Picked up a 20"x13" sheet of 3/8" thick plate for 20 bucks. It is hard to appreciate how much steel that is until you hold it. I will cut out the new brackets tomorrow, it should greatly increase the cosmetic appeal of the bumper. Then I can weld up the mounts for the skid plates. Gotta find some grade 8 17mm bolts now.

It was cool to watch them cut the steel....with shears!!!! Their machine is amazing. Can do up to 10 foot cuts, through just about anything, and can bend as well. Gotta be hundreds of thousands of dollars...