Appreciate the safety break, but.... tighter gloves would be my suggestion. No glove is better than a bulky one that looses dexterity. Also, actually safety glasses are always a good idea, but with grinders...it's always good glasses AND a full face shield at least in the fab shop of my day job. Reading or Rx glasses do not count unless they are special Rx safety glasses, and if they are they would have wrap around protection from the sides or try are next to useless. Everyone is going to have their own opinion on what is 'safe enough', but when promoting safety I prefer the method of going all the way with the precautions and people can subtract from there depending on how much they value their eyes.
I caught a quick glance of the thumbnail and had thought you’d been in another wreck. I was like, “What!” Lol. Caught me off guard and glad you weren’t in a wreck.
Always a pleasure watching your channel. I love that you make it clear that you're not a pro and there are likely other ways to do the task at hand. Cheers to the adventure!
My wife decided to go hunting in our 07 Pathfinder and bagged a six point whitetail with the front bumper. Appreciate the video. I hope it's as easy as you made it look.
Even though you don't have your Subaru anymore I still like to watch these videos of you working on your new ride. You know because I still drive a *cough* Subaru* cough lol
@@SeanStewart88 Yeah, that's what I've read as well, 2005-2010, and mine is a 2011. Hopefully that bullet has been dodged, but I'm still considering a pre-emptive replacement just in case.
Hey man, I try to listen and understand as always, why do you think all the bond buying is not showing up on the feds balance sheet? The chart seems to be going down, or is it like you say "off balance sheet buying" ?
For plastic trimming in tight areas, nothing beats a dremel. Came is really handy doing fender liner and bumper trims on my 4runner. It's basically just a mini grinder.
Hat's off to you, not many would take a fairly new rig and cut the bumper in 1/2!! I'm thinking the Softroading the west logo looks about the right size as the Nissan logo....hmmm
Haha, well, it's new to me but it is a 10 year old truck. :-) And while I'm leaning towards a custom solution, every aftermarket bumper out there requires this exact cut, so worst case scenario, I can always fall back on something that already exists. Wasn't too hard to pull the trigger. :-)
I spent the last few days looking for something like this, and am glad I found this. Im doing the same thing, but after a minor front end collision I decided to replace with Nismo steel bumper. Thanks for sharing!
Well done man. I would like to see your bumper idea. I am replacing my motor and been thinking about putting a winch on. After seeing this video, I'm actually going to start the bumper project as well. Thank you
Well done and once again I see that how this 2 trucks are similar frontier and xterra its pretty much same process as when I worked on my xterra to remove bumper to paint it
Any way to seperate the upper bumper from the grill? Reason I ask because my upper bumper is damaged on one side and needs to be replaced. Im also putting a custom metal bumper in the bottom. Just wondering if I have to buy the upper bumper attached with grill or not. I will not need the upper or lower bumper anymore as I ordered a upper bumper without the grill. Thanks. 😊
The grill is a separate piece that can be removed. I thought I showed that in this video but maybe I didn't. But yeah, there are something like 6 locking tabs along the bottom of the grill that secure it to the upper part of the bumper cover. Not super easy to get to but I've done it multiple times, it's do-able. Let me know if that answers your question.
I noticed your soft roasting the west badge looks like a very similar shape to the Nissan logo. So I’m guessing that your getting someone to 3D print you a soft roaring the west badge to replace the Nissan badge. Sorry if I ruined the surprise…..
😃👍yeah! I removed the useless plastics on the front and rear of my vehicle(Montero Sport) and couldn't be happier. Pending winch bumper installation 👌. Great job Donald.
