Click any of the pictures to enlarge!
The original design came from Doug's Truck:
From this design, Special Ed drew it up in SolidWorks:
The next step was to build a pilot.
The pilot was put on Chris U's rig. Note that it is not painted nor are the bolts ground smooth yet. Chris liked it this way... so we left it. The pilot was going to go on my rig, but Chris was ready... and liked the unfinished look... so I will make mine later.
The rest will be painted and have the bolts ground smooth. They should look pretty bad-ass all painted up nice.
The nice thing about the design is that it is very flexible. In other words, you can put the plates on top of the bar like Doug did (red Defender above) or you can put them below the bar like Chris did (directly above). You can mount them to the top bar, to the slightly lower bar just above the lights. You could also mount them vertical. You can mount the big bolt inside (in between the hood and top bar). You can mount them on the other side of the bar; it's all up to you.
The price for the hardware is $34 now for the set-- a couple of bucks cheaper than what I thought. I know that it seems a bit steep for a few nuts and bolts, but it is all high-quality stainless steel. The mounts can be made from zinc plated material for probably $12-$15 for a set, but if you were to go this way, I would call you a cheap bastard and laugh at you! It's a rock-solid, rust-proof design for $34. Plus I already bought the shit!
Look for the final version on Tuesday... maybe sooner....
More to come!
As promised... more pictures. These are of my rig of the final design. I chose to mount mine in the same way Chris did. Unfortunately, the cost went up $2.... to $36... because I am 1 package of U-bolts short.
I need to get off my ass and take some pictures of Lance's and Trey's rigs. They've mounted theirs a bit differently... still looks as good and functions just as well.