Offroad-Express

yeah I had that same bumper on one of my first niva's, I took it off pretty quick as real heavy and hangs down waaaay too far.I would not trust it to put tow hooks on either.

If you want to keep the bar then I would suggest bottom half (box section into chassis)like mine and then cut the top half of that bull bar and match it up.

Del Fuego wrote:
yeah keep us up to date about the spacers, I know SP is keen to sort something out too... I can get a whole set spacers, wedges, bj spacers etc from a top gent in aus for $120 which is pretty reasonable

Hey can ya get some pick of the gear from aussie cos thats a prity good price for all of it....

Right so not as good as I was wishing for the bj spacers. the guy can make them up for around $120 - $150 each, so expencive due to them not being round. that is going for some like this




he says it costs so much due to alot of friging around cos its not round. So Im gona go speak to him today about just making completly round ones which should drop the price drasticly I hope. then I can just reshape myself to make it look a bit better.

for the wedges I have marked them out just have to cut them tonight.
Time to put my grinding sklls to the test .

Hey NivaPulled, how did you go about the squaring/strengthening of those bumper mount/holes? did you grind them out then weld in some braces or something... sorry I am a bit retarded but would like to give something like that a go as it makes good sense to me and I think the A-Frame would mount up nicely to that sort of rig... and I can probably use quite a bit of the existing barwork... modified... I'm not sure how confided/trusting of my welding I am though...

ladeda wrote:

Del Fuego wrote:
yeah keep us up to date about the spacers, I know SP is keen to sort something out too... I can get a whole set spacers, wedges, bj spacers etc from a top gent in aus for $120 which is pretty reasonable

Hey can ya get some pick of the gear from aussie cos thats a prity good price for all of it....

Right so not as good as I was wishing for the bj spacers. the guy can make them up for around $120 - $150 each, so expencive due to them not being round. that is going for some like this

BJ_spacer_diagram.jpg

he says it costs so much due to alot of friging around cos its not round. So Im gona go speak to him today about just making completly round ones which should drop the price drasticly I hope. then I can just reshape myself to make it look a bit better.

for the wedges I have marked them out just have to cut them tonight.
Time to put my grinding sklls to the test .

get a quote for laser or water cutting, mine were cheaper than machine them myself on the cnc
they can work from most CAD files

ladeda wrote:

Del Fuego wrote:
yeah keep us up to date about the spacers, I know SP is keen to sort something out too... I can get a whole set spacers, wedges, bj spacers etc from a top gent in aus for $120 which is pretty reasonable

Hey can ya get some pick of the gear from aussie cos thats a prity good price for all of it....

Right so not as good as I was wishing for the bj spacers. the guy can make them up for around $120 - $150 each, so expencive due to them not being round. that is going for some like this

BJ_spacer_diagram.jpg

he says it costs so much due to alot of friging around cos its not round. So Im gona go speak to him today about just making completly round ones which should drop the price drasticly I hope. then I can just reshape myself to make it look a bit better.

for the wedges I have marked them out just have to cut them tonight.
Time to put my grinding sklls to the test .

your getting ripped mate, I make that sort of stuff all the time, change the thickness to 16mm send the file to local profile cutters and it will cost below half that

Yeah I can get the whole set (already made) including ring spacers, wedges etc out of aussie for about $120

Id go for the set if you are wanting all the bits or get them laser or whatever cut if just the bj spacers. That other price is fair if he was going to cnc them up as you have to allow for material and a cutter say a 12mm carbide endmill anywere between 60 to $150 then pitching out bolt holes and mounting to a fixture plate then milling them out all at 80 to $100a hour

De-Ranged wrote:

ladeda wrote:

Del Fuego wrote:
yeah keep us up to date about the spacers, I know SP is keen to sort something out too... I can get a whole set spacers, wedges, bj spacers etc from a top gent in aus for $120 which is pretty reasonable

Hey can ya get some pick of the gear from aussie cos thats a prity good price for all of it....

Right so not as good as I was wishing for the bj spacers. the guy can make them up for around $120 - $150 each, so expencive due to them not being round. that is going for some like this

BJ_spacer_diagram.jpg

he says it costs so much due to alot of friging around cos its not round. So Im gona go speak to him today about just making completly round ones which should drop the price drasticly I hope. then I can just reshape myself to make it look a bit better.

for the wedges I have marked them out just have to cut them tonight.
Time to put my grinding sklls to the test .

your getting ripped mate, I make that sort of stuff all the time, change the thickness to 16mm send the file to local profile cutters and it will cost below half that

awsome thanks for the advice, local profile cutter you say i will google that now. ya recon you could make up a couple 20mm thick for us. my folk are down in the bay so could get them to drop of a couple boxes and a bit of cash to ya if ya could help us out.

luckyme wrote:

ladeda wrote:

Del Fuego wrote:
yeah keep us up to date about the spacers, I know SP is keen to sort something out too... I can get a whole set spacers, wedges, bj spacers etc from a top gent in aus for $120 which is pretty reasonable

Hey can ya get some pick of the gear from aussie cos thats a prity good price for all of it....