@@softroadingthewest 🙋♂️hey,, yes I have. But here's my take on the whole winch conundrum. Its basically a insurance policy for me. Nice to have, but hopefully you never need it. Plus I'm on a budget and spending mega dollars on something that will rarely get used is not practical 🙃. I researched too many brands and the positive reviews had me go w/ the HF Badlands 9k lbs unit w/ wire cable 💪. Back in the day many 4×4's had 8k lbs winches(Warn8274) and did just fine. No need for overweight overkill imho. That's my story. Good luck with your choice and thanks for your Reply. Cheers 🍻, G, in beautiful Boulder City Nv. USA 🇺🇸
I'm sure you're right. I have a buddy who has done quite a bit of bumper cutting with a multi-tool and it seems to work well for that task. I don't have one so grinder it was for me. :-)
I am leaning towards a custom build and wanted to be able to see all the underlying structure to start visualizing the design. Worst case scenario, basically every aftermarket bumper for the Frontier follows this same exact line - it's a very safe cut to make. :-)
Hi Do you need some great lighting upgrade for your car to help you better driving, off-road and adventure.We're the pro auto lighting manufacturer for nearly 20 year and we're looking for sponsorship!
@@softroadingthewest Appreciated! That won't be a problem at all cuz this sponsorship program are keep on running and great cooperation we done before, we're more than happy to sponsor more if you have anything interest!
"That emblem" is called "the hamburger" around these parts. All your underneath stuff: differentials, transfer cases, transmissions, etc have breather tubes. Research extending those tubes up to prevent water entering when you do a water crossing. Oh, and Go, Donald, Go....this is fun watching you ponder and do...
I know ….. you are going to put a Jeep emblem on you front grill. Just kidding your “sortroadingthewest” logo will be great there. That was a good plan. Looking forward to seeing how you pick (have built) your bumper and winch. I had a feeling we would see a winch on your new ride before long. Take care and be safe
I like Donald he truly loves what he does and it shows. I'm not a big fan of Nissan but Donald makes watching enjoyable so I just pretend it's a Toyota ;)
Yep, I had to figure it out, too, when I installed a winch carrier in the bumper. Its a big pain getting all those pieces out...the fender liners were the worst!
I'm glad you pointed out to always wear gloves while using a angle grinder. I have friend who almost lost two fingers when the grinding wheel exploded while using a grinder without gloves. Both of his fingers had to be reattached to his hand.
Nice! I'm in the middle of making a choice for my winch. Right now I have a front reciever with my winch in a carrier. This will help big time for the trimming. 👍
My ex gf had a xterra and I loved driving it... never gave nissan any thought till now that I'm need to replace my forester.. think about the 2022 frontier.
Interested in where you are going with this. So much so I went and looked to see what after market solutions where available and there are quit a few and some not very expensive that look good. I have a Tacoma so after market is no issue but I look forward to see what you will do.
I'm not 100% sold on the aftermarket options so there may be some custom work involved, but I haven't made any final decisions yet. I needed to spend some time with it exposed like this so I could turn it all over in my head for a while. :-)
Custom is my preference. I'm not in love with any of the aftermarket solutions out there. I needed that stock plastic out of the way though in order to visualize how I want the winch mount/bumper to come together. :-)
I was thinking of going with the Diode dynamics fog light replacements but seeing as they are just held in with the floppy plastic bumper it seems like a bad investment. Thanks for the video, it is always helpful to see someone else take their truck apart. I noticed you used a handy “360 awning” to shade yourself also;)
Haha, yeah, the at-home "awning" has got a lot of use this year for sure. :-) The fog light housing seems pretty sturdy when everything is actually assembled. It's all a LOT more solid than the plastic front end of the Forester was, especially as the whole thing is bolted to the skid plate. If you have no plans to chop your front bumper, I wouldn't hesitate.
Did you actually watch/listen to what was said in this video, because it appears you've failed to understand that this is not the finished project. This chop is just an interim step required for virtually any aftermarket bumper made for 2nd-gen Frontier. I'm not proposing anyone leave the front of their Frontier like this. 🙄 I eventually fabricated my own new bumper for my Frontier, but there are also numerous commercially-available offroad bumpers for the Frontier, almost all of which line up precisely to the chop I've made here. On some older Frontiers, the factory bumper/grill was in two pieces and you could just remove the lower half, but any of the Frontiers with a single plastic front end require cutting along this exact line. That's all explained in this video. Sometimes when you go around leaving negative comments on videos you either haven't fully watched or you just didn't pay enough attention to what was said, you end up making yourself look dumb.
Be careful not to touch the globes. Or if you do wipe them down with paper towel. The oils in your skin will make them overheat and crack. Same deal with halogen headlight globes.
