Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

by **nikwax** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 9:32 am

I'm thinking a bumper would be a good idea on my trailer. Originally thought of wood as cheap and easy but got around to thinking that a fir or cedar bumper isn't going to do much for me and a hardwood bumper would be heavy and expensive. Then thought about having a shop weld one up, but that could get heavy and expensive as well.

I searched around and saw a few bumpers in the forums, some people are using tubing of some sort.

Ideas?

Thanks!

by **aggie79** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 10:59 am

Some have used the handicap grab bars that you see in bathroom stalls. They are really pretty reasonably priced considering that most are stainless steel.

by **Steve_Cox** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 11:32 am

11 gauge steel, not very heavy and doesn't stick out too far for galley access. Also protects the fenders when backing up. Although I've never backed into anything yet.

Also gave me a good place to put the LED tail lights under the bumper.

by **planovet** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 12:09 pm

aggie79 wrote:Some have used the handicap grab bars that you see in bathroom stalls. They are really pretty reasonably priced considering that most are stainless steel.

Yep, I liked that idea also (example below). BTW, Steve your bumper looks great!

by **RichAFix** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 9:02 pm

My latest "Rockler" catalog had stainless stair handrails, that may be an option? Although not sure how durable it would be?

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page ... =stainless

by **BrwBier** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 9:51 pm

My bumper is a piece of 4" drain pipe covered in aluminium.

Brwbier

by **eamarquardt** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 10:07 pm

Here's how I made mine. It also pulls out so I can carry a light motorcycle. Led taillights will be set into the bumper.

It's made out of steel tubing (16 gauge as I remember) and the bumper itself isn't very heavy. The fold down brackets and pull out tubing weigh a lot more than the bumper itself.

It drops down as I have no desire to bang my shins. I do that enough as it is.

Cheers,

Gus

by **Arne** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 8:57 am

Never really thought about a bumper to protect me from me while backing up, good idea.

As far as someone hitting me, I feel lots of bright lights and conservative driving has worked so far.

If I slow down at a reasonable rate, the person behind me usually does the same. If I decelerate rapidly, the person behind me has less time to react.

Plus it saves on brakes. This is kind of off topic, but if I see a light turn red hundreds of feet down the road, I take my foot off the gas. often the light will turn green without me braking at all... Those in the other lanes who drive up at speed, have to brake harder....

by **eamarquardt** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 9:05 am

I think bumpers just look cool. Also a good place to mount the taillights. Also some protection from "minor" bumps.

Cheers,

Gus

by **Larwyn** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 9:41 am

eamarquardt wrote:Here's how I made mine. It also pulls out so I can carry a light motorcycle. Led taillights will be set into the bumper.

It's made out of steel tubing (16 gauge as I remember) and the bumper itself isn't very heavy. The fold down brackets and pull out tubing weigh a lot more than the bumper itself.

It drops down as I have no desire to bang my shins. I do that enough as it is.

Cheers,

Gus

Good idea Gus. Kind of a "Swiss Army Bumper"........ :thumbsup:

by **planovet** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 10:18 am

Larwyn wrote:Good idea Gus. Kind of a "Swiss Army Bumper"........

by **dan galvin** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 12:44 pm

That makes me feel good someone likes my grabbar bumper
I was surprised to see my tear without me posting it :thumbsup:

Dan

by **Nobody** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 1:27 pm

Welded a couple of lengths of 7/8" square tubing side by side, added a couple of 'L' tabs then 'wrapped' it with a tailgate protector intended for a mid-90's Chevy P/U. Bolted the tabs to 'struts' fastened to the rear frame member. Only thing about using the tailgate protector is the finish on it is some kinda 'plasticized' coating & annealing the ends to fold over doesn't do the finish any good :roll:

. Don't ask how I know this :oops:

. A little black trim paint does make a difference tho

.

Before the trim paint

After trim added

by **Arne** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 4:20 pm

I did want something on the back. On no. 1, I modified a2x4 and painted it aluminum... looked good.

On this one, I made a mini-bumper (last page on link, near bottom. Unfortunately, Kat is now no longer in the picture, so I painted it aluminum and mounted a brake/signal light on each end.... might put some reflectors back on. I took them off when I repainted the tear with marine epoxy.

by **Errol** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 4:41 pm

Hi guys.
I am fitting a split bumper that will convert to 2 table supports for the galley.
The tables will form a "U" shaped area and will take less than 30 seconds to convert and it adds no excess weight or takes up extra space. (Of course I timed it, how would I know otherwise? hehehe)
The plan is to keep everything simple and practical so that we can set up camp in minutes.
As soon as I can figure out how to resize my photos, I will post my design.

Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

bumper ideas?

bumper ideas?

Drop down bumper

Backing up

Re: Drop down bumper

Re: Drop down bumper

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