Are you thinking about fabricating your own winch bumper? Unless you’re a really experienced fabricator, it’s probably not a good idea.
Before you buy plans or drawings that show you how to fabricate your own winch bumper, read this post. It’s important to decide whether you can actually build a strong winch bumper first.
A Winch Bumper Needs To Be Strong
Image Credit: CherokeeForum
The whole point of a winch bumper is to support the force of recovering a vehicle. The forces applied to a bumper during recovery can be 2 or 3 times the weight of the vehicle. It depends on how the vehicle is stuck, and how the recovery lines are rigged. Whether you’re recovering another vehicle or your own, you need a winch bumper you can count on. That’s why you need one that’s strong. A good winch bumper has three important factors DIY bumpers rarely offer:
1. Internal Bracing
Internal bracing not only provides extra reinforcement in a crash, it also drastically increases the bumper’s strength. In other words, a steel bumper with internal bracing can support a winch much better than one with no internal bracing.
Most DIY bumper plans and kits don’t have internal bracing. So if you build a DIY steel bumper, it likely won’t have any internal bracing. In that case, don’t be surprised if your bumper falls apart when you try to recover a vehicle with it.
2. Good Welds
We cannot stress enough how important welding is in a steel bumper, let alone a winch bumper. A bumper is only as good as its welds, after all. The weld points are the first areas to cave under pressure.
When you use a winch, the bumper may support several times the weight of the vehicle being recovered. If you use a DIY bumper with bad welds, the bumper’s going to fall apart the first time you use the winch.
You need to be a great welder to build a strong winch bumper. Welding is something that takes a person years to master. If you have little to no welding experience, we strongly suggest having a professional build a custom bumper for you. Building a steel bumper yourself would be a waste of time, because you won’t be able to trust the strength of it.
This post explains more why weld quality should be the most important part of a winch bumper.
3. Perfect Fitment
A strong winch bumper needs to fit your truck perfectly. A poor-fitting bumper is not as strong as a perfect fitting one. Support from your truck is very important when it comes to using a winch. The bumper needs all the support it can get from the truck.
If you hire a professional with experience building winch bumpers for your truck model, you’ll end up with one that fits great. They have the experience and dimensions needed to achieve a factory fit. DIY bumper kits and plans? Not so much.
Many DIY bumper kits come with individual pieces that don’t always fit together well. You’d may have to fill in the gaps while welding them together. That seriously compromises the bumper’s strength.
It’s common for DIY bumper plans to not be precise enough to achieve factory specs. Some of them are universal. Some require you to use shims or big washers to get your bumper to fit correctly. That really limits the bumper’s strength and ability to support a winch.
The Hidden Costs Of DIY Winch Bumper Kits
The super low cost of a DIY winch bumper kit may seem attractive at first. What some people don’t realize is that they have to pay many extra costs. All the hidden costs make DIY bumpers even more expensive than professionally-built bumpers. Let’s talk about a few common extra costs:
- Finishing: Unless you want your DIY bumper to rust out in no time, you have to get it finished. DIY bumper kits don’t offer any finishing options, so you have to fork over an extra $200-$400 to have it finished.
- Extra reinforcement: DIY bumpers are rarely designed for strength. If you’re going to build a DIY winch bumper, it definitely needs extra reinforcement. You’ll need to spend some time and money fitting steel plates for reinforcement.
- Emergency tow: Even with all the extras listed above, there’s no guarantee that your DIY bumper will last. If your DIY winch bumper self destructs in the middle of nowhere, you’ll have to pay for an emergency tow. That will cost you hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars.
This post has more information about the hidden costs of DIY winch bumper kits.
A Professionally-Built Custom Winch Bumper Offers So Much More Value Than A DIY Bumper
You should avoid non-winch DIY steel bumper plans and kits for the reasons listed here. When it comes to winch bumpers, you absolutely should avoid DIY bumpers. An effective winch bumper has:
- Internal bracing
- Good welds
- Perfect fitment
DIY bumpers rarely offer any of these things. That’s why a DIY bumper will likely fall apart or bend the first time you try to use it with a winch. To get the most value for your money, have a custom winch bumper built by a knowledgeable and reputable company. Throttle Down Kustoms fits the bill.
You Can Count On Throttle Down Kustoms
When it comes to winch bumpers, you want it done right the first time around. In that case, we’re your guys. At Throttle Down Kustoms, we value strength and quality above all else. Our winch bumpers are strong, durable, and reliable even in the most strenuous conditions.
This post explains why Throttle Down Kustoms is a brand of choice for many truck owners looking for winch bumpers.