Indeed! I didn't really give it any thought since mine were getting deleted, but that's an excellent point, it's important not to touch halogen bulbs with bare hands.
@@softroadingthewest just another tip for when you put your winch on. If you hook the end of your cable to a tow hook instead of pulling it into the winch your winch will last a lot longer and it is so much easier to get out. And when we are going thru big big holes in a big group we wrap a snatch strap around the bullbar to use before you pull the winch cable out.
Haha! I'm not a fan of the raw chopped look and I do intend for the final bumper build to end up with a more finished look. But I need some time to look at and think about how I want it to come together, and that lower plastic section was already getting banged up. That's my cue to fire up the grinder! :-)
I bought a Dremel set to help me with projects like this that involve cutting plastic. It's proved itself useful in plenty of projects for me so far. Good job using the tools you had on hand nonetheless!
Yeah, it's probably something I should finally just break down and buy, I'm sure I'd find all kinds of uses for one. The grinder works fabulously for big long cuts with room to move, but definitely gets unwieldy in tight spaces and doesn't turn corners very well. :-)
@@softroadingthewest You can get some pretty good and inexpensive ones that are compatible with the Dremel accessories. I've long used a Canadian Tire house brand one with good luck, mostly using Dremel accessories. The Dremel accessories are better than the knock-offs, but the tools are the same. $26CDN for mine, Harbor Freight is probably as cheap.
That's still up in the air. I probably won't buy an aftermarket bumper, but if I were to do so, they're all designed for this exact bumper chop, so it's a safe cut. I may at most buy just a winch mount designed for the Frontier and fab the rest of the bumper myself, but I'm leaning towards having a local fabricator create my winch mount. I want to do some of the fab work myself, but my welder tops out at 3/16" steel and the winch-to-frame piece needs to be heftier than that...though even if I could weld 1/4" I'm not sure I'd trust my amateur welding skills for something that could need to bear the weight of an entire vehicle. I'll just stick to the more superficial bits for now. :-)
@@softroadingthewest I used the Wam winch carrier that fits inside the stock bumper skin. Very low key. Now that the bumper skin is cut thats not an option. Nismo has a new bumper that looks good though.
Why? Why what? Chop the bumper? It's impossible to mount up any sort of off-road/winch bumper with that plastic nose in the way, and mine was already getting banged up after just a couple of backcountry treks. As I said in the video, it's not staying like this. :-)
Well done video.. i enjoyed watching it even knowing ill likely never own a frontier. All those bumpers are made similar though so still good to watch the processes.. curious to see the bumper install now..
Thanks David! I'm curious to see the install as well, haha. Still not certain exactly what will come next but I needed to spend some time looking at it like this to wrap my head around how I want the new bumper to come together. :-)
In this video, these are the BFGoodrich T/A KO2 in 265/75R16 (roughly 31"), which is the OEM size for the Pro-4x Frontier. In my more recent videos, after adding a 2" suspension lift, I am now running the Falken Wildpeak AT3W in 285/75R16 (roughly 33").
![ได้เวลา! พาน้องแฝดฉีดวัคซีนครบ 1 เดือน🫣 [cc] แดนแพทตี้ SS2 | EP.52 |](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IzeLtaXBLNE/mqdefault.jpg)
Would you be interested in a 3D printed version of your logo for the Nissan emblem?
If you send me the measurements I'd do it. 😅
That was a pretty nice offer of you. I would have taken you up on it.
Donald mods seem to keep evolving. I am thinking Softroadingthewest emblem instead of Nissan! Good job Donald.
Good call! ;-)
That would be really cool and personalized.
My vote doesn't count, but I second the SRTW custom emblem nonetheless 😉
@@softroadingthewest surely someone has a 3d printer. You could use the dimensions off the old badge
@@solosaga5091 still counts in my eyes. 👍🏻👏
If you haven't already, You should consider doing the rear axle vent mod.
I've got the kit, just need to get out there and do it. :-)
Okay so I realized I had a bit of time today and so I just now went out and did it! Thanks for the kick in the pants! :-)
@@travelinman482 it was carried over.
