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.