120 Prado Rear Bumper

[Angelblooms Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Angelblooms]

After much search I finally decided to build a rear bumper for my Prado.

The bumper was made of 3mm plate and 6mm thick plate brackets.

I had an opportunity to test my welding when the vehicles was hurled againts some rocks on the left side while trying to climb a rock face.

The bumper wad dented but no welds broke. The bumper did move about 5mm which move me to relook my bracket design. If I had the plastic bumper there would have been more damage!

[kav Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close kav]

your obviously pretty handy with a welder and a torch

[Hpycmpr Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hpycmpr]

very nice mate, excellent finish in the rear bar. Whats that sitting over your spare wheel? a BBQ?

[hisham saeed Member Find all posts View Profile Close hisham saeed]

nice .

hisham

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Looks good, do you have any pictures of the mounting system? and what would you do differently if you had your time again?

Cheers Andrew

[mcgonical Member Find all posts View Profile Close mcgonical]

Wow! Nice work. I was wondering about a 'build it yourself' solution but wasn't sure what sort of engineering would be required if the tow hitch was integrated.

[Angelblooms Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Angelblooms]

Thanks for the positive comments guys.....much appreciated!

To answer your questions;
Yes it is a BBQ on the rear tyre. I never leave home without it.
Andrew, I do not have photos of the mounting system. It basically consist of 6mm steel plate bracket that bolts onto the chassis on either side of the vehicle (left & right side). The vehicle has nuts welded to the chassis (OEM done) that are about 100mm apart. So here I have a flat section of plate flush with the chassis. From here I have a vertical welded 6mm plate that runs to the sides of the bumber. This plate is also strengthened with a 20mm flat bar along the top section. The bumber again has two flat plates that are bolted to the bumber that is welded to the bracket.

What would I do differently? The tow hitch bolts straight through the bumper into the existing tow hitch bolts welded onto the chassis (OEM welded). Although I have changed the original towbar arrangement to support the chassis, I would have preferred to have the 4 tow hitch bolts going right through the chassis with nuts on the towbar bracket that sits behind the chassis. This feels like a much stronger solution. I have done many recoveries and it seems as if the 4 tow hitch bolts are coping!

[MidLifeCrisis Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close MidLifeCrisis]

Impressive! Bloody good job.

PS more picks of the bbq please.

[Ozpat Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ozpat]

Saw the same bbq plate at Rosehill NSW show last month at a South African stand selling small campervans. Can't recall the company though.

[SGS Member Find all posts View Profile Close SGS]

Now that is a nice bar - All we need is to get it produced here, as I assume that freight from South Africa would be just a little costly.

[Angelblooms Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Angelblooms]

Herewith more detail on the BBQ.

It's made from 10mm square bar with an expanded metal mesh on top. There is a hole in the centre of the grid....this comes in hande if you carry your spare on top of a roof rack. The spare wheel bracket normally has the threaded bar/stud with which the wheel is tied down.

The BBQ sits nicely on the wheel. You make use of a strap to tie it down to the wheel. I have never lost it. Most camping in the bush does not have a BBQ area....so you make the fire and put the grid down - no need to search for rocks or bricks to keep the grid off the ground.

www.frontrunner.co.za