My 80 Series Land Cruiser Rear Bumper 

(with On-Board Water & Air)

by Johnny Lange

Along with a plethora of fine things I have on my 80 series Land Cruiser "wish list", one major thing I have always wanted to purchase or make is a rear bumper with tire carrier.

If I could start out with a caveat to this blurb, it is now understandable why companies charge big bucks to make these. There is a lot of time that goes into the planning and fabrication of one of these. By the time I was done, I think I would have gladly broke out the credit card, but as each day goes by now I look at my creation and am glad I personally carried this project all the way through.

By no means do I consider myself a professional fabricator. I have some basic tools but more importantly a good Miller welder. I am invisible with the welder. :-) I did wind up renting a plasma cutter for the weekend at a real cheap rate, now you guessed it, the plasma is on my wish list.

So, I peeked around several website and chat boards and absorbed many different great ideas from people that undertook the same project. I learned a lot and give applause to these people for providing me some fuel.

A local steel shop that works with my employer has some HUGE metal presses.  I’m talkin the type that are the size of a motorhome. The owner is a real nice guy so I picked his mind one day and posed the question to him about assisting me in a project like this. He was game.

So, my many years of engineering and designing education (sarcastic) lead to a yard pond box. Cardboard galore. The box was perfect with what the heck I was about to create. As you see in the pictures below, here how this project began. With real technical cardboard and duct tape.

After some days of playing with the cardboard, I came up with the entire creation. Those that seen this thing in person gave me plenty of compliments, when I arrived at the steel shop, the owner couldn’t believe his eyes.

Low and behold, many weeks later (many), I got the pieces back from him and I started on the deal. For the most part, everything went real smooth. I did run into a couple of hang up’s here and there when I angled the main part in, removing notches for the angles. I little cutting here and a little cutting there led to the unit coming together quite nicely.

The center piece is 1/8" thick while the outer sides are a burley 3/16" metal. I was able to notch out my center bumper just enough for a receiver hitch piece to be welded in as well.  The bottom side brackets are 3/8" (from frame to side wings). 

The main brackets are a nice ½" thick. They bolt right to the frame and come out through the bumper for the D-ring hooks. Yep, the steel guy was able to bend a 90 degree bend in the ½" stuff.

I made the side panels so they protrude out of the body a good ½". That’s actually ½" past the plastic fender flair. I thought of some small (emphasis on small) side bars on top, but got impatient.

The hitch is not rated for any real heavy towing. In fact, the only thing I will be towing with it is a small utility trailer or our two Jet Skis. It’s a hitch and it doesn’t cost me any ground clearance. That was my goal.

I did some research and found a few placed on the web that had the handy spring loaded pins for the tire carrier. I found a place that carried just what I needed for less than a few bucks each. I put one on the spindle end, and one on the latch end. The swing arm is fastened down with a latch from Rocklogic 4x4 (same one I used before).

Hate the rattle?  Me too.  I used some cheap foam hand grips for a Jet Ski and made little donuts for the d-rings.  They don't shake and rattle now.

On Board Air and Water Tank w/sprayer -

Many years ago I rigged up a garden bug sprayer bottle and put a quick-connect hose with garden sprayer on it. The unit was so handy on the trail. Washing hands, cooling down via mist, helping overheating Jeeps, were just some of the things this homemade water tank came in handy for.

Some weeks ago while shopping at a local overgoods warehouse, I came across the perfect little fresh water tank for a RV. Nothing big (probably 5 or 7 gallons) but I immediately took note that this tank could fit under the 80! And for $10, I could not go wrong. So after finding the tank, I picked up a nice little SUREFLO 12V water pump. These can be found at any RV shop. With a little, okay a lot, of thinking in the aisle of Home Depot and Lowe’s plumbing section, I was able to put together an on-demand sprayer. I used a kitchen sink sprayer cause it is lightweight and small. I made plenty of good with some quick-connect garden hose attachments as well.

On the bumper you see two points for the water. On the left is the fill port for the tank. The right side is the quick-connect for the sprayer. I have hidden a outdoor rubber coated 12V switch nearby that turns the pump on and off.

Also in the bumper, I installed a quick-connect for my on-board air tank that I am making. The tank will sit nicely underneath the vehicle next to the water tank.

I’m thinking of making a little skid plate for the bottom of the water tank. Although it’s a sealed unit pump, I would like to make a little plastic cover for that as well.

Custom Paint-

Ok, well not custom at all. I like the idea of using spray paint for the fact that touch up is easy. My original plan was to paint it all black. Then I remembered I had several cans of the best paint out of a can there is, Hammerite Rust Cap. Now the problem with Rust Cap is that their "black" is actually more of a dark gray. Dark gray eh? Like the factory side pieces on the 80??? Yep, that’s why I painted the sides and corners with the gray and the center section black. I am shooting for somewhat of a OEM look. Kinda. Sorta. :-) I was a little iffy at first, but like it now.

A little extra protection -

Trying to figure out the side brackets was a little harder than originally planned. Specifically the exhaust side. Not much room there. So as you see, I went under the resonator (small muffler) and thought that maybe this would assist in protecting the little guy a little too. I’m sure that small muffler is probably a couple hunny at Toyota?.

The end result -

So, as you see there is the final outcome. It’s no Davinci, but it serves it’s purpose and I made it. I guess that kinda floats my boat. Oh, and I saved a good grand on it too. That always helps.

And last but not least, nope, I wish not to build anyone else’s but I may be able to assist in getting the bent metal to you if your willing to take on the task. Maybe. :-)

Johnny Lange

email:  johnny at wildyoats dot com