Rear Bumper Storage

[Steakman]

This will be my 4th Aluminum rear bumper that I have built. Great place for a Gen Set, Wood storage, BBQ or a decent sized contaner to hold whatever. Plenty of strength..lots of room.







I removed the old 4 X 4 tin along with the 2 X 4 X 1/8" steel bumper extensions from beneath the trailer...made up a new pair of extensions with drilled plates and pulled them out about 3 inches from the back of the trailer and welded them on with your avg "glue" gun (mig) :C

All 6061 Aluminum.
2 X 4 X 1/4" for the main beam @ 8'
2 X 2 X .188 for the cross members @ 26"
2 X 3 X .188 for other cross memebers @ 26"
1 X 2 X .188 for the rear beam @ 7'8"

All bolted to the new plates/extensions with Grade 8 bolting. There is a plastic shim made from a milk jug in between the Al and Steel - should prevent any corrosion due to dissimilar metals.

Welded the Al with ER5356 GMAW .035 in spray mode. (short circuit Al welds will break)
Cost was simply for materials at ~$250.00 CAD.

I keep all my water accessories, Flush-King, NItril gloves and hose (250')...I dont like refilling with 5 Gal jugs..especially if you have 3 women in the trailer...they tend to use a fair amount of water.!! Firewood goes in between the uprights - strapped down.

...and we are off again this weekend..!!

A rainy miserable weekend camping beats a glorious day at work...by a long shot.!

cheers,

stk

Moderator edit to re-size pictures to forum limit of 640px maximum width.

[AlbertaNewbie]

Thanks, it's always worth a shot, definitely understand the slowing down.

[Steakman]

Actually guys, I dont have a mig at home (wish list.!), but first need to run some 230V to the Garage...then comes a machine. Next year maybe.

As such I was able to utilize some contacts from my welding sales days and went to their shop to do the welding. I used an ESAB MigMaster 250 with an ST-23 Spool gun...not sure of what amperage I was at..I just know it wasn't short arc... while setting my heat I just kept turning up the amps and WFeed till it was just right. 100% Argon was the shielding gas. Can't use mixes unless its with Helium...and then that is only added when one is welding heavy sections of Al. (expensive too).

Am now up in the oil sands as a QC Welding Inspector working a 4 on 3 off Mon-Thur shift, 12 hr days in camp, Fly in/out to site. Great gig. When I get home though, we are either camping or doing work around the house..So no real time to get involved with extra jobs at this time and to be honest..no real desire either (not trying to sound arrogant or anything..but at 61..I'm slowing down a bit.!)

Cheers and thanx,

Stk

[AlbertaNewbie]

Nice set up, do you do any custom work for others? I'm in Calgary and need a custom frame for my new locking battery box built and it sounds like you know what you are doing with a welder. Have looked at bolted, but just can't come up with a way of doing it nicely and not many custom fab shops that want small jobs. Shoot me a pm

[Bull_Rider]

Looks well done. What MIG machine are you using? Must have a spool gun? I've never MIGed aluminum but I have TIGed aluminum. How many amps does it take to get to spray transfer? Do you use argon + Co2?

Have any closeup photos of the welds...? Thanks...