Right so not as good as I was wishing for the bj spacers. the guy can make them up for around $120 - $150 each, so expencive due to them not being round. that is going for some like this

BJ_spacer_diagram.jpg

he says it costs so much due to alot of friging around cos its not round. So Im gona go speak to him today about just making completly round ones which should drop the price drasticly I hope. then I can just reshape myself to make it look a bit better.

for the wedges I have marked them out just have to cut them tonight.
Time to put my grinding sklls to the test .

get a quote for laser or water cutting, mine were cheaper than machine them myself on the cnc
they can work from most CAD files

thanks for the advise mate Ill investigate laser or water cutting.

Just leave them round. Mine are round and look like they have just been made from round aluminum bar.


For the front bumper holes to make square. Big hammer and punch and then a cold chisle to get the corners square.It is only the front panel that has round holes, the chassis rails inbehind are square and 50x50 box slides in nice and tight.


then I welded on 20 x 3mm flat bar to frame the holes to further spread the load and stop tearing of the body skin as it is quite thin.





If I did it again I would weld a cap on the end of the original round tube that I used for the ends that slide into the chassis. this stops the bolt tearing out the end of the tube. I found someone had done that after I had put mine all together and I cant get it back out now.(when I welded the cross member on it contracted and the two longitudinal bits that go into the chassis are now wedged in the holes. but that will make it harder to rip off me thinks)


and if you want to keep your original bumper and make stronger mounts for it. cut the tags off the old mounts and weld them onto the 50x50 longitudinals like so. nice and solid and Light this is why I kept the original bumper.

sorry double post.

Awesome info! thanks heaps for that man

Thanks to the info above I made a start on hacking things up, bear in mind it isn't quite done yet and won't be quite as pretty even when done lol

Turns out the existing bars are 50mm box which happens to be the perfect size to slide into the existing chassis rails so made a start on chopping off the brackets and things that are no longer needed, not done yet but making progress







Will then be able to bolt everything together in a much stronger fashion and mount hooks etc... haven't looked at the back yet but will hopefully be able to do something similar. will likely also trim down the bull bar as it has a ton of weight and isn't really needed on a bush truck i.e. couldn't care less if it gets scratched/bashed/hit by trees etc

Sorry for the slow reply been away with work

First off sent your profile to the profile cutter getting you a price in 16mm and 20mm steel, please note these will be plasma cut laser can't cut thicker than 12mm

Next don't put recovery hooks onto your bumper unless you plan on adding extra mounting pionts for the bumper to the body, there is the potential to rip the bumper mount out under a hard snatch

Heres what I did with mine for the rear on mine


That plate is the foot for my cage....

Cheers Reece

Up date on the suspension lift parts.

Got one quote back from a guy in Auck who can draw up and water jet cut, two 20mm BJ spacers for $75 just waitng to hear back if that includes the alluminium, If it does ill probably roll with him as is a good price I think.

In regards to the rear spring spacers got a couple of shocking quotes, aparantly the nylon is really expensive, so still on the hunt for a solution, may have one in the works though....

Will keep posted.

I've been in contact with some guy who supplies dotmar, and I'm trying to get a quote from him for some stuff for spring spacers. But he's slack and hasn't replied yet lol

Got the qoute back how does $50(incl) for a pair in 20mm mild steel grab ya... told ya you were getting ripped

If your keen let me know

Cheers Reece

Good work Reece, I am sure if you post up in the lada section a few guys might be up for a group buy. I am sure at that price they wont mind swinging a few bucks your way for your effort either.

Magic, magic and magic! guy in aussie is starting to sound pretty reasonable then?

Next hiccup in my redesigned front end...

looking inside the chassis rail from the front there is a folded and welded sheet in there blocking the rail, it holds the nut that the factory tow points bolt to (if that makes sense?) any easy way to remove this as I want to sink my box steel/bullbar as deep as it will go and there is quite a bit of depth behind that blockage...

