Bullnose at the grocer, i like the bumper

 
I spotted this at the local store, i really like the bumper. I also like the seats.

That bumper is very similar to the one on Big Blue, which is a Warn:

Looks great in chrome.  I see a few around here in black, too.

Off topic, but it reminds me that I need to get under mine and figure out where to secure a hook pointing out of the bow.

I'm seriously considering modifying mine.  Part 1 would be to replace the existing brackets between the frame and the bumper with 1" thick tow eyes that would pierce the bumper and be welded thereunto.  Part 2 is to powder coat it black, just like the rear bumper will be.

What do y'all think?  Is the Warn bumper too precious to modify?  Would it be better to have one built like the to-be rear one?

If I had the skills and tools, I'd be broke modeling every single "good" idea I had.

If you do a custom DIY rig, let me know before you cut into that chrome.  I'll make a trip east to take it off your hands.

I like how the rear design is taking shape.

I wondered if butchering that bumper was a sacrilege.  The chrome is quite thin anymore, but it is serviceable.

I'd better get the rear bumper plan finished before I worry about the front.  But, I'm pretty close on the design.  Glad you like it.  

Gary, if the Warn bumper is sought after as a vintage accessory, then maybe there is some merit to preserving it unaltered (?)... but to me it’s aftermarket and I personally wouldn’t think twice about modifying it to suite your needs or to black it out to match the rear.

As much as I hate “zombie apocalypse” bumpers, brush guards, bull bars, and other junk in front of the grille, I may have to consider something custom for my trucks. We have a real problem in our area with folks hitting cows in the dark. We had four in one week just on our street, and many other roads have reported similar numbers. I almost hit one myself on the way to the water station. I need a full-on cow-catcher!!!

I saw that truck on Facebook...with that bumper the front suspension must be on the bumpstops no?...lol.
Oddly, the look of it IS appealing...lol.

LOL!  Yes, I'd call those zombie apocalypse bumpers. They aren't my favorite either.  

On the Warn, the chrome is very thin, as said.  So much so that the day we picked it up my brother said "I think the first thing to do is to paint that bumper black."  and with the to-be black rear bumper I think it will sorta beg to be black.

A bit of looking says that I can replace the rivets in the front spring perches with bolts and use them as part of the mount for the tow eyes/bumper mounts, although the eyes would be bolted to the bumper holes in the very front of the frame as well.  Cut neat holes in the bumper (my friend Ben, that will build the rear bumper, has a laser cutter), slide the bumper over them and weld it on.  Blast it and powder coat it to match the rear bumper.

But, the design of the bumper isn't that complex, so it wouldn't be very hard to draw it anew and incorporate the tow eyes that way.  However, I don't know if Ben has the ability to replicate the smooth curve on the outer end of the bumper, so it might look more like the one in the first pic.

The first one looks like a homemade copy of the Warn.  It looks professionally-chromed, but its contours don't look as smooth as they should be.

That "Road Warrior" bumper looks tough, but without SUBSTANTIAL gussetting back to the frame (which it doesn't have), it's actually weaker than a smaller bumper would be, because it puts more weight & leverage on its mounting points.  That's a problem I've noticed with many large bumpers, and especially bulky grill guards - they wobble going down the road, so they CAN'T actually protect the truck.  Many would actually do MORE damage to the truck than the typical off-road impact would if the guard wasn't there.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: using metal more than 2x the thickness of the frame is a waste of money & metal.  1" is horrible overkill (at ~7x frame thickness).  Lay an 8" C-channel against the outer face of each front frame horn, and attach it by the factory frame holes with big bolts.  Then build onto the channels.

Gary Lewis wrote

I don't know if Ben has the ability to replicate the smooth curve on the outer end of the bumper...

For my rear bumper, I cut the top & bottom curves carefully, then had a welder use a torch with a fan tip to bend the face around the end, and weld the seams up.  For the new front bumper, I had a fabrication shop roll a scrap of 1/4" plate into the diameter I needed, and then I cut out the sections I needed for the bumper ends.

Dyn Blin wrote

...to secure a hook pointing out of the bow.

I hope you're kidding...  That's a really-bad design because it can attach your truck to things it bumps into (including people just walking by).  Shackles are much-safer (in every way), and more useful.  They can be removed without tools for use elsewhere, and there are more safe ways to attach things to them with more strength than a comparably-sized hook has.  And things won't drop off of shackles like they can (& often DO) from hooks.

These shackles are overkill, but I had them, and they're relatively smooth if I need to push a car, or if a pedestrian bumps into them, and they fit over a common 2" square tube.

Steve - I fully agree on the probable body damage that many grille guards would inflict.  My daughter, SiL, and grandkids normally live in Nicaragua, although they are living with us at the moment due to the political unrest down there.  Anyway, we've been down several times and I noticed that many/most of the pickups down there have grille guards, as did my SiL's truck.  But as we drove over the rough roads you could see that thing wobble all over the place and I told him that if it was that flexible or poorly mounted it wouldn't help and might even hurt things in the case of an accident.  Next trip down the guard was gone on his truck.  He'd looked at the flimsy way it was mounted and had realized I was right.

It would take a massive amount of bracing to make guards that go well above bumper height stable.  There's just nothing up there to brace to that is substantial enough to do the job.  And the two close-together bolts they typically use at the bumper mounting points can't do the job against the amount of leverage that the guards have if something hits them towards the top

On contouring a bumper, I might use the idea of rolling the plate and then using sections if they can't neatly bend it otherwise.  I'm seriously considering doing in the front something similar to what I'm doing in the rear, meaning using 1" thick tow eyes as the bumper mounts.  But I may want them to make a whole new bumper and not cut up the Warn.  We shall see.