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syncrodoka
Samba Member
Joined: December 27, 2005
Posts: 12005
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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 Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:52 pm Post subject: |
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| itzdshtz- what is funny is that I was just looking at your bumpers on your site. What I like most is the swing out tire carrier and how the swing out bar hides in the bumper. I am sure that the vertical bar has some sort of brace when shut to avoid vibrations. You have engineered some great improvements for your van. |
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TopBud
Samba Member
Joined: February 28, 2004
Posts: 1111
Location: Flagstaff AZ
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| Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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Very Nicely done. That is what I want. Front and Rear.VVVVV Looks great. Get the prices low so we can buy them. Free Shipping to AZ. 
Really that is one nice looking bumper set.
| itzdshtz wrote: |
Here is my bumper project that I have been working on for the last couple of days.
Front bumper with winch mount, all pipe is 2".
Rear bumper with swing out spare tire carrier, still have to add some filler strips between the pipes and some alu plates between the body and bumpers.
Most of the mechanical conversion to a 5 cyl TD is done, runs great!
Next is body work, paint and installation of the westy stuff. |
_________________
86 bostig SYNCRO
66 convertible Karmann Ghia |
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WestyBob
Samba Member
Joined: June 11, 2004
Posts: 2346
Location: Portland, Oregon
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| Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:14 pm Post subject: |
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| droogvan wrote: |
| Only my opinion here but that SA bull bar is fugly! |
Therein lies the debate. As Craig alluded to, trying to find a functional front bull bar that attractively fits the vanagon style is difficult. The Australian roo bars are more functional but not particularly attractive.
Most bullbars I see are fine if you run into a chipmunk. But if you're traveling at, say 40 mph+ and run into an unfortunate horse/deer/antelope, most of that 200+ lb. weight, after the legs are clipped, will be coming in at headlight height or higher. Those bullbars that cover only the lower half of the vanagon front are largely ornamental or perhaps a useful upgrade over the stock bumpers in a low speed auto-to-auto accident.
For those bullbars that have upper coverage there's the problem of anchorage sufficient to withstand the force and prevent either directly or indirectly damage to the vehicle body and frame. Anyway, I'm still looking, think the Rocky Mountain ones look promising, but it seems to obtain real function those tubes will have to be about 6" or more with solid anchorage and even then I don't know about the form.  |
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koolmoe
Samba Member
Joined: November 15, 2008
Posts: 382
Location: Annapolis, MD
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| Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:23 pm Post subject: |
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Agreed. itzdshtz, sweeet mod.
My front bumper is stock and fine, so far (no 4-wheelin'), but my rear has suffered some braking incidents. I've been looking at various options and none have really enthused me. I like your approach.
I've not had any luck yet finding a local fabricator to take on the job...but no real rush.
Nicely done!
KM
_________________
--
Current: 1990 Westy GL (Savannah. Good to be back!)
from '95 til 2008: 1995 Pathfinder (frame rusted out, charitable parts donation)
from '91-'95: 1982 Westy Diesel (Smokey. Traded in for far too little!)
from '87-'91: 1980 VW Rabbit (my econoPorsche - passed on) |
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Alaric.H
Samba Member
Joined: March 28, 2009
Posts: 2529
Location: Sandy Springs GA
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| Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 2:15 pm Post subject: |
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What if you put meat hooks on the brush guard pointing down and if you hit some thing
the hooks will slow the shredded carcass down enough not to cause
to much damage. Find a self car wash clean off the evidence. |
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syncrodoka
Samba Member
Joined: December 27, 2005
Posts: 12005
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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| Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 3:26 pm Post subject: |
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Alaric.H you are a genius!  |
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Alaric.H
Samba Member
Joined: March 28, 2009
Posts: 2529
Location: Sandy Springs GA
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| Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 5:48 pm Post subject: |
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There were a couple of things I needed to do that were in this thread
so I did them cut the bottom and added support bars-quarter panel guards on the sides. Now just painting.
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WestyBob
Samba Member
Joined: June 11, 2004
Posts: 2346
Location: Portland, Oregon
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| Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 7:28 pm Post subject: |
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Very formidable ... ready for bear. Looks like a lot of protection and not half bad looking at all.  |
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Alaric.H
Samba Member
Joined: March 28, 2009
Posts: 2529
Location: Sandy Springs GA
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| Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 7:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Bears are in the woods and in rivers and eat fish. Dam I forgot to wield on rod holders thanks for reminding me. |
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WestyBob
Samba Member
Joined: June 11, 2004
Posts: 2346
Location: Portland, Oregon
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| Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Alaric.H wrote: |
| Bears are in the woods and in rivers and eat fish. Dam I forgot to wield on rod holders thanks for reminding me. |
They eat people too .... a special delicacy of theirs up in Alaska. If you had some spikes projecting forward I suspect you could go anywhere at will and leisure, even through an LA traffic jam. |
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1621
Samba Member
Joined: May 15, 2006
Posts: 2174
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| Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Alaric.H wrote: |
There were a couple of things I needed to do that were in this thread
so I did them cut the bottom and added support bars-quarter panel guards on the sides. Now just painting.
