Though we initially bought the tool for bending small-diameter tubing, we have found the tool to have a wide range of applications, including bending bar stock up to two inches wide and 3/16" thick.  The bender is able to repeat parts utilizing a built-in degree stop.  To make it simple, both bends are the same angle, in opposite directions, having first cut the blank on our CNC Plasma cutter.  This produces a perfect part every time.  Both the upper and lower mounting brackets fit into pre-cut slots on the back side of the bumper, eliminating the need for a complicated welding fixture.

When it came to mounting the bumper, we did find that the top mounting hole, which doubles as a body-mounting location, utilized a pre-threaded nut, welded inside the frame rail from the factory.  For being almost 20 years old, the old bolts came out surprisingly easy.  We ran a 10mm x 1.25 tap through the nuts to clean out the threads before installing new hardware.  We did find that the old body-mount bushings (top bushings only) had become extremely soft in their old age, so we eliminated them, suggesting to Ryan that he installs a harder polyurethane bushing during his build-up.

Ryan was extremely happy with the results of the rear bumper, as were we.  Nates 4x4 now has a solid design for the Suzuki Samurai rear end that anyone can install quickly and easily.

Thru-Welded D-Ring Tabs and receiver hitch optional.

This image shows the upper mounting bracket formed with our compact bender by Shop Outfitters.

Nates4x4 designs Suzuki Samurai Front Winch Bumper

Nates4x4 has been designing Jeep Bumpers for years.  But recently, due to a dwindling economy, we have also taken interest in expanding our production line and catering to other popular offroad vehicles.  When Ryan B. came to us with his 1992 Suzuki Samurai in need of sturdy and reliable recovery points, we welcomed the project.  With eight years experience in off-road body armor, we were confident that a bumper system could be designed quickly and efficiently.

However, each new prototype vehicle that comes into the shop presents its own challenges that must be overcome to produce a quality product.  After doing some research online, we were astounded to find that many manufacturers were utilizing only four (weak) mounting points for their front bumpers, while offering such options as winch plates and recovery points.  We were determined to design a superior mounting system that would set the product off from our competitors.

Upon meeting Ryan, he showed great interest in our "Model 2" Wrangler Winch bumper, designed to be a universal fit for 1976-2006 Jeep CJ, YJ, TJ, and LJ.  On these models, the bumper is easily installed by setting it on top of the frame rails, and installing bolts into the threaded factory holes in the frame rails.  The Samurai is set up a little different.  The frame rails do not extend past the grille of the vehicle, making this mounting system impossible.  The bumper must be mounted to the sides of the frame rails.  Further complicating this, Suzuki Samurais have a unique crossmember welded not only between the frame rails, but also extending to the area outside of the frame rails.  The crossmember is relatively thin ROUND tubing, and measures just shy of two inches O.D.  

Since all the products Nates4x4 sells are designed to be direct bolt-on with minimal modifications to the vehicles, we had to get creative.  We combated the in-the-way crossmember by developing a two-piece forked mounting bracket.  The first part of the bracket bolts securely to the frame rail utilizing five mounting bolts per side.  While the passenger side does require drilling three holes, the drivers side bracket is securely sandwhiched between the steering gearbox and the inner frame rail, utilizing the same pre-existing holes as the gearbox. The forked ends spread around the crossmember, offering larger diameter holes, through thicker plate steel, than factory mounting locations.

The second part of the mounting bracket was integrated into the bumper itself.  We designed a bracket that fit snugly inside the back of the Model 2 Winch Bumper.  In addition to part of the mounting system, this bracket also acts as a gusset, giving the bumper extra strength.  The bracket extends from the bumper to line up with our new, improved mounting points, as well as hitting the factory mounting locations.  The front bumper is now held on with eight hardened bolts.  The D-Ring tabs are now safe for tugging, and the winch plate safe for any recovery operation.

Model 2 Front Winch Bumper installed on Ryan's 1992 Suzuki

This photo shows a partial view of our forked mounting bracket.