@@travelinman482 Are there 2021's? I thought that was a gap year between the old model and the just introduced and all new 2022's
Appreciate the safety break, but.... tighter gloves would be my suggestion. No glove is better than a bulky one that looses dexterity. Also, actually safety glasses are always a good idea, but with grinders...it's always good glasses AND a full face shield at least in the fab shop of my day job. Reading or Rx glasses do not count unless they are special Rx safety glasses, and if they are they would have wrap around protection from the sides or try are next to useless. Everyone is going to have their own opinion on what is 'safe enough', but when promoting safety I prefer the method of going all the way with the precautions and people can subtract from there depending on how much they value their eyes.
I caught a quick glance of the thumbnail and had thought you’d been in another wreck. I was like, “What!” Lol. Caught me off guard and glad you weren’t in a wreck.
Always a pleasure watching your channel. I love that you make it clear that you're not a pro and there are likely other ways to do the task at hand. Cheers to the adventure!
Just seeing the video thumbnail without reading the title, I though you pulled and Edward Shin 🤣
Hahaha! :-)
My wife decided to go hunting in our 07 Pathfinder and bagged a six point whitetail with the front bumper. Appreciate the video. I hope it's as easy as you made it look.
So when are we gonna find a sponsor and do a pimp my ride for my subraru?
Thanks for the tips. I see an SRTW emblem in the making.
I've been thinking about it forever but now I really have to follow through! :-)
Your softroading the west logo will fit in perfect. At this place
Softroading the frontier would fit better... :-)
Even though you don't have your Subaru anymore I still like to watch these videos of you working on your new ride. You know because I still drive a *cough* Subaru* cough lol
Thank you so much for the video mate, I would've spent 10 years at work trying to get this thing off 🤦🏽
Is your truck affected by the SMOD issue? Now could be a good time to fix the radiator.
I think was sorted out after 2010 models of frontiers.
@@SeanStewart88 Yeah, that's what I've read as well, 2005-2010, and mine is a 2011. Hopefully that bullet has been dodged, but I'm still considering a pre-emptive replacement just in case.
The new red NISSAN logo would be a neat replacement, but I have a feeling it's gonna be your own logo. Equally as impressive 👌
Hey man, I try to listen and understand as always, why do you think all the bond buying is not showing up on the feds balance sheet? The chart seems to be going down, or is it like you say "off balance sheet buying" ?
For plastic trimming in tight areas, nothing beats a dremel. Came is really handy doing fender liner and bumper trims on my 4runner. It's basically just a mini grinder.
Aah yeah! I don't have one, but might be time to think about getting one. I imagine it proves useful in many ways.
what is dremel
Hat's off to you, not many would take a fairly new rig and cut the bumper in 1/2!! I'm thinking the Softroading the west logo looks about the right size as the Nissan logo....hmmm
Haha, well, it's new to me but it is a 10 year old truck. :-) And while I'm leaning towards a custom solution, every aftermarket bumper out there requires this exact cut, so worst case scenario, I can always fall back on something that already exists. Wasn't too hard to pull the trigger. :-)
I spent the last few days looking for something like this, and am glad I found this. Im doing the same thing, but after a minor front end collision I decided to replace with Nismo steel bumper. Thanks for sharing!
It's going to be very cool to see what all your going to do with your rig Donald. It's fun watching you do it. Good job.
Coming together! Thanks for sharing Donald 💯
Well done man. I would like to see your bumper idea. I am replacing my motor and been thinking about putting a winch on. After seeing this video, I'm actually going to start the bumper project as well. Thank you
Here's what I came up with. It's not a thing of beauty but nearly three years later it is still holding up.
th-cam.com/video/Jhz5U-krXWA/w-d-xo.html
Yes wear gloves. I got my finger with a grinder today........
Well done and once again I see that how this 2 trucks are similar frontier and xterra its pretty much same process as when I worked on my xterra to remove bumper to paint it
Mine had been wrecked but thank you for the ideas
Turn the tire. You’ll have no issue getting that bolt out.
I like how you just temporarily put in the old fog lights.
Waste not. Want not.