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Do you have an idea of what this weighs?
I often see some really nice bumpers, but I am curious about the weight effecting ride and performance. Does anyone know the relative weight of the stock bumper versus something like the tube bumpers and GW bumpers?
_________________
'85 Westy |
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Sodo
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2007
Posts: 9605
Location: Western WA
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| Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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| HeftySmurf wrote: |
Just picked up another Syncro and had this bully bar on it, i think its from Tiico, but not sure, what did this thing run new you think???
it is going to look fn dope as hell on my gray Syncro though
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.....wow.... ??? sorry for being blunt but I can't imagine anyone who would want it more than the steel recycler. 
_________________
'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb |
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syncrodoka
Samba Member
Joined: December 27, 2005
Posts: 12005
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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| Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 10:51 pm Post subject: |
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| .....wow.... that was blunt |
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Boltze
Samba Member
Joined: January 21, 2008
Posts: 60
Location: Germany
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Alaric.H
Samba Member
Joined: March 28, 2009
Posts: 2529
Location: Sandy Springs GA
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| Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 5:20 am Post subject: |
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Mine is in the 100- 120 range yes it will make the van sag a bit in the front
if you do not crank up the coil overs a bit.They great if you have uses for them. It should not matter what they look like as long as they can do the job kind of like a 20$ dollar hooker. |
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HeftySmurf
Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2008
Posts: 879
Location: Washington, USA
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| Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 6:45 am Post subject: |
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Wow Sodo,
Way to be a dick 
Generally, if I dont like something I dont say anything.....
To each his own, but I happen to like it....
I look at it like this, would you say that to my face and be intentionally insulting, get punched in the mouth and then wonder why?
_________________
-Lorenzo
90 GL w/ Bostig |
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HeftySmurf
Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2008
Posts: 879
Location: Washington, USA
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| Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 7:18 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| It should not matter what they look like as long as they can do the job kind of like a 20$ dollar hooker. |
[/quote]
Nice
_________________
-Lorenzo
90 GL w/ Bostig |
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Steelhead
Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2007
Posts: 1791
Location: Kentfield, CA
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| Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 9:42 am Post subject: |
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| Sodo wrote: |
| HeftySmurf wrote: |
Just picked up another Syncro and had this bully bar on it, i think its from Tiico, but not sure, what did this thing run new you think???
it is going to look fn dope as hell on my gray Syncro though
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.....wow.... ??? sorry for being blunt but I can't imagine anyone who would want it more than the steel recycler. |
I've always kind of liked the simplicity of this bar- clean lines, functional, lightwieght, and not too bloated looking (IMHO, bloated is better for jeeps, hummers, etc) though I'd prefer the version w/ flat steel and w/o the lower bar. Or maybe just cut of the ends of the lower bar but leave the section connecting the uprights. It would reduce bumper protection, but would improve approach angles.
here's an old thread I put up a while ago trying to identify this style (w/cool video):
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=278951
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'77 Bay Window / '89 Caratsburg (aka. the Stormtrooper) |
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fig
Samba Member
Joined: August 17, 2000
Posts: 1080
Location: 26.15°S, 28.2°E
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| Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:27 pm Post subject: |
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In a South African scrapyard:
_________________
fig
Kaapse Kombi Kult
"Don't make a fuss, just get on the bus ..." |
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itzdshtz
Samba Member
Joined: December 24, 2006
Posts: 117
Location: Revelstoke
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| Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n200/itzdshtz/P4070013.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n200/itzdshtz/P4070011.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n200/itzdshtz/P4070010.jpg
Quite a few people have send me some questions about the bumpers that I have made and asked if I could post the answer here as well.
Thanks to everybody for their positive comments!
I wanted some substantial bumpers on the Syncro because I have a river boat that I would like to pull with it, the whole unit weighs about 2500 Lbs total.
The front bumper mounts a 8500 Lbs winch so it has to be sturdy too, I looked at thinwall tubing but it was just a bit too light duty, so I went with 2" Sch 40 steel pipe. The rear bumper weighs about 110 Lbs, it sounds like quite a bit but it includes a tire carrier and reciever hitch, the front bumper is about 100 Lbs and includes a reciever hitch also.
The rearbumper has a swing-out spare tire carrier that hinges on a 1" stainless pin that is supported in bronze bushings, the upright part is a 2" squire pipe.
The bumpers look like stainless steel but they are made of steel pipe, weld on elbows and end caps. I just polished them up in preparation for painting.
I did not keep track of how much time it took me but I have spend at least a week on it, the "C "part that fits over the top tube and supports the upright plus the bronze bearings took most of the time, now I still have to fabricate some kind of mechanism to keep it locked in place.
Herman
_________________
1989 Westy
1987 Westy Syncro 2.5 M- TDI
1991 Syncro, future 1.9 M- TDI
2005 Audi allroad 4.2
2005 S4
http://vanagonsyncroproject-herman.blogspot.com/
http://picasaweb.google.com/itzdshtz/VanagonSyncroProject02 |
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