Steppie Rear Bumper Project - Custom 4x4 Fab

I went for a while without a rear bumper, traded for one thanks to Pedro and now I have found someone to make a rear bumper, a heavy duty rear bumper that will not only protect the rear of the truck but the sides of the bed too.

I started it all when I replaced my styleside bed with a stepside bed. I had the original bumper that was too wide for a stepside, sold it and decide an aftermarket bumper was the only way to go, something rugged and well built.
The hunt was almost for nothing, I found a few companies/people but could never get anything going, either it was too much work or they needed the truck or all they wanted way too much money.

As some know I have a Custom 4x4 Fab (C4x4) front winch bumper, a great bumper, a good design, good manufacturing, good quality and not a flimsy thing that will crumple at first sign of stress. I wondered if C4x4 would make a rear bumper similar to the front one not only in quality but also in looks and I wanted some of my own ideas added in too.
Mike at C4x4 is and was very easy to talk too when I purchased my front bumper, got the bumper to me in short order and as I said before, one of the better bumpers I have seem, especially for the Ranger. I called him about the rear bumper and he wasn’t interested, a lot of front work, no guarantee on sales. As luck would have it, he decided to attempt what no one else would a rear bumper for the Ranger Stepside.

We talked and he asked for my information about what I wanted in a bumper and I sent him my ideas for what it should look like. Mike added in his own touches and designed a bumper that not only fits a Ranger Stepside but wraps around the sides some to protect the sides of the plastic bed.

First are picture of the Front Winch Bumper that you have seen in a number of photos, not from me but others that have these bumper. As you will see, good quality, a good HD Structure.








Here are the prototype Stepside Rear Bumper Picture, not for everyone but for a Steppie Owner a GOD sent:

The Top and Face are formed


The matching of the templet and the formed top/face


Side View showing the bumper profile and the bottom lip.



The Plate Mounting Location, it is shallower than other Step Bumper, there is no Trailer Hitch so there is no need for a large indent.



Full Face View showing wide spacing of backup lights for better light spread, Clevis Mount Locations, side ends are not installed.



Close up of Backup Light and Clevis, the light will have ¼” Rd Bars over the light for protection.



Just to keep it straight, if someone missed this, this bumper is being made by Custom 4x4 Fabrication of OK not me.
Info will need to come from C4x4, that includes pricing which is not set yet.
Feel free to call, ask for Mike or wait until my Bumper is completed and I will post additional picture.

Here is their info:

Address: Custom 4x4 Fabrication, 11825 S.E. 109th, Oklahoma City, OK 73165
Phone: 1-405-799-7599
Fax: 1-405-790-0395
Store Info: Our hours: Monday thru Thursday 8:00 am to 5:00p; Closed Friday through Sunday.
E-Mail: sales@custom4x4fabrication.com

Product Reviews:
http://www.custom4x4fabrication.com/reviews.html

 

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I have not had a chance to contact C4x4.
I was told he had to put things on hold until after X-Mas because of his work load; I hd no problem with that.
So i have not contacted him to see where we stand.
I am going to send e-mail today and see.

 

A couple of shots of the new bumper…





Mike does great work and as I have said before at a good price that people can actually afford.

If anyone is interested in a bumper call him.

 

That is some great work. Let me know what they charge for that...I may be down for one!

 

The Bumper is on its way; should be here by Tuesday next week.

 

For those interested the rear bumper weighs in at 85 lbs, 94 for shipping weight.

I also found out C4x4 front ranger bumper weighs in at 115 lbs.

 

Bumper just arrived at the shop I will be using to mount it up.
I won’t see it until tomorrow, the guy closes at 5 on the dot.

Pictures of the finished raw steel bumper tomorrow and then I need to try and find the space/time to mount it up.

 

Good looking bump, and good to see someone making a decent rear bumper for the steppers! So what was the cost for it?

 

Unwrapped the Bumper, a little further.
The metal is heavy gauge metal looks like ⅛" and ¼” for mounting.
The Backup Light holes have ¼” bars across opening.

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Didn’t get it mounted, the bay I was going to use was full all day.

Cost, so far I have not seen any price, just a few hundred for materials.
I can only guess this will run a few buck BUT I do not think it will be $1000 like a few places I got pricing from.

Best bet on price is contact Mike, e-mail works and there is a phone number on his Site; give him a call then post the price he tells you.

 

OK finally got some time and a little warmer weather so I got out and mounted the bumper, loosely but still got an idea where I need to mod the bumper a little.
Remember this is a prototype bumper as soon as I contact C4x4 Mike may incorporate my changes in his patterns.

So here you have the first fitting of the New Ranger Steppie Rear Bumper made by Custom 4x4 Fabrication of OK City, OK.
I need to trim some steel to allow for some movement of the bumper but thinking of mounting it a little higher so I may to trim more than I am thinking at the moment.
Everything is made of thick steel plating, the frame mounts are ¼” plate really HD and no stress marks where it has been bent.
A bolt kit comes along with the bumper, four grade 8 bolts for mounting to the frame and 8 grade 5 bolts to mount the bumper to the brackets.
C4x4 cut custom holes for my KC Backup Lights and mounted the shackle mounts to align with the frame mounting, extra strong positioning.
Take a look at the pictures and ask questions, if I can’t answer them you will need to contact Mike at Custom 4x4 Fabrication.
This guy is good, does quality work and produces a quality product, can not be beat, IMHO.
Pricing again, contact Mike at C4x4.

