As is the usual case when you are out crawling through the wash, you come up to some rocks. Some of these rocks are bigger than others. Some you need to go completely over, others you need to get a wheel up on it so you can turn a bit and continue on. Somehow I always seem to be just a 1/2″ short of getting my tire up on that rock because the bumper hits first. Having a bigger lift would certainly help, but that’s more $$ than I want to spend right now. So, a bobbed bumper sounded like a good idea to me.
I got hold of a friend who has, among other things, a plasma cutter. It went through the factory bumper like a hot knife in butter. We marked the bumper, trying to keep the angles on the end near stock and even with each other.
We trimmed it down to within about an 1″ of the factory fogs. In case you were wondering, yes, those are the stock lights in their original location. I just need to remember that I could get up to a rock and clip the light housing.
Although the plasma cutter does a nice job of cutting off the excess metal, it leaves a rougher edge than what I wanted. Since my Tera QDs are right in this area too, I didn’t want to find myself reaching in to do the disconnects and end up cutting myself on the edge. A minutes worth of time with a grinder took it down very nicely. I use a flat file to dress off a couple of places to it is nice and smooth now. I won’t get cut on this edge.
The finished product as seen head on. I like the look, but I am looking forward to getting my tire to the rock before the bumper gets there. Regardless of the method you use to remove the extra metal, just be sure to “measure twice and cut once.”