New front bumper for Toyota T100 (w/ pix)

[Volones]

Very nice work Blackbird!

Did you bend the u-channel, or weld it?
I don't see any welds, so I would be very impressed by your attention to detail if you did weld it. If not, I am very interested in your technique with bending it, as I am considering an underbody tray for my car, and aluminum i much lighter than the mild steel I have lying around.

Either way, it is really clean! I like it!

[Blackbird]

Thanks !

The U channel was bent to shape using high tech caveman tools .
I started with a straight piece is the length that I needed and held it to the chrome part of the bumper to determine the point that the curve changes.
After marking about 11 of these points along the section, I went to the concrete stairs on the side of my house and negotiated the channel into shape with a hammer (do this part slowly and repeat as needed).
That's it for bending of the center support.

The side arms were notched with a jigsaw, bent at the notch and braced with a bar and rivets at the correct angle.
Piece of cake.

Moti

[MetroMPG]

Nice looking fabrication.

[LostCause]

I agree with MetroMPG, you have excellent fabrication skills.

How did you attach the bracket to your truck? Did you bolt using pre-existing holes or drill news holes?

I'm trying to find attachment points on my car that requires the least damage possible, so I'm interested in your method.

- LostCause

[aerohead]

Great looking! And I'm pleased that high-tech caveman tools are enjoying wider appeal than just North Texas.I can't tell how low that puppy hangs.The big-boys say,don't let it extend below the elevation of say the bottom of the rear axle,or drag will go back up,due to increased frontal area.Also,if the angle from the bottom gap at the front wheels to the bottom of the airdam is less than 15-degrees or so,you run the risk of clobbering that beautiful handywork on the nearest driveway ramp.Really clean fabrication,hope you get a little payback at the pump.

[Blackbird]

Thanks again .

LC, the holes were there, I didn't drill a single hole.
All I did was to pick the hoes that aligned wll with my pieces and stick a bolt through them.
Most cars have extra holes in the sheet metal, especially around the engine bay.

Aerohead, the dam extends to right about 8.5" off the ground which lines up with the crossmember's height (the one under the motor).
It's also about the same on the bumper of my wife's Prius, so I take it as a good gauge for driveway approach angles and such .

This basically does not increase the frontal area at all but does block a good bit of air flow to the suspension arms (they didn't need cooling anyway ).

As an interesting note, I have yet to hit the half mark of my fuel gauge at this point, and I'm well passed the mileage that I used to get there.
Seems like the bumper works well.

Moti

[LUVMY02CREW]

Very nice indeed!!!

It looks like you bent over the top part of the airdam and bolted back onto bumper...is that correct?

Also, what material is it made out of? In one of the pictures it looks like the rest of a sheet of black stuff leaning in garage area. I can't tell if it's coroplast or a solid plastic type stuff(where did you get it, cost)

[FX2.3]

Looks great!! I too want to know where you got that huge sheet of plastic!

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Blackbird

Thanks again .

LC, the holes were there, I didn't drill a single hole.
All I did was to pick the hoes that aligned wll with my pieces and stick a bolt through them.
Most cars have extra holes in the sheet metal, especially around the engine bay.

Aerohead, the dam extends to right about 8.5" off the ground which lines up with the crossmember's height (the one under the motor).
It's also about the same on the bumper of my wife's Prius, so I take it as a good gauge for driveway approach angles and such .

This basically does not increase the frontal area at all but does block a good bit of air flow to the suspension arms (they didn't need cooling anyway ).

As an interesting note, I have yet to hit the half mark of my fuel gauge at this point, and I'm well passed the mileage that I used to get there.
Seems like the bumper works well.

Moti

Moti,thanks for measurements on clearance.Looks like frontal area isn't an issue.And if its not hitting anything,you're in like Flynn! As an aside,I ate a little crow over at Andrew's CIVIC thread,as Darin reminded me,and correctly so,that even if Andrew's front airdam was below the suspension,it was still demonstrating measurable drag reduction,and that C and D's mods to the Pinto back in '74 included a low-hanging airdam which also realized lower drag.Am I enjoying senior moments? So it may be that your front spoiler could conceivably go a bit lower.The nose I built projects quite a bit forward to create the semi-circular form and just barely clears parking-lot concrete tire barricades and curbs when I park,so I'm at my limit.Anything I do from here out will have to have active control,to raise and lower from the driver's seat.And from observing the big-boys,its appears that even with a bellypan,the underside of a vehicle is still considered no place for air to go,and they'll use active suspension to lower the car at speed,or use active airdams which lower at speed to block more air when the car requires less ground-clearance.

[Blackbird]

LUVMY02CREW -
The material is a full sheet of PVC measuring 4'x8'.
Cost for the complete sheet was $80 and it took under a third of it to make the airdam.
Bending it was pretty easy with a heat gun ($7.99 @ Harbor Freight) and I used a steel stud to clamp the PVC to and create a nice straight flange.
I'm attaching a pic for you to see.

FX2.3 -
I gotthe sheet in a local plastic speciality retailer but IIRC there are some online vendors that will sell you similar sizes.
I'd try your local sign shop first.

Aerohead -
My bumper _just_ clears my service ramps so it's as low as I'd want to go with a solid material.
However, nothing prevents you from using rubber strips as an extension for the bodywork that could rub on driveways once in a while.
I've seen it done on racecars more than once and I find it more appealing than designing and operating active bodywork.

Moti