a little BLA BLA & a tube bumper with a winch mount (WTD)

WeldTecDesigns · 09-20-2015, 01:46 PM

I have always enjoyed my 1997 Ford E250 over a truck since I bought it used in 2001. Only having it a couple years stock, mostly so it would fit in the parking structure I had to put a lift on it. Using the same method we had been doing on Ford rangers and F150's for years, love the twin I beam. I did a 6" kit but only went to a 265 tire to attempt to keep gas mileage reasonable. People said I was silly for lifting a van but it looked 10x better then stock. For the last 10 years I have made countless trips to the desert, Baja, camping on the coast, oh and many unplanned weekend Vegas trips. Always bring me home and ready for the next adventure. While racing my Ford Ranger in SCORE and CODE series it served as one of our primary support vehicles. I loved that we could keep all of our stuff in it secure and out of site of people who thought they deserved my tools more then me.
You may ask why am I telling you this or maybe saying to your self who cares...... To be honest I had no idea that the van community was so large with so many cool vans built or being built. It was always fun lifting them and building bumpers but never thought much more about it. Just one more crazy person like myself....
I haven't been around this forum long but I have enjoyed reading what others are building and appreciate the feedback about our products. It has inspired us to develop more products for the E series vans and allow me to finally build bumpers for my own van..... Long overdue.... Not limiting us to Fords we will be soon be building pieces and parts for other manufactures of vans.
With all that nonsense out of the way!

This week we took our tube bumper platform and added a winch mount. Keeping with our Baja style design we added a winch plate and a couple top tubes to fill in the grill and help the overall appearance. The nice part about our tube bumper platform is we can custom build you the top anyway you want.

Thanks for taking a look...

**daveb** · 09-21-2015, 12:26 PM

Your work looks great. Any thoughts of designing tube type running boards?

WeldTecDesigns · 09-21-2015, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveb

Your work looks great. Any thoughts of designing tube type running boards?

Thanks. I hope to have the a set done in 2-3 weeks if all goes well. I will keep you posted when I get them done.

JWA · 09-22-2015, 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveb

Your work looks great. Any thoughts of designing tube type running boards?

I'd also be interested in that project. Having made a set for my cargo/work van they're very useful even on my "normal" E250.

Another E250 slightly lifted and without side steps or A-Pillar grab handles is noticeably less convenient to enter. Mine aren't stylish, just functional but always open to another option.

arctictraveller · 09-22-2015, 11:49 AM

I love the skidplate. I already have a winch bumper, would you be interested in fabricating a skid plate if I could stop by your shop? I'm headed to Baja in November....................

WeldTecDesigns · 09-22-2015, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arctictraveller

I love the skidplate. I already have a winch bumper, would you be interested in fabricating a skid plate if I could stop by your shop? I'm headed to Baja in November....................

We can defiantly do that for you. send me some pics of what you have to get an idea of what you will need..

arctictraveller · 09-22-2015, 01:24 PM

We can defiantly do that for you. send me some pics of what you have to get an idea of what you will need..[/quote]

Why are you being defiant?

I'm not near the van, but will send some additional photos when I am in a few weeks. Obvously, until you see it in person though it'll be hard to tell how to fabricate it. It's a Dana 44 leaf spring conversion though, so I assume the biggest challange will be fabricating a rear mount for the frame. Looking forward to it............

[photo][/photo]

TheLetterJ · 10-02-2015, 01:33 PM

This bumper looks almost exactly like what I had envisioned for the front of my van. I had a friend build a "frame horn" type bumper for my dodge a few years ago and it came out really nice. I had a winch cradle behind the skid plate but never actually installed a winch. I haven't really looked at the van's frame very close, but is there enough room behind the skid plate to put the winch mount down there? What do you have in mind as far as some sort of recovery point? A single point to put a large shackle (or one on each frame rail?) would be perfect. The front bumper will be the van's next large purchase... then I can get my Glassworks fenders mounted! Keep up the good work WeldTec, and thanks for continuing to make new products for our non-current models!

Here's my "old" truck:

It's still kind of weird to think that I replaced that with an older, 2wd, 15 passenger van!

WeldTecDesigns · 10-02-2015, 10:46 PM

I haven't really looked at the van's frame very close, but is there enough room behind the skid plate to put the winch mount down there? What do you have in mind as far as some sort of recovery point? A single point to put a large shackle (or one on each frame rail?) would be perfect.

A winch could be done behind the skid plate with some special work.... Anything can be built. As far as recovery points I would do one on each frame horn like you mentioned.
Keep in mind you can do any top on our bumpers and are not restricted to only this top. They are custom built to your specific needs.
Thanks