Coat that thing in tool dip spray, it'll look completely legit. Buddy at work coated his whole jeep. I guess it peels off like vinyl
I was gonna mention 6061 not being too bend friendly, but people do it.
The wood front bumper only has to last 4-5 weeks until the aluminess is ready...............
Yes, Ramsey was also suggesting using 6061, but when you look at a sheet of .187" thick material it's a bit daunting. The shop I'm working with bends 3/16" 5052 all the time.
The harder materials have this tendency to crack/go plastic at the extreme of the bend. Perhaps if they put a large bend radius on it. Otherwise you might be welding and/or grinding down those bends anyway. You also have some bends that exceed 90, which is a whole other set of punches and dies. 5052 will be very strong with those bends in it. We got a mislabled batch of aluminum 0.080" sheet at work, and it tore when we hemmed it. We don't bend anything over 1/8" for the most part.
Picked up the proto bumper yesterday.....next steps are fit checking, mount hatch and cam lock, drill and tap a few holes, test backup sensors..........then powder coat.
The quality looks great, and the bumper is completely welded/sealed.
I'm also developing the mounting features to hold swingarms on both sides.......so much more to come....
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