Am I gonna have to smash it with a cold chisel till it moves or is there a way with some more finesse? there isn't much room to move and it seems to be relatively firm in there...

how to drive your Lada

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GayAxCzCtTw

JEBUS!!! no thanks.

Del Fuego wrote:Magic, magic and magic! guy in aussie is starting to sound pretty reasonable then?

Next hiccup in my redesigned front end...

looking inside the chassis rail from the front there is a folded and welded sheet in there blocking the rail, it holds the nut that the factory tow points bolt to (if that makes sense?) any easy way to remove this as I want to sink my box steel/bullbar as deep as it will go and there is quite a bit of depth behind that blockage...

Am I gonna have to smash it with a cold chisel till it moves or is there a way with some more finesse? there isn't much room to move and it seems to be relatively firm in there...

I would leave it as it is man.
I looked at removing them myself but decided it would be way to hard to do a neat job of it.
If ya wana utilise the old bumper bolts you can, by welding about 60mm of the old round bar to the box section then drill a couple extra holes right through chassis and box section and add a couple bolts each side making it all held in by 6 bolts. will never come out after that.

luckyme wrote:how to drive your Lada

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GayAxCzCtTw

That's how I drive mine

won't be using the original bumper or mounts but the bullbar will be mounted directly into the chassis rails and it is a bit overweight to just hang out the end like that... I will ponder another solution but this looks like it will work quite well... MS Paint to the rescue/description



hopefully that explains better why I want the full length? or am I on completely the wrong/stupid track?

SP450andLE wrote:

luckyme wrote:how to drive your Lada

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GayAxCzCtTw

That's how I drive mine

prove it? lol... looks like I will be nearly as slow as you to get things running lol

Del Fuego wrote:

SP450andLE wrote:

luckyme wrote:how to drive your Lada

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GayAxCzCtTw

That's how I drive mine

prove it? lol... looks like I will be nearly as slow as you to get things running lol

what are you talking about guy that guy was nana driving.

Yea it does take time to get things done, I recon nivapulledout will be out there before all of us evein with being away all the time
Shotgun when he does...

Del Fuego wrote:won't be using the original bumper or mounts but the bullbar will be mounted directly into the chassis rails and it is a bit overweight to just hang out the end like that... I will ponder another solution but this looks like it will work quite well... MS Paint to the rescue/description



hopefully that explains better why I want the full length? or am I on completely the wrong/stupid track?

hopefully this will explain what I mean better



Should be more than enough strength.
But Have a chat to nivapulledout cos that guy knows his stuff when it comes to forces and loads etc. keep it up mate it all takes time and tinkering.

Cheers dude, I will have another look at it over the weekend and if nivapulledout doesn't pipe up I will flick him a pm to check it out

Hay pal.

what you are doing sounds good. I would not try and remove the insert in the chassis(if you can call it that)tube as it will be a right W%$#ker to get out.

Just measure up how much box can slide in as it is and then cut off the excess off your bumper, then cut the ends off your old round bumper inserts. measure up the approx length of these and cut them a bit longer. it will be better to have the round bits slightly longer than what you measure as it is better than having them too short and not being able to get the bolt hole lined up. Then tack weld them on and check the bolt will go through when installed. once you have it then weld them all up.


Dont forget to weld a cap on the end of the round tube as it helps stop the bolt from tearing out the end of the pipe.

once it is all in you can drill another bolt hole further fwd so it goes through the 50x50 box. Will be about as strong as you can get it with out major modification. I would still be wary of snatching from it ( I hate snatching) but will be plenty strong to straight pull or winch from.

Snatching on nivas as De Ranged also pointed out is a no no unless alot of gusseting of surrounding area of attachment.
Snatching tends to do this to nivas.

Thanks for that, well I spent the day ignoring everyone's sage advice :/

You are correct that those things were a bit of a bugger to remove however once I got the first one out and figured it all out it went much smoother. that obstruction seemed to serve absolutely no structural purpose other than to retain the bumper bolt. I will not be using the factory bumpers at all so my bullbar(Horizontal straight 50x50 box) is now mounted with nearly 25cm depth (all the way back to the front suspension bolt(obviously I will leave a bit of leeway for safety))

I haven't bolted it all up as I will try and weld a plug into the far end of the box section as well for a bit more strength and to stop anything pulling. But I think with that length I should be able to run 3 bolts a side through braces, which should make everything fairly sturdy

anyway at the end of today it looks like this:



with the box section able to go all the way back to Here:



as opposed to essentially a bit forward of the bolt hole visible in same pic.

will pull the back apart tomorrow(today) and see what the story is there but so far, I think so good