Custom Stainless Bumper (with Storage)

(This is likely my last involved modification... and windy post... for a while, until we get some considerable miles on this thing and I think of something else to do to it. First trip this weekend. Yay.)

Anywho... before even picking up the 560 this spring , I was intrigued by another UCIF poster who created some ABS pipe storage for his tent poles/ fishing rod etc and mounted it under his trailer. (I've done something similar with ABS on my motorcycle in the empty space between the frame and the side case, for spare parts and fluids). However, not wishing to prostrate myself on questionable terrain under the trailer to access the tube, possibly on a daily basis, or compromise the clearance of the trailer, or lay poles on the mattress, I looked elsewhere on the trailer for some dedicated pole storage.

In my search, I found that So-Cal Teardrops offer a tube bumper with end caps as a build option on their units. However, given its design and very low and close inside position, it appears to be just extra storage for poles and would in reality do little to prevent any damage to the rear of the TD during any sort of an impact.

BTW: The potential for low-speed damage to the rear of the TD became all to apparent to me when we were picking up the trailer at the factory and I had a near miss; it hadn't even left the building! So, after getting home with the trailer unscathed, I decided to combine the need for some tent pole storage with some actual rear end protection. CI's bumper is elegant and highly functional, as just a bumper. But I wanted something that could do double duty.

For my custom fab, Cary offered up the mounting brackets that CI uses for their own optional bumpers, for $85. The two pre-drilled and painted angles came with detailed mounting instructions, as one would expect. They mount easily with 3 lag screws (provided) each up into the frame of the trailer. I then designed a bumper using 4" stainless tube 66" long. What joins the tube to the CI brackets are a pair of laser-cut vertical brackets and another 90 deg 1"angle placed on the inside of the CI bracket, for added welding contact, fastened with two bolts. (I know I risk having the CI copyright police on my tail for the laser cutting, but they do add some panache to the whole thing).





The end caps (also laser-cut) were designed with two interior tabs and secured with a vertical pin and a mini cotter pin. All pieces are stainless and were custom-made at a marine metal fabrication shop where my son conveniently works. The caps sit 1/4" proud of the bumper tube all around as it would have been painstaking and futile to try and get a flush or interior cap mount, or make the caps waterproof. As it is, the tube will drain easily if any water gets in, and any minor discrepancies in centering the cap on the tube are well masked. Further, the bumper doesn't look like a storage place, so I'm not concerned about securing what's inside or putting padlocks on the caps.





I could have gone with a tube that matched the exact width of the trailer itself. However, the 66" length was essentially dictated by the length of my poles: two sets, laid end-to-end fill the entire tube. Any longer (i.e. as wide as the fenders) and the bumper probably would have looked stupid and there'd be wasted space inside. The 4" round profile was dictated by what stock was available in the shop. A slightly larger round diameter, or some very cool elliptical profiles (there's even some teardrop-shaped ones out there!) might have been more practical or aesthetic, but would have been a very costly specialty order with a lot of waste material.

In an undefined impact, its hard to say what the physical consequences will be to the bumper and components: sheared lag bolts, sheared mounting bolts, buckled tube? I don't know. It does however sit 4 1/2" away from the very rear of the trailer itself, so it does provide a substantial "crumple zone", protecting some of the more costly and difficult to repair components of the trailer. Despite this, it does not force you to stand further away from the counter-top than you normally would. However, at the height I do have the bumper, you can't get the crank on the levelling jack nut during the last inch of upward travel of the jack. You can solve this nut access problem with an electric drill and socket attachment (as I have) or less expensively by using a ratcheting closed end 3/4" wrench to raise or lower it during that last/first inch of travel, and using the provided crank for the rest of the work.

Cheers,

Steve

 

I like the idea of putting stuff like that in the bumper.

 

Very clever, I am wondering if pressurized water container could be made out of it for shower...

 

Excellent fabrication. You obviously have some prior experience.

 

Wow Steve! That turned out really great.

Cary

 

Thanks Cary. Like I said... don't send the trademark police after me.

I think its a good starting point. There's nothing that says it can't be stacked with a double tube (with a spacer in between) for even more storage. In reality, I still have 2 more tent poles that didn't make it and are floating around inside the galley at the moment, and I could probably come up with more things to stash inside a second tube.

However, there's certain concessions you'd have to make for a double storage tube: You'd have to lower the bottom tube below the level of the CI bracket (possibly compromising both road clearance and any sort of reasonable access to the jack with the manual crank) and you'd need to keep the top tube low enough without it interfering with the shore power plug or visually blocking the license plate and tail lights, all of which are non-issues with the CI version. Be advised as well that, unlike the CI bumper version, either of these tube iterations also negates the possibility of a standard installation of a rear hitch receiver, for a bike rack or other type of carrier. Access to the tank drains, however, isn't compromised.

I've included three more photos taken right at bumper level and from directly vertical so anyone interested in attempting this can get at least an idea or visual of the clearances, if not the actual measurements. With the curve of the trailer, and short of doing a wooden mock-up... which is highly recommended... its hard to get a bearing on exactly where everything ends up in relation to each other. I extended the black CI bracket by 1 1/2", giving a 1/2" of daylight between the bumper and the trailer (see 2nd photo, taken from directly above). I also opted for the buffed shiny stainless look, but could have just as easily gone for a brushed finish to match the fenders.

BTW: If you mess up the welds or drilled bracket hole placement, and your finished product isn't sitting quite level with the trailer, there is enough adjustment in the CI brackets and lag screws (that go up into the frame) to suck up some minor differences and eventually level it off. Tack welds are your friend; with the strong horizontal trailer lines, even a difference of a 1/4" end-to-end would be noticeable to most.

As well, I find it very odd that CI is the only manufacturer who deems their product to be worthy of some sort rear end protection. A Google image search shows the vast majority of TDs to be bumperless and highly vulnerable to costly repair, given what's just inside the back of the trailer. Which, in my mind, is taking an unreasonable risk with a valuable piece of equipment. Those on this forum who have been unlucky enough to have had rear-end damage with their TD would likely concur. This bumper won't prevent catastrophic damage in typical rear-end collision on the road, which thankfully wouldn't be your legal fault or come out of your own pocket. But it may well save your skin, and the skin of the trailer (and you from getting an earful from your travel partner) in a low-speed contact with a tree, fire pit or a picnic table.

I like hot showers when travelling, but no comment, Mariusz, on turning the bumper into a pressure vessel.

Hope this helps anyone contemplating or designing something similar.

Steve

 

More I look at it, the more I like it....

 

that's a cool and handy idea

 

Impressive! New idea, and well executed!

 

Brilliant!

 

Love it. Nice job