My BESRK (Ground Pounder Fab) bumpers arrived today - yea!

I run the Big daddys on my TJ and quality wise it is as good as the groundpounder. Big daddys comes coated and the design is much better as it protects the corners, and includes the post for added protection. My TJ has been offroaded for the last 5 years and the big daddys bumper did its job. I just feel I was ripped off with a bumper that was not designed properly. The body damage from a moderate trail will cost me more to fix than the difference in price for the 2 bumpers. Having to weld on extra protection on a bumper I just bought does not make sense. I am just giving my feedback to weld it on before painting the bumper. You will need at least 2" on each side to have minimal protection. The LJ Big Daddys offroad rear bumper/carrier is not $1000, it is 720 shipped. About the same price as the groundpounder once you weld on steel and paint it.

Big Daddys, notice how it protects the corner and after 5 years the paint is still like new. i




Groundpounder


Body damage, notice how the bumper is not scratched. This is because it never touched the tree.


Anyone want to buy my groundpounder LJ rear bumper?

I am not complaining about the build quality of the bumper, as it very is well made. I bought a bumper because I can not weld. So widening the bumper means $150 return shipping to groundpounder, or paying a local shop the same amount to cut and weld on extra steel. I did not know it would not fit and I had it painted. Welding now means stripping the paint off and paying to have it repainted again. I specifically asked Eddie if it protects the corners because of the large rear overhang. He said it did so I sent it off to the painter when I got it (it is too big to fit into the paint booth at work). Painting it twice and paying for extra welded on steel would have almost have doubled the price of the bumper (100 each time to paint and 150 for the fab work = 350). I feel I received a product that did not do what it was advertised to do. I am not trying to start a flame war, I am just a unhappy customer and want to make sure others do not make the same mistake. I am not pimping Big Daddys Offroad, I just wanted to show how the groundpounder should have been made.

Here is a link for 720 shipped BDO Bumper

I wanted a different bumper for the LJ, because i wanted a different build. I considered BDO, Groundpounder... Hanson was not a preferred vendor at the time and I did not know them. I had quite a few conversations with Eddie (phone and e-mail) before ordering it. I even had him modify the corner protection to be longer. Never did he mention the width, and there is no web site to get the specs. I am not saying Eddie did anything wrong, and he did say he would widen it if I shopped it back (paying shipping both ways), but I still feel I got something that did not work. I hope this post lets him know there is a flaw in his bumper and he corrects it. Except for the width it is an excellent bumper and is probably overbuilt for anything a jeep will encounter.

Making a little progress. I now have the grill hoop tacked to the winch plate and the sway bar bolts previously mentioned that might be an issue for clearance, are going to be okay. There isn't a quite enough room for a good socket fit on the bolt, so I'm going to replace the hex head bolt for a allen head or torx bolt.

The major challenge now for me is notching the support tubing that connects the stinger to the grill guard - I've never notched tubing before so this is new territory. It will be an odd angle, so a bit trickier than clamping the tube in the drill press and having at it with a hole saw. I found several template programs on the Internet - you plug in the pipe size and the angle and it prints out a paper cutting template, so I'll go that route.

I made a couple of practice welds on the tubing cutoffs from the grill guard to 1/4" plate scrap I had, and I don't think I'll have any problems. I've burned about five pounds of wire practicing with my new welder and I'm a heck of a lot better that I was. I'll have some extra tube to practice tube to tube welds before I try it for keeps on my bumper.

Hoping to get the bumpers painted and installed by the end of the week.

Elwarpo said:

........Anyone want to buy my groundpounder LJ rear bumper?

Click to expand...

There's no difference between an LJ and a TJ, I assume. I'm always interested in a good deal interest in a good deal and can even make it as far north as just east of Ann Arbor if, the price is right.

I am just not overly concerned with corner protection. I'll even offer up my Durango4X4 rear bumper that they want $450 for the tire carrier before shipping for, as part of the trade or just sell it locally.

One brace is finished, working on #2

I've been dreading notching the tubing, but thanks to the coping program, life was made considerably simpler. I got the angles correct to within 5* or so, but that wasn't quite good enough and I had to steepen one of the notches a bit. The other brace is of course not the same angle and I had to go through the same measuring rigmarole as with the first one. The grill hoop is not perfectly symmetrical so that sort of screws up trying to duplicate the first brace. I'll get the second brace fitted after lunch and then remove the bumper and weld 'er up.
[attachment=0:wjgmml1q]RightBraceFinished.jpg[/attachment:wjgmml1q]

Okay! Grill guard is welded to the winch plate, I do not like welding tube - you have to keep the gun oriented for the joint while moving the gun in a circle. The second support strut/brace from the stinger to the grill guard did not go as well as the first one, I wound up redoing both ends a couple of times and I don't have as great a fit as the first one, it's not bad, but the little gap on one side of the inboard end will take a little welding finessing. It's really easy to blow through a tube end since it heats up so much faster if it's hanging in the breeze.

The support braces are tacked in place and I'll get them welded up tomorrow morning. I'm hoping to trial fit the rear bumper tomorrow afternoon, then sit in the deer blind later in the day .

[attachment=0:1h346hdm]LastWeldsToDo.jpg[/attachment:1h346hdm]

More progress...

Welding the braces/struts on the front bumper wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - it was far worse :roll: I was having my usual problem of not being able to see the joint very well enough of the time while running the bead. Following the joint around was a real headache. I positioned the bumper so I could weld mostly flat (highly desirable) at least. I did manage to get a nice bead on about 90 degrees of one tube end, naturally my best bead will be out of sight. With the help of my angle grinder (abrasive disc and flap disc), I prettied up the welds - with paint it will look okay. I got good penetration and have a wide enough bead after grinding for the tube to be quite secure, so I'm not worried about weld integrity.

The front bumper welds look a little worse in this picture than they are in person.
[attachment=1:12c1wa24]Yuk.jpg[/attachment:12c1wa24]

Here is the trial fit of the rear bumper. Looks good - now I need to read Eddie's instructions since it looks like I might need to make a couple of holes. I'll get that sorted out tomorrow and try to get some POR-15 sprayed on the bumpers. Also got the Roadmaster tow brackets installed - that was a whole bunch easier than installing them on the Liberty.

[attachment=0:12c1wa24]RearTrialFit.jpg[/attachment:12c1wa24]