Any way to seperate the upper bumper from the grill? Reason I ask because my upper bumper is damaged on one side and needs to be replaced. Im also putting a custom metal bumper in the bottom. Just wondering if I have to buy the upper bumper attached with grill or not. I will not need the upper or lower bumper anymore as I ordered a upper bumper without the grill. Thanks. 😊
The grill is a separate piece that can be removed. I thought I showed that in this video but maybe I didn't. But yeah, there are something like 6 locking tabs along the bottom of the grill that secure it to the upper part of the bumper cover. Not super easy to get to but I've done it multiple times, it's do-able. Let me know if that answers your question.
I noticed your soft roasting the west badge looks like a very similar shape to the Nissan logo. So I’m guessing that your getting someone to 3D print you a soft roaring the west badge to replace the Nissan badge. Sorry if I ruined the surprise…..
Haha, no worries, I don't think anyone was going to be surprised. :-)
P.S. I might use softroastingthewest for my new cooking channel, haha :-)
😃👍yeah! I removed the useless plastics on the front and rear of my vehicle(Montero Sport) and couldn't be happier.
Pending winch bumper installation 👌. Great job Donald.
Nice! Have you decided on a winch yet? I have yet to even begin looking at them.
@@softroadingthewest
🙋♂️hey,, yes I have.
But here's my take on the whole winch conundrum.
Its basically a insurance policy for me.
Nice to have, but hopefully you never need it. Plus I'm on a budget and spending mega dollars on something that will rarely get used is not practical 🙃.
I researched too many brands and the positive reviews had me go w/ the HF Badlands 9k lbs unit w/ wire cable 💪.
Back in the day many 4×4's had 8k lbs winches(Warn8274) and did just fine. No need for overweight overkill imho. That's my story.
Good luck with your choice and thanks for your Reply.
Cheers 🍻, G,
in beautiful Boulder City Nv. USA 🇺🇸
Thanks, not cutting mine, but need to replace parts due to a deer strike. I think a multi-tool would give a much cleaner cut vs the angle grinder.
I'm sure you're right. I have a buddy who has done quite a bit of bumper cutting with a multi-tool and it seems to work well for that task. I don't have one so grinder it was for me. :-)
Perfect in every detail . 💪💥🙌
You have your new winch/bumper already or you just cutting in advance?
I am leaning towards a custom build and wanted to be able to see all the underlying structure to start visualizing the design. Worst case scenario, basically every aftermarket bumper for the Frontier follows this same exact line - it's a very safe cut to make. :-)
Rip MPG…
Great how too though!
Great video! Thanks!
Makes it look much better. I ought to do the same thing to my Toy, but I'll wait until I get my hands on a winch bumper, I think.
Hi Do you need some great lighting upgrade for your car to help you better driving, off-road and adventure.We're the pro auto lighting manufacturer for nearly 20 year and we're looking for sponsorship!
I already have an Auxbeam lightbar on my rig, provided by Auxbeam, and I have a review of it on my channel. :-)
@@softroadingthewest Appreciated! That won't be a problem at all cuz this sponsorship program are keep on running and great cooperation we done before, we're more than happy to sponsor more if you have anything interest!
@@softroadingthewest Kindly ask if you interest getting more😁
Excellent tutorial
"That emblem" is called "the hamburger" around these parts. All your underneath stuff: differentials, transfer cases, transmissions, etc have breather tubes. Research extending those tubes up to prevent water entering when you do a water crossing. Oh, and Go, Donald, Go....this is fun watching you ponder and do...
I know ….. you are going to put a Jeep emblem on you front grill. Just kidding your “sortroadingthewest” logo will be great there. That was a good plan. Looking forward to seeing how you pick (have built) your bumper and winch. I had a feeling we would see a winch on your new ride before long. Take care and be safe
I like Donald he truly loves what he does and it shows. I'm not a big fan of Nissan but Donald makes watching enjoyable so I just pretend it's a Toyota ;)
Umc does country
just tell people that you are stuck in PERT mode, you will never become an EX pert........ LOL
Very useful video, i had forgotten about those 10mm bolt hidden. Thanks a lot!
Looks like there is a lot of room behind the bumper, which would help with access and removal of fasteners.
That was very helpful. I want to mount lights in my lower intake but will need to remove bumper skin to get drill access. Thanks.
