Ranch Hand Bumper Review on Ford F250

[Phil8ABug]

These bumpers are by far the most popular in our area, and I thought they deserved some coverage. I do not believe they were covered in the expedition portal bumper review. The bumper I purchased was the Ranch Hand Sport model for the 2011 to 2016 Ford Super Duty.

Strengths:

• Strength! – These bumpers are built to take an impact.
• Mesh Inserts: The mesh inserts in the grill guard have been useful. These have stopped highway debris and stones I think would have caused damage to the grill. In my opinion this is a must have feature.
• Front Receiver Hitch: useful for moving small trailers around.
• Winch Mount: The sport series can mount a winch.

Weaknesses:

• Powder Coating: The powder coating is poor. The coating is thin in some places, and just doesn’t cover others. The space between the bands on the uprights rusts, the space where the mesh joins the tubes rusts and the welds have pock marks which the powder coating doesn’t penetrate or cover.
• Welds: The welds are rough, they don’t appear to have been reviewed. One section of my bumper still has wire attached to the weld, which is almost funny.
• Steel: (opinion) The steel seems soft, and heavy. Better steel could reduce weight and retain strength.

Opportunities:

• Aluminum: I really like this bumper; the weight is another story. I think this could be improved either with better steel or aluminum.
• Door for winch: A little more finished appearance would be appreciated.
• Better Finish: Maybe a quality check to make sure everything is covered.
• Weight Rating on Front Hitch: Not rated?
• Better documentation: Unless my math is off, the information on the website for the legend and sport series is wrong. If the gross weight is different the net weight should be as well.

Conclusion:
Unfortunately, this has been a bad purchase for me. I am more excited to return to factory than I was when I purchased the bumper. Luckily, it won’t be hard to sell and it will be with another owner in the near future.

• 

 

[Explorerinil]

They are tough, I had one once, they are not known for fit and finish.

 

[Buliwyf]

What would be the point? It's ugly diamond plate.

Go Warn or ARB.

 

[vintageracer]

What would be the point? It's ugly diamond plate.

It's a TEXAS thing!

If you're going to play in TEXAS you better have fiddle in the band!

 

[SoTxAg06]

I’ve had a couple of ranch hand products over the years. They are definitely heavy duty, and saved me a front end or two when deer ran out in front of me. The fit and finish has always been a little rough. Weight is around 250 lbs if I’m not mistaken for a full replacement.

The powder coating will eventually wear and allow rust. My last truck came with front and rear ranch hand bumpers that had bed liner on them. Even with the bed liner, there were rust issues.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[arielmiller]

I dont blame you. aside from the terrible welding, their bumpers look like something that belongs on a fire truck. They dont look good at all imo.

 

[BritKLR]

I've had great luck with their grill guards ( e.g.: deer hits, etc.). They are much lighter then a full bumper assembly, but not as functional with the winch and light mounts. I'd agree with the ARB suggestion for a full function bumper assemble. Anyway, I've just added another RH to my Tiger. Hope I never need it!

 

[Phil8ABug]

I don't mind the diamond plate. If given the mulligan I would pick something with a better fit and finish, even at a higher price point.
Still like parts of it which is the reason I haven't already replaced it. Why is the rust such a bright orange?
May get an Aluminess someday. Not going to be a repeat ranch hand customer.

 

[IdaSHO]

There are plenty ranch hand bumpers around here.

Every one I see is rusting to death.

 

[bknudtsen]

I don't mind the diamond plate. If given the mulligan I would pick something with a better fit and finish, even at a higher price point.
Still like parts of it which is the reason I haven't already replaced it. Why is the rust such a bright orange?
May get an Aluminess someday. Not going to be a repeat ranch hand customer.

My guess is that they are not cleaning the slag off the welds prior to powder.

 

[Oilbrnr]

A point not noted yet, collateral damage. Those wing things, will cause quarter panel damage with a mild impact. While I personally have not had experience with RH, I've always thought they were TX overrated. You want to see some well engineered bumpers, go to Slee.com. Unfortunately Christo's offerings are only for Toyotas.

 

[VroomSIX]

The fit and finish on that is unacceptable for a product costing so much. The diamond plate isn't my style either, but style is subjective so that is not the issue. Still when you read stuff like this "...One section of my bumper still has wire attached to the weld, which is almost funny." you can't help but eliminate them from your shopping list. It's unfortunate since I'm in the market for a steel winch bumper for my OBS Ford and they are one of the few options out there. After reading (and seeing) this though I'll take a hard pass thanks.

 

[F350joe]

Something must have change with them. My older ranch hand has hit a lot and not even a scratch. I wacked one of those parking poles once, bent the crap out of the pole but could no teven tell where I hit it. I leave near the beach, it lives outside, and not one spec of rust. Made in China nowadays?

 

[vintageracer]

My neighbor runs a body shop and he LOVE'S his customers with Grill Guards mounted on their trucks or SUV's.

He says trucks/SUV's with grill guards are always good for a big ticket repair when front-end damage is involved. On vehicles with a grill guard the guard is usually front frame horn mounted so as to retain the stock bumper. In any accident even a small one the grill guards always bend the front frame horns resulting in a nice big ticket repair job for him.

While he love's his customer's with grill guards he personally would never have one mounted on his personal vehicle as the damage to vehicles with grill guards is generally significantly greater and more expensive to repair than those vehicles with similar/same damage and no grill guard. This can also result in "Frame Damage" being noted on a Carfax/Autocheck depending upon how the damage information is reported to them by the insurance company if involved or other sources. It's happened before and that's not a good thing!

He attitude is go with an ugly Ranch Hand or similar Battering Ram BUMPER that will truly protect the front of the vehicle if you have that need and leave the Grill Guards for the "Chrome Will Get You Home" Country Club set!

 

[DaveInDenver]

My neighbor runs a body shop and he LOVE'S his customers with Grill Guards mounted on their trucks or SUV's.

Those Westin and Dee Zee things are known as damage multipliers for a reason. I've always assumed looking at the Ranch Hand that they were probably legit, though. Seem like they use a lot of steel and I guess I assumed their purpose was for nudging cattle or something.