Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2016 20:21:32 -0700
Reply-To: Alistair Bel <albell@SHAW.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Alistair Bel <albell@SHAW.CA>
Subject: Re: Aftermarket bumpers
In-Reply-To: <6067AB8C-B464-4D91-A082-1DA73CC909D4@NBNet.nb.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Hey Roy,
Yeah, I'm still here and dicking around with aluminum. I've made two ladders/tire carriers now and working on two more to be finished this week.
Still prototypes and working out details etc.
The bumpers were a bit of a lark. I suppose the main reasons I made them was to have something that was a bit more durable and incorporated provisions for auxiliary lights up front and trailer hitch and recovery points in the rear.
And I work with aluminum and stainless every day so I have access to the tools and off cuts of stock.
It's much easier making the bumpers from aluminum than it would be for steel, for me anyway. I can cut and shape it faster than I can steel. Plus as bad as my aluminum welding is, it's much better than my steel welding.
With the rear bumper I did make a plywood mockup, but still, in the end, I'm not completely happy with some of the curves and the end cap shape. I could refine both of those into something a little sleeker.
Happier with how the front turned out, but still the end cap shapes are difficult to get right.
About the affect the bumpers have in the crash worthiness of the van. Up front I don't think I have compromised anything stock. The aluminum bumpers do given me the particular ( and I mean that in the true sense of the word) protection I want. That is some protection from ground scrapes when going through those nasty little trenches you find in logging roads, and a bit more dent resistance if I bump into things.
At the rear I think concern about the stock crash worthiness is a bit specious. In the stock set up there is very little protection provided. If you install a heavy duty receiver hitch set up that a few suppliers make, then the steel substructure of the hitch is creating a very much harder bumper than stock. At that point it almost doesn't matter what you put over the hitch in the form of a bumper.
So I like aluminum. I like its properties ( and no rust is a big plus property) and I like working with the stuff. The bumpers work for me, for what I want them to do.
Alistair
> On Mar 20, 2016, at 10:44 AM, Roy Nicholl <RNicholl@NBNET.NB.CA> wrote:
>
> Nick:
>
> You forgot Bel Industries (https://shufti.wordpress.com/?s=bumper) … I’m waiting for Alistair to finally arrive at the finished the rear bumper and rack/ladder, then I may have to make a trip to the other side of the continent to “trade” when he’s off playing with airplanes.
>
>
>
>> On 20-Mar-2016, at 10:41, Nick Feickert <thesuperflydisco@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>
>> Time to have a discussion on the available aftermarket bumpers that are
>> currently available for the Vanagon. Since I'm in the middle of my restoration
>> of my '85 Westy, I thought I'd get your input as to what you think is important
>> in choosing a bumper set. As of 2016, here is what is available:
>> Go Westy: http://www.gowesty.com/product-details.php?v=&id=23578
>> Van-Cafe: http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_863_159/big-bumpers.html
>> Rocky Mtn Westy:
>> http://www.rockymountainwesty.com/Vanagon_Twin_Peaks_Front_Bumper_p/rmw-tp01.htm
>> (link is to front bumper only)
>> Aircooled.net: http://vwparts.aircooled.net/VW-Tube-Bumper-Front-1980-92-
>> Vanagon-p/vanagontubebumperfront.htm (link is to front bumper only)
>>
>>