Yep, I had to figure it out, too, when I installed a winch carrier in the bumper. Its a big pain getting all those pieces out...the fender liners were the worst!
With the lower part of the bumper now cut off, it kind of resembles the lexan bodies that go on RC cars.
I'm glad you pointed out to always wear gloves while using a angle grinder. I have friend who almost lost two fingers when the grinding wheel exploded while using a grinder without gloves. Both of his fingers had to be reattached to his hand.
You’re a brave man Donald! Yup, no turning back. Clearly you’re a master with that grinder!
Thank you softroadingthewest for the video, it helped me a great deal thanks again...
Not too many pro4x vids on ytube. Hope you do many many more. From maintenance to mods. Your channel is a good one keep growing it.
Nice! I'm in the middle of making a choice for my winch. Right now I have a front reciever with my winch in a carrier. This will help big time for the trimming. 👍
thank you for making this. it really helped me when I needed to install my fog lights
Excited to see your bumper design👍🏻 Great DIY project.
You can use doortrim to really clean up the bumber where you cut. Cleans it up really nice.
Ty
My ex gf had a xterra and I loved driving it... never gave nissan any thought till now that I'm need to replace my forester.. think about the 2022 frontier.
You won't regret it. Had 2 Frontiers. Currently 2020 Pro4X. Old school looks with new engine and tranny. Love this rig.
“Something else will go there”
(Cuts to STW logo) 😂
Something else will go in the middle of the grill. I got you lol
Good advice! Thanks.. just what I needed, no BS.
You may have been able to use an oscillating saw.
Look great! Please tell me your logo will go on the front badge.
That's the idea. I've got a guy helping me make it happen, but we're both pretty busy so I suspect it's going to be a blank spot for a while LOL :-)
@@softroadingthewest nice! Had your sticker right by my computer when I was watching, should almost be a perfect match shape wise.
Interested in where you are going with this. So much so I went and looked to see what after market solutions where available and there are quit a few and some not very expensive that look good. I have a Tacoma so after market is no issue but I look forward to see what you will do.
I'm not 100% sold on the aftermarket options so there may be some custom work involved, but I haven't made any final decisions yet. I needed to spend some time with it exposed like this so I could turn it all over in my head for a while. :-)
Donald thanx for sharing, love your vids! Question; What size tires are you running? Any mods to fit them?
265/75R16 - that's the OEM size for the Pro-4x version of the Frontier, so they fit just fine. They were on the truck when I bought it.
Nice work Donald.
You’re confident with that grinder. If I were a betting man, I’d say this is going to turn out great. 👍🏼
I hope you're right! :-) Depending on how much DIY goes into it, I'm less confident than you, haha.
Are you eventually going to do your own custom bumper/winch mount or an aftermarket?
Custom is my preference. I'm not in love with any of the aftermarket solutions out there. I needed that stock plastic out of the way though in order to visualize how I want the winch mount/bumper to come together. :-)
I was thinking of going with the Diode dynamics fog light replacements but seeing as they are just held in with the floppy plastic bumper it seems like a bad investment. Thanks for the video, it is always helpful to see someone else take their truck apart. I noticed you used a handy “360 awning” to shade yourself also;)
Haha, yeah, the at-home "awning" has got a lot of use this year for sure. :-) The fog light housing seems pretty sturdy when everything is actually assembled. It's all a LOT more solid than the plastic front end of the Forester was, especially as the whole thing is bolted to the skid plate. If you have no plans to chop your front bumper, I wouldn't hesitate.
sorry bro looks dumb
Did you actually watch/listen to what was said in this video, because it appears you've failed to understand that this is not the finished project. This chop is just an interim step required for virtually any aftermarket bumper made for 2nd-gen Frontier. I'm not proposing anyone leave the front of their Frontier like this. 🙄
I eventually fabricated my own new bumper for my Frontier, but there are also numerous commercially-available offroad bumpers for the Frontier, almost all of which line up precisely to the chop I've made here. On some older Frontiers, the factory bumper/grill was in two pieces and you could just remove the lower half, but any of the Frontiers with a single plastic front end require cutting along this exact line. That's all explained in this video.