Full Rear View:
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Frame Brackets - ¼” Plate:
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Left Side, I am not sure and didn’t check yet to see if the Frame Brackets are upside down.
If the bracket were reversed it might bring the bumper up some to fill the gap.
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Need to trim a little and let C4x4 know:
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The Wrap Around:
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Shot across the back:
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One more thing to remember, this is a prototype and the minor mods I need to do are just that very minor.
This bumper is made from sketches and a cardboard templet of the top of the bumper the rest is all Mike at C4x4.
He is a great fabricator and I could not have asked for a better bumper.
The quality of the welding is top shelf, the bending the mating of pieces, the ideas he added, all high quality and from his experience in fabricating.

Give him a call if interested.

 

I got the bumper trimmed up today.
Started to use a Plasma Cutter but it was too rough so used a Cutting Wheel (took a lot longer).
Just need to refit and make some adjustments to the mounting brackets.

Here is the bumper marked up.



Here is the trimmed corner.



The Tailgate gap needs to be smaller; brackets coming.

 

Got the measurements fro the new new brackets together and sent them along to Mike at C4x4.
Mike made up another set of Bracket with the new measurements and got them off to me in short order.
Should be here on the this week and I hope to have the bumpers cleaned up and Line-X’d son after.

 

Pics man..... PICS!!!

 

Ya, ya, ya… added pictures above…

The bumper brackets should be here on Weds or Thursday, then I can fit them and the bumper.
I will get pictures of the gap between the tailgate and the bumper; it was 2.25” before and I asked mike to raise the bumper mounting another 1.25”, leaving 1” of space.
That should be enough room for my strip light and tailgate movement.

Next is Line-X’g front and rear bumper… thinking semi-gloss black with UV Protector.
Also thinking Etching primer and semi-gloss paint; it would be easier to fit if I get the paint damaged.

 

Checked with UPS Tracking and the package is out for delivery, so today is the day for the new brackets and it is suppose to rain.
Hopefully by friday it is going stop, I left the OEM bumper off so it will be easy to bolt is up.

Line-X maybe out, painting in !

What paint manufacturers have you guys used for a good semi-gloss or flat black finish ?

Front bumper to come off this weekend if the rain stops.

 

Got new brackets, mounted up the bumper and adjusted the bumper, to me it looks good.

It fits the wider tires.

Now for the finish.

New pictures tomorrow.

 

I had to mod the bracket for the rivets, for some reason I didn’t have any problems up until the last lift up mod to the brackets.
The bumper appeared to be still too low and I asked Mike at C4x4 to make another set of bracket, he did but I still was getting weird readings from side to side. checked it out, found the culprit the rivet in the middle of the bracket mounting location.

I drilled out a 1” hole and they fit perfectly, then I had to shim the right bracket ⅛” to allow for my bed/frame being off a little.

When I take the bumper off I will get some picture.

All I can say, in the long term, is that Mike has gone out of his way to make this happen, as it stands right now this bumper will fit the Steppie but with slight modification will fit the styleside bed also.
Bracket will be the same but if you have a body lift you will have to contact Mike and have some further mods done to lift the bumper.

His quality is up there with the best of the fabricators in and around the automotive industry, we came up with this bumper and he built it 1500 miles away from me, made some mounts, had a few tweaks and wham bam, I have a steppie bumper and it fits.

If anyone is interested please contact Custom 4x4 Fabrication in OK City and talk to Mike, mention the Site and the the Steppie Bumper.

Thanks for reading this build.

LTR

 

Looking forward to the photos ..

 

Me too, I can’t wait to see the pictures ! lol. At least it will be done !

The rear and front bumpers are out getting sandblasted, located a great sandblaster in Salem, MA, a little slower than others but his pricing is great; I also looked at some of his work at the shop and it looks good.
Also sent the Back Rack along with it; mod’d the back rack a little, making it my own design. Added upper hoops the same size as the lower hoops and extended the supports legs.
Put in some KC Backup Lights for both Cargo and extra light out back; it will look a little HD to match the bumpers.
Thinking the lights on the rack will have a switch for manual and Auto-Reverse setup, might be too much light with the new bumper having two KC’s also, may need an “OFF” position too. I might hook up my reverse light the same way.

End of week for the sandblasting, then a little grinding to clean the parts up some more and THEN I will used DuPont Metal Etching Primer, let it dry throughly, then use some DuPont Filler Primer and THEN the DuPont Hot Rod Black Paint.

I was going to do Powder Coating, P.C. got me a company that had great pricing but I started thinking I may need to repair them and regular paint will be easier for my and overall cheaper… love saving money.

 

Bumpers are still at the blasters, waiting for a call but I think I will call today, hey remember me !

I am still thinking to paint them myself.

Can’t wait to get the bumper on, the truck ride better with it on then off.

ltr