Off-Road Riding Guides: On Bumpers

While surfing the Wide World of the Web, I happened on Off-Road Web Site and read about a great article regarding truck and/or SUV bumpers. Hence, if you are an off-road riding enthusiast and is thinking about the bumpy ride ahead, you might also be thinking about the particular type and style of bumper you need to purchase for your truck/SUV.

The answer to this issue can be found in the Off-Road Web Site’s article, which I reposted here to help you out:

Off – Road Truck Bumper Buyer’s Guide

By Jay Kopycinski

photographer: Courtesy of the Manufacturers

Whether you run cattle on a ranch or spend your weekends romping your truck in the boonies, quality bumpers can be an asset on your rig. Depending on your needs, they can serve as winch or tow mount, brush protection, light-mount location, or sometimes animal protection. We put together a smattering of choices to equip the nose and tail of your 4WD for style and function.

Fab Fours Truck Bumpers

Fab Fours Tundra Replacement Winch Bumper is available for ‘07-’08 models and is designed with Fab Fours’ signature light housings. This bumper includes Hella Lights, Hella turn indicators, 1-inch D-ring mounts, and is winch-ready to accommodate up to a 9,500-pound winch. A “prerunner” tube set is optional. The bumper is designed to be high and tight, keeping it close to the stock bumper envelope yet providing far more tire clearance. Construction is from 3/16-inch steel and 1-3/4×0.120-inch-wall DOM tubing. Finish is two-stage epoxy-based primer/black semigloss, semi-texture top coat. Front and rear bumpers are also available for many other truck models.

For more information, contact: Fab Fours Inc., (866) 385-1905, www.fabfours.com.

Road Armor Bumpers

Road Armor’s Stealth bumper is a muscular, multifaceted design that accentuates the lines of your truck and provides a unique, utilitarian look. Installation is strictly bolt-on, and the bumpers are backed by a lifetime guaranty against breakage. Each bumper is comprised of a 3/16-inch-thick steel shell supported by a 1/4-inch-thick structural subframe with interlocking structural sections that ensure the bumpers will never buckle or break. Each part is CAD-designed, CNC laser-cut, and powdercoated in either black or silver. Road Armor has bumpers for numerous vehicles, including Dodge Ram, Ford Super Duty, and Toyota FJ Cruiser.

For more information, contact: Road Armor, (425) 328-7194, www.roadarmor.com.

R&H Longtravel Prerunner

R&H Longtravel has been designing and building prerunners and race trucks that all have uniquely designed bumpers to them. R&H can now bolt that look to your vehicle with a bumper that contours to the body. The main tube alone has eight different bends on two different planes, allowing the bumper to mold itself around the shape of the truck. On top of that, the main tube is constructed from 2×0.120-inch-wall tubing to provide strength and durability. There’s room to mount four 9-inch lights, and R&H adds a 1/8-inch-thick aluminum skidplate on top of the glossy powdercoat. The company currently offers bumpers for the Dodge HD, Ford Super Duty, and Chevy HD.

For more information, contact: R&H Longtravel, (480) 671-0820, www.rnhlongtravel.com.

T-Bilt Tubular Bumpers

T-Bilt offers an extensive array of off-road accessories and billet aluminum parts for Ford, Hummer, and Chevy. In addition, T-Bilt offers basic off-road bumpers and winch-ready models. You can also build your own lightbar, aka brushguard, on its website with the click of a few buttons and have it sent to your door. T-Bilt’s products use precision bent tube along with hand-welding on custom jigs.

For more information, contact: T-Bilt, (888) 99-TBILT, www.tbilt.com.

Old Man Emu Super Duty Bumper

The folks at ARB now have a beefy front bumper for your heavy-duty Ford amongst their extensive line of both front and rear bumpers for a wide number of vehicle applications. All of their bumpers are designed with heavy emphasis on function and incorporate winch and light mounts where appropriate. Some of their bumpers wrap around to protect side body panels. Their rear bumpers can also serve as a platform for mounting a range of accessories, including tires and jerrycans.