Sometimes when you go around leaving negative comments on videos you either haven't fully watched or you just didn't pay enough attention to what was said, you end up making yourself look dumb.
I had to do the same sort of project on my Taco when I installed my winch.....the point of no return is always fun
Haha, it was pretty easy to pull the trigger on this one as it's the exact same cut every off-road Frontier owner makes. :-)
😎👍
Be careful not to touch the globes. Or if you do wipe them down with paper towel. The oils in your skin will make them overheat and crack. Same deal with halogen headlight globes.
Indeed! I didn't really give it any thought since mine were getting deleted, but that's an excellent point, it's important not to touch halogen bulbs with bare hands.
@@softroadingthewest just another tip for when you put your winch on. If you hook the end of your cable to a tow hook instead of pulling it into the winch your winch will last a lot longer and it is so much easier to get out. And when we are going thru big big holes in a big group we wrap a snatch strap around the bullbar to use before you pull the winch cable out.
oof this looks drastic, curious how it turns out.
Don buying a new car: "CHOP CHOP"
Haha! I'm not a fan of the raw chopped look and I do intend for the final bumper build to end up with a more finished look. But I need some time to look at and think about how I want it to come together, and that lower plastic section was already getting banged up. That's my cue to fire up the grinder! :-)
I bought a Dremel set to help me with projects like this that involve cutting plastic. It's proved itself useful in plenty of projects for me so far. Good job using the tools you had on hand nonetheless!
Yeah, it's probably something I should finally just break down and buy, I'm sure I'd find all kinds of uses for one. The grinder works fabulously for big long cuts with room to move, but definitely gets unwieldy in tight spaces and doesn't turn corners very well. :-)
@@softroadingthewest You can get some pretty good and inexpensive ones that are compatible with the Dremel accessories. I've long used a Canadian Tire house brand one with good luck, mostly using Dremel accessories. The Dremel accessories are better than the knock-offs, but the tools are the same.
$26CDN for mine, Harbor Freight is probably as cheap.
I wonder what will replace the emblem 🤔👌
Haha :-)
Did I miss what bumper you're going with? Excited to see how it turns out once the bumper and winch is installed. 👍
That's still up in the air. I probably won't buy an aftermarket bumper, but if I were to do so, they're all designed for this exact bumper chop, so it's a safe cut. I may at most buy just a winch mount designed for the Frontier and fab the rest of the bumper myself, but I'm leaning towards having a local fabricator create my winch mount. I want to do some of the fab work myself, but my welder tops out at 3/16" steel and the winch-to-frame piece needs to be heftier than that...though even if I could weld 1/4" I'm not sure I'd trust my amateur welding skills for something that could need to bear the weight of an entire vehicle. I'll just stick to the more superficial bits for now. :-)
I'm ALWAYS more excited about diy than off the shelf items. Can't wait to see what you come up with!
@@softroadingthewest I used the Wam winch carrier that fits inside the stock bumper skin. Very low key. Now that the bumper skin is cut thats not an option. Nismo has a new bumper that looks good though.
Looks awesome
Already looks meatier. I think I know what is going there! Good luck! George.
Thanks George!
George!
@@sagebrushbob2321 Fancy meeting you here!
Why??
Why? Why what? Chop the bumper? It's impossible to mount up any sort of off-road/winch bumper with that plastic nose in the way, and mine was already getting banged up after just a couple of backcountry treks. As I said in the video, it's not staying like this. :-)
Well done video.. i enjoyed watching it even knowing ill likely never own a frontier. All those bumpers are made similar though so still good to watch the processes.. curious to see the bumper install now..
Thanks David! I'm curious to see the install as well, haha. Still not certain exactly what will come next but I needed to spend some time looking at it like this to wrap my head around how I want the new bumper to come together. :-)
Love build videos. People personalizing generic to fit their needs is always cool. Looking forward to seeing the new solution.
Hey man, what size tires are those?
In this video, these are the BFGoodrich T/A KO2 in 265/75R16 (roughly 31"), which is the OEM size for the Pro-4x Frontier.
In my more recent videos, after adding a 2" suspension lift, I am now running the Falken Wildpeak AT3W in 285/75R16 (roughly 33").
@@softroadingthewest awesome, thanks!