Project "Big Country" - Front Bumper Fab

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Since I ordered the fuel cell and it came in this past week we decided to do some measuring and see how it was going to fit. It's an RCI 16 gallon that measures 23" x 17" x 11". I was hoping that the 23" would be perfect to fit between the frame rails, but it's not square at all - the bottom is 3/4" longer than the top so it's gotta fit in from the bottom just like the stock tank does.

The measuring tape lead to marking some steel diamond plate up, then cutting, then welding - you know the snow ball effect. We made it so that this "saddle" will bolt to the bottom of the frame rail. The steel is plenty thick enough to offer good skid plate protection. Now I just gotta figure out what to do for a rear crossmember. We're going to have to cut out the new one that we moved back so that the fuel cell will fit. Then our goal was to make the cell mount be rigid enough to serve as a crossmember - then the cell has to fit in from the bottom so I'm back to sqaure one!

The "saddle" will be 4.5" below the bottom of the frame rail, plus the 4" frame rail height, leaves 2.5" above the frame rail. I'll be able to hide that with the body mount and an inch or two body lift. My goal is to make room for a backseat and small tool box so getting the fuel cell under the bed was whether or not a backseat would be feasible.

I've still got some grinding to do and smooth out the edges - maybe some rubber coating so it doesn't rub the plastic tank too much, but here are some pics.





PS - thanks for showing me how to do thumbnails from Photobucket Chuck!