Unfortunately I am one of the few who live on the east coast where sportsmobiles are very far and few. My question is regarding bumper fabricators. I live in Staten Island NY and I am looking for a solid off road shop, or any metal fab shop for that matter that is capable of building me a swing out bumper.
Design and functionality of the Aluminess rear bumpers is great but I’d prefer using steel in the rear and not have my door hinges supporting any weight of my rear cargo. I’d love to have my bikes mounted above a storage box on the passenger side swing, but instead of the bar mounts like aluminess I’d prefer a 2inch receiver welded to the swing out somewhere above the box. I like having the options to use my bike rack on other vehicles and also have the option of stashing some extra fuel cans or gear on top of the box when the bike racks are not being used.
There’s tons of west coast/mid west guys building some sweet custom bumpers but unfortunately the logistics and cost of getting them shipped out here is insane.
I'm with you jredone, would be considerably more convenient to have access to Service outfits familiar with these Rigs,
I've had a local Metal Fabrication shop build me several items which I've been very pleased with. A reputable one more than likely has a lot of experience building "custom" stuff - With specific dimensions and explanation they can produce just about anything.
Also a lot of Jeep outfitters riddled across the East which may prove to be a good source for you.
Thanks, I’ll see how it goes with these local shops I reached out to first and keep that on the back burner. I’ll post up some info and photos if I happen to find a place closer by. I’m sure there’s a few of us out here looking for the same thing.
Another MD shop.....Wits End Fabrication in Hanover. They did steel and aluminum repairs on my 15 yr old SMB trailer when I rebuilt it and modified a K&N CAI box to work around the rear AC lines in my EB50. I've seen custom rear bumper swing out's on Jeeps and Toyota's that looked good.
I've seen his work and it's top notch. He used to do a lot more bumpers and custom work for rigs, but over the past few years has focused on residential and commercial projects which are more lucrative. But he's owned several personal off-road rigs so has an affinity and deep knowledge of building rugged bumpers and accessories.
I actually wound up finding a Jeep fab guy close by that’s willing to work with me. We’ll see how it goes price wise once we get the ideas on paper. His shop is called Globex performance.
I’ll be posting the progress and pricing as I go along.
I just noticed that you've made progress on your rear bumper (after seeing a picture of your water heater on another post). Any chance you could post an updated bumper picture here? I'm contemplating having something similar done, possibly over my spare tire or over my basket (or both?)...
Thanks!
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2001 Sportsmobile RB50 7.3
West Central Mountains, Idaho
I wound up just going with Aluminess front and rear with their bike rack swing arm. The prices I was getting from some shops close by for a custom job with steel were way more than Aluminess. So that on top of the significant weight gain with steel bumpers sealed the deal for me to go with Aluminess.