Front bumper ideas

The original front bumper on my 59 CJ5 was pretty well messed up so it got tossed. Now I'm left with my winch taking the brunt of anything I bump in to. My initial reaction was to purchase a rather large diameter chunk of well casing and caps to carry a high-lift jack in or perhaps a short bit of railroad track.

I'd like to hear about any terribly utilitarian bumpers out there or at least something with panache.

 

This guy to the north of me was selling a bumper made of round tube that holds air inside it so you can air your tires back up when leaving the trail.




Todd :hurrican:

 

Custom w/ recovery points tied into frame.

 

My design philosophy and front bumbers is to keep it as light as you can, but I also wanted to retain the stock look. Handling wise, this is probably the worst place on the Jeep for a lot of weight. Also, I wanted as little air restriction to the radiator and the oil cooler beneath it as possible. As above, I just reworked a stock bumber. The middle section behind the winch is boxed with 1/4, while the rest of it is boxed with 3/16.

 

You can kind of see the bumper in this pic. this is a Koenig PTO winch. The winch mounts and clevis mount bolts thread into thick wall DOM tubing that's welded through the bumper. The bumper has a drain and air fitting so it can be used as an air reservoir.