Off-Road Racing Light Bar

[Greg Boardman-RIP]

I decided a few months ago to build "Off-Road Racing" style light bar/ bumper. Once I started the conversion from a DRW to a SRW I new the direction I would be going with this truck was off road racing. With the suspension that T-Rex offers, our truck can be made into competitive off road machins. No one offers a bolt on type of light bar for our trucks. I have decided to call it a light bar and not a bumper because of DOT approval stuff. It does not replace the stock bumper, so it is a light bar. Don't let the name fool you. This thing is being made out of 120* wall chromoly tubing. It is super stout, mounted with 3/8" thick burly mounts. All oem mounting points assure there will be no warranty issues with the frame. I decieded to keep a conservative look and not make a huge scoop off the front. This is the first prototype bar and the design will change as I progress. I would hope that there are others that would be interested in something like this. I am going to make one for the T-Rex racing truck and it will be tested in the rugged and totally brutal conditions of the Baja 500 race. Let me know what you think... .



Thanks,

Greg Boardman[/IMG]#ad
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[Greg Boardman-RIP]

Some pics of the mounting points. [/IMG]#ad
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[Greg Boardman-RIP]

Side View[/IMG]#ad
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[XcumminsX]

looks great

 

[Bertram65]

How much would something like that cost? I would prefer unpainted so I would add stuff to it and then have it powder coated.

 

[Greg Boardman-RIP]

We are still trying to figure out a complete design. This one is just the first model. I am going to add 4 tabs for lights and an upper hoop to protect them. You will be able to get one in raw material form for the discount of no powder coating. I am going to have them all powdercoated black.

As for the price, We still need to get the Chromoly in bulk to get cost down. This bumper took almost 40 feet of tubing and at 9 dollars a foot that would put it a little spendy in my eyes. I do want to keep it brutally tough so I will not make them out of cold steel for a lesser price. Once I get a jig built and start a production line I will be more able to come up with a reasonable price. Thanks for your interest.

 

[RAMINSPEED]

Looks cool but I need a tow hook on it.

 

[Greg Boardman-RIP]

I think you could tow something anywhere next to a frame mount. We lifted the front of my truck 6 feet off the ground yesterday from the center top bar with a crane... .

 

[tpuig]

That's pretty sweet. I'm not much into the big brush guard looks, but want something more durable than the purely cosmetic offerings for light bars. A suggestion (for my taste at least) would be to use a larger top tube, maybe even something oval shaped. That would allow folks to drill and mount lights almost anywhere, as opposed to using tabs. Looks plenty tough. I'll have to take a look on my next trip down.

TP



p. s. I'll be Rancho Mirage next week...

 

[Greg Boardman-RIP]

oval would be impossible to bend. I would be able to mount light tabs anywhere. It would come with a basic design like the one on my truck. Then you could add on anything you want.



tow hooks

light tabs

top tube

bosses in the tubing



The only real change I plan on making for sure is to have it come away from the bumper about 4 inches instead of 1 3/4 inches. That would give a little less of an angle on the down tubes and it would add strength.

 

[rbattelle]

I like this idea, if it's affordable!

 

[bpenrod]

Looks great! Will the finished (production?) product have some sorrt of endcap on it? Also, do yo think factory tow hooks would interfere with the mounting you have? I am very interested in how it all comes out!!

 

[Greg Boardman-RIP]

All of the finish work is far from done Doug. I worked until 5 min before dinner. There will be an end cap welded on, some kind of tow hook, light tabs, and a powdercoat finish. As for being affordable, it should be around half of what you would pay for a "Ranch Hand Style" replacement bumper. I think with the magazine coverage from T-Rex, I should be able to sell a few. I'm glad you guys think it is cool.



Greg

 

[tpuig]

Yeah, I guess oval would be pretty tough to bend. ;-)



I like it so far, and would definitely be interested. Even in a pre-production version. The only replacement bumper I like is the Buckstop. But this would be much better since we don't have too many deer in my area. Any ballpark on the weight so far?

TP

 

[Greg Boardman-RIP]

No idea on the weight. I am taking it off to finish weld it tomorrow. Then to the painter for the weekend. I need it painted for May Madness. I will weigh it when it is off. The final production bars will be made from Chromoly and will be considerably lighter. Guess we'll know more later. What day will you be in rancho mirage?

 

[Greg Boardman-RIP]

Originally posted by bpenrod

Looks great! Will the finished (production?) product have some sorrt of endcap on it? Also, do yo think factory tow hooks would interfere with the mounting you have? I am very interested in how it all comes out!!

You can see how it mounts in my readers rig photos

 

[tpuig]

My wife and I will be there Saturday through Tuesday, the 8th - 11th . Little resort time for her, little desert exploration for me. ;-)

I may just have her fly down, that way I can hit the May Madness for a day. Better than nothing.

TP

 

[DocDetonancour]

Greg, are you going to have them available for May M? thanks, Doc

 

[Greg Boardman-RIP]

Doc,

I just finished the prototype. It will be on Kent's truck(T-Rex). I installed the light tabs, mounted the top guard and fabbed up some sweet end caps. This thing is very stout. I hope to make some changes on the next on and Have figured out a way to keep the factory tow hooks. There are a few more things I will need to do for production. Maybe in a month I will have about 10 built and I'll go from there. I will take some pictures in the morning and post them early.



Greg

 

[Greg Boardman-RIP]

updated picture of the finished prototype. The next prototype will have factory tow hooks and mounts for 4 lights not three. [/IMG]#ad