For more information, contact: ARB 4×4 Accessories, (425) 264-1391, www.arbusa.com.

Defender Bumper Lightbar

Defender has expanded its line with new tubular, race-inspired light-mounting bars. Defender lightbars are fabricated from 0.120-wall, fully welded, 1-3/4-inch round steel tubing and finished in a satin black powdercoat. The classic Defender design makes a perfect platform for auxiliary light mounting. Applications include ‘07-’08 Chevy HD 2/4WD and ‘05-’07 Ford F-150 2WD.

For more information, contact: Defender Products, (818) 848-2025, www.defenderrack.com.

Proto Fab Steel Products

Proto Fab products are engineered, fabricated, and tested with over 30 years of off-road experience. The owners use and test their products in the toughest deserts of Arizona to ensure an easy-to-use, durable, and long-lasting product. They have long specialized in front and rear bumpers for Jeeps and Broncos but are also working on fullsize Chevy versions.

For more information, contact: Proto Fab, (928) 632-0216, www.protofab4×4.com.

Warn Heavy-Duty Bumper

The newest application of the Warn heavy-duty bumper is for the ‘08 Ford Super Duty. These bumpers are contoured to the shape of the vehicle’s grille and body and have that custom-made look. They offer excellent protection due to their one-piece welded design that incorporates round light ports and a concealed winch mount. The Warn heavy-duty bumper is available for the larger-capacity Warn winches, including the 16.5ti. The bumpers are made for all the domestic heavy-duty trucks.

For more information, contact: Warn Ind., (800) 543-9276, www.warn.com.

Ranch Hand Bumpers

Ranch Hand’s Legend-series bullnose front-bumper replacements provide rugged protection for your truck. The sturdy fully welded one-piece design makes for a perfect fit and exceptional coverage. Standard features include custom-punched foglight covers and bottom insert for additional airflow, 2-inch receiver tube, and black powdercoat finish. Optional features include a winch option and hammertone wrinkle finish. Ranch Hand manufactures rear bumpers as well and has applications for a variety of vehicles.

For more information, contact: Ranch Hand, (800) 366-9712, www.ranchhand.com.

Aluminum Ali Arc Protection

Ali Arc builds fullsize domestic front bumpers with an integral grille guard from high-tensile aluminum. This allows you to have a full-coverage front unit that weighs in at a lightweight 80 pounds. The bumpers mount directly to the chassis and come in a high-polish finish. Two light tabs are also included.

For more information, contact: Ali Arc Ind., (204) 253-6080, www.aliarc.com.

Top Gun Bumpers

The bullnose design from Top Gun is a front bumper that is a fully welded, one-piece design made with heavy-duty 14-gauge tread plate, Schedule 10 pipe on center support bars, Schedule 40 pipe on side headlight bars, and 1/2-inch steel-plate frame brackets. The bumper uses easy frame-mount installation and is finished with a high-gloss, UV-protected poly powdercoating. Model-specific designs are built to fit the contours of the vehicle. They also feature integrated lightbars that support two lights up to 6 inches in diameter. Additionally, Top Gun’s premium winch-ready bullnose front bumpers offer both 2-inch receiver tubes and winch capabilities. Available for a wide range of domestic trucks.

For more information, contact: Top Gun Products, (214) 614-8003, www.topgunproducts.com.

TrailReady Goods

TrailReady has been designing and producing winch-mount bumpers and other vehicle-protection products since 1997 with a design philosophy to create a product that the vehicle manufacturer would choose were they to offer a heavy-duty winch bumper as original equipment. With model offerings for GM, Ford, Dodge, Nissan, Toyota, and Jeep, TrailReady covers plenty of applications. Each front or rear bumper is finished with a four-pass powdercoating system: media blast, acid etch, zinc-rich primer, and four mil powdercoat.

For more information, contact: TrailReady Products, LLC, (888) 347-1146, www.trailready.com.

I hope that this article will help in your pursuit to buy the best quality bumper for your truck/SUV. The Online Vehicle Bumpers Shop may also be a great source for probably all of the truck/SUV bumper types indicated in the article above.

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