All Pro rear plate bumper and side plates review

I purchased my bumper through the group buy All Pro held a couple months ago and overall I've been pleased with my purchase. The bumper certainly looks pretty tough when you find it sitting on your doorstep and even tougher once its painted and mounted on the truck. Construction is 1/8" laser cut and MIG welded steel, with 1/4" mounting plates. Fitment was good; it lined up well with the factory body lines and all of the mounting locations to my satisfaction. It added a significant amount of clearance to the rear of my truck and a tough, off road look as well. I now going to feel sorry for the little Honda Civic that finds it cant stop and runs into me in the snow. If I have any gripes about it, it would be the wimpy looking D-shackle mounts made out of 1/4" steel w/ tube punched through. I would have liked to see at least 1/2" thick plate, however I can say that I've pulled off them a few times and they've held just fine... just dont pull from an angle to keep them from bending.

I'd give the plate bumper a 4.5/5 rating.








I also ordered the wrap around side plates that protect the rear rocker panels of the truck. These parts are quite beefy at 3/16" thick and laser cut. They took a fair amount of persuading and muscling to get them into place and the bolt holes on the braces did not line up very well. The mounting bolt holes through the flange on the rear bumper and these were also very tight quarters and wouldnt allow the use of washers on both sides as they were intended. Further gripes I had included some really horrible looking welds on the brace pieces, and how I can push on the top of the wrap plates and touch my bedside... surely a bump on a tree stump or rock at any height above the bottom 1/3 is going to inflict damage to the side of the truck. Also, I was 2 bolts short in the hardware packet....

I'd give the side wrap-arounds a 3/5 rating.

 

Great review


Now lets see pictures of it on your truck!

 

hey guys, added some more pics

 

Nice looking ride! that bumper looks good.

 

very nice looking!!! i would have to agree with you on the d-shackle mounts...they look horrible with that tubing...what happened to your headache rack and diamond plate bedside caps..they were sweet looking!!!

 

Well, its been on the truck since about a month after I bought it 2 1/2 yrs ago so I decided to take if off for the winter to see what the truck looks like without it as I only use it for work in the spring/summer... Kinda like how it looks with it off actually. I think I may paint it all black when I put it back on.. still not quite sure.

 

looks awesome. agree about the shackle points. do they make the wrap around side plates already built into the bumper?

 

nope, the side plates are bolt on only.

 

Nice post,I would like to see how them sides would stand up to a tree or rock.

 

great review

 

X2!

 

Is that the factory hitch?

 

Nope, thats a hitch that i've been building to work with the bumper with strength, clearance and easy access being my key design criteria. Its not quite finished, once it is finished I will have more detailed pics of it in my build thread.

 

good info on some of the other All Pro accessories, Tim After reading what you said, it makes me even more glad that i decided to build my
own hitch. I used the 2 threaded factory holes in the bottom of the frame rails, and then used even larger grade 8 hardware to hit 2 more mounting points on either side. I still plan on adding another additional bracket to the front of my hitch and drilling one hole in the frame on each side as well... I want beef so I can still tow large/heavy loads with confidence.

 

my 2 cents: buy it with the side covers

it looks retarded without them as the bumper is like 1.5in wider on each side.

 

Looks good, now paint the front bumper to match

 

i want that

 

Tis the plan Just want to do a couple of last things to it before paint... like cutting in some recessed light mounts and cleaning up some welds and stuff.

 

Thanks for the review, we appreciate feedback! Your truck's lookin' good!

I just want to address a few points you brought up. First, regarding the 1/4" shackle mounts, keep in mind that it is part of one solid piece that goes through the bumper and bolts directly to the frame. If they were simply welded to the face of the bumper it is agreed that they would definately need to be stouter, but that would still be a weaker design. However, perception matters, so I'll see what we can do to "beef" them up.

The side pieces are indeed harder to install. We made them out of the thicker 3/16" material to help with the flex, but there is really no way to completely support that upper front corner, that is the weak point. However, if you're on a tree or rock, and they push in, then you're bed would have likely been wrecked far worse without some protection. I value them on my truck for the underneath protection. When your tire comes off a rock and the overhang on the bed slams down, then you'll be glad the extra side pieces are there!

Sorry about the missing hardware and issues with the braces, I'll definately look into it before we send anymore out.

Also, as a side note, we just got 20 more of these bumpers in today. We are now including license plates lights with them now that we found a good source, so no more worries about using the lighted frame, although I still have one on my truck with no trouble.

 

Sounds good, your truck is mean looking! like there could be a mini gun pop out of the roof