Heavy Duty Bumpers for Expedition/Overland Use: Practical Necessity or Superfluous an

[Buliwyf]

Uhg. The Alumness bumpers for the 2008 Fords are hideous. They don't fill the body space at the rear, and the front is......well, self explanatory.
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I could buy a decent beat up truck for what some of these bumpers cost. It looks like bumpers, rockers, and skidplates have to be custom made locally. No luck at all online.

 

[D45]

I love having a winch, having the added protection, and having more lights up front.....and the added recovery points

Buckstop Baja Bumper, PIAA 40 Series 6" Driving Lights, PIAA 510 Series 4" Ion Crystal Fogs, MileMarker 12K with 7/16" Rope

 

[pappawheely]

I like these Trailready bumpers. This one has not been powder coated yet.

 

[ExpoMike]

any other companies making aluminum?

Yes, Denver Offroad - http://www.denver-offroad.com/

 

[norcal*PWRstroke]

I custom made this rear one on my pickup, 1 3/4" spindle with sleeve 1750lb load rating on spindle, hold my 35" spare and the carrier under the truck is holding an extra trailer tire for my flatbed hauler. also has RIGID DUALLY LED offroad/backup lights, 1600 lumens each at only 20 ways and 1.45 amps, and recessed license plate holder with lights.

 

[Bergum]

Got pics how it attatched to the frame?

 

[norcal*PWRstroke]

the flanges hook up under the tailgate and bottom of bed and mount on the outside of the frame rail In the stock holes

 

[Bergum]

Now that's solid.
Love it.
Thank's

 

[Outback]

To each his own. If you want a big heavy duty bumper then go for it. Who cares what other people think? Its not there rig. For me I like both. Stock and aftermarket. On almost all of my 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks I have always upgraded to a heavy duty front bumper. Mainly for a place to mount a winch. The extra space also allowed me to mount driving lights which everyone should have if they drive on Highways and Interstates at night. My latest build is my Military truck. I Like the look of the Military style grill guard and the bow shackle attachment points. It just looks good "to me". So I decided to build my own winch mount. I quickly discovered that putting a winch on top of the bumper blocked crucial airflow (desert environment) and took away from the over all look of what I was trying to maintain. The only option was behind the bumper(s). So that is where I am now. The advantages are that I dont have the added weight of a typical 1/4" steel fully welded front bumper. So its lighter. The disadvantage is that I dont have a 1/4 steel fully welded front bumper when it comes to protection. My main concern would be Deer and Elk strikes. Its a trade off. For the rear bumper Ive always wanted to have something that I could mount my spare tire and recover tools to. I want them out of the bed on on some type of swing out carrier. This frees up allot of room in the bed of the truck that I want to use for other items. When a vehicle is modified for better off road capability that usually means a lift and bigger tires. For us full size truck guys that usually means we need to relocate our spare from under the truck to the bed. Again not desirable. Some people complain about the added weight off the ******** end of the vehicle. This can be a valid point but not always. My truck has a cargo capacity of 3,900 lbs. Its rated as a 1 1/4 ton truck and I can show you the leaf packs to prove it! This does not make for a great riding truck on wash boarded roads when completely empty. Moving the spare and the tools and hanging them off the back will greatly improve the ride and still not affect how the vehicle sits even when fully loaded. Its always going to be a trade off no matter what you do with your personal rig. Its your rig so do with it as you want. You may end up trying out a few configurations before settling in on the final version. Join the crowd. We have all done that. Good luck and post some pictures when you can.

 

[SDDiver5]

That is an awesome rear tire carrier/bumper combo. Nice work.

 

[Outback]

What I like about these Military style bumpers is that they have frame mounted recovery points, brush/grill guard and are light. I guess I have the best of both worlds. I am currently working on my winch mounts front and back which will see the winches mounted behind the bumpers. The draw back to that is you cant properly feed the winch line on the drum. Give and take.

I removed the rear pintle and frame mounts for it to make room for a rear mounted winch.

Mock up of fairlead location

 

[pray4surf]

If you don't mind my "glad I had a heavy duty bumper" tale...

I probably wouldn't have this truck anymore if I hadn't been up-armored...

I had just arrived at home after an 8 hour shift, and parked the truck on the street. Was out talking to the family in the backyard when we heard the collision. Here is what I saw once I came out the front door.







The damage to to my truck





IMO - the heavy duty bumper saved the truck. With the stock bumper, I'm sure that the entire bed would've been crumpled

 

[Wh1t3nukle]

^^That'll teach ya to park out in the middle of the road.


That sucks. What a nice bus too. Hope he was ok.

 

[pappawheely]

I guess I will tell my story. Sitting in a left turn lane. Women making a left turn from my right to left hits throttle at apex on wet pavement. Gets sideways, pins throttle, sideswipes bmw in front of me and slams into my left front at 40 mph. Both my hands get ripped off the wheel and hit the dash hard. Elbow and head hit the side window; no airbag. Broke my rack&pinion, cracked my fiberglass fender, busted the headlight and pushed the .120 wall tubes and the front core support back about a half inch but clearly her car was worse off. Heard it was totaled. Was able to straighten the bumper with a pull. Always put a heavy duty bumper on all my trucks.

 

[evilfij]

On a defender, they are not that heavy and the stock bumper is crap (corners fold in and take out a fender).

However, any vehicle without a strong frame I would not fit anything strong as you will tweak the frame. This would be a particular concern with vehicles with crumple zones.