Thread: Building the Ultimate touring 130 with slide on - my version...

Good luck

Will watch with interest

Watching!
I agree with you on the rear setup. Most "off the shelf" units are a compromise.
I also have 130DC to set up the back.
With only 2 of us it makes it easier but we often expand to 4.
I'm swinging between a trayon or custom setup.
Dollars for the trayon or attitude and dollars for a custom job.

Keeping weight to a minimum is priority 1 for me as sooner or later I'll have to get it unstuck. An unnecessary 200kg extra doesn't appeal,

ok first mini project; make bull bar to take hi mount winch.

Reason for using a hi mount on a touring vehicle is mainly because I already have it sitting in my shed, and there are many reasons why they are much better than low mounts including the higher line speed and they hold 50 meters of cabel. The only real disadvantage is that they are big and bulky and wont fit in most winch bars.

Bull Bar design;
* Has to hold the hi mount winch,
* must be a proper bull bar as the tube winch type bars wont protect from roo's etc,
* good approach angle,
* room to fit driving lights with the hi mount and have the lights behind the bar, not infront like ARB etc,
* high lift jack mounts,
* strong recovery lugs,
* not be too heavy,
* hopefully not ugly!

stock front bumper;


first step was to obviously take the bumper off, then I sat the hi mount winch on my motor bike stand to position it where I want it. It is higher that a standard winch but I didn't want to go any higher as I then wouldn't be able to fit the driving lights in and it would block even more air flow. And I've decided to take the grille off to position it a bit closer in, will cut grill to suit. I was tempted to move the whole radiator and intercooler towards the motor to futher sink the winch into the front but the approach angle will still be very good and it is a tourer not a comp truck so I saved myself a bit of stuffing around.

Next I got some card board and layed out the shape of the two center posts. I've decided to use center posts instead of a center 3" tube bar because it will give much more room to fit the driving lights in, and is easier to make, and I like the old school look that fits in with the square Landy shape. I have also made the posts lean forward, not back like ARB etc, as I like the top bar to be infront of the driving lights and is better at deflecting roos etc. May not be to the latest guidelines but it is an 1984 vehicle and you can still buy off the shelf bull bars and most tube bars all lean forward.

I don't have the driving lights yet so looked up the dimentions of a 7" light and made a cardboard cutout to help set out the bar so everything will fit.



When I was happy with the post design I just oxy cut them from some 5mm plate, ground up and filed the center cutouts. Laser cutting would be great but expensive for one offs, if I was making a few I would use laser cutting. Tip, spot weld both posts together then grind to shape to get them both the same, then seperate.

Spotting the uprights together is a good idea, I'm going to use it. I have to build a bar for my truck too so I'm interested to see how your's turns out and to get some ideas from your build.

Originally Posted by debruiser

Spotting the uprights together is a good idea, I'm going to use it. I have to build a bar for my truck too so I'm interested to see how your's turns out and to get some ideas from your build.

Glad you got something out of it already, what it's all about.

I decided to cut the dicky chassis extensions off as they were getting in the way of the bull bar mounts and will have hi lift jack points in the bar anyway.
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I sprayed some fish oil up inside once cut off, and will weld a plate with drain holes in it to cover it up.
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I bolted the two posts in position, and to line up square with each other I simply attached a straight edge (a couple of lengths of RHS) to each post with some strong magnets. It was then easy to sight from the side to make sure they are in line. Then I tacked the middle bumper front plate section in and then bolted in the winch to check everything fits.
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