New Bumper

Hey TW I am getting new bumper for christmas and I am hoping to find some opinions on what I should get.

I used to have an art bumper on my old truck but the truck was totaled in a hit and run accident.

I have a new truck and instead of going to long travel route of my old build I went for a more practical and cheaper mid travel approx. 3 inch lift.

Anyway its time for a new bumper and I am trying to decide between a relentless fab or art plate bumper....and recently looked at KR fabs tube bumper and really liked what I saw.

I want to be able to mount 3 large lights (Light force blitz) on the bumper and definitely some fog lights. My only concern with the KR tube bumper is that it will look somewhat ridiculous on a truck without lt.....

The ARB and relentless fab bumpers on the other hand are heavy and I don't know if I could fit 3 lager lights inside of the light hoop......

Opinions please...btw I don't need a winch mounting area as I don't do any off-roading in which a winch has become necessary.

 

My bumper is one of the lighter, yet strong steel plate bumpers. Approx a 100lbs. Or i can do aluminum and its only 55lbs. I can shave a few pounds by taking away some of the winch mount plate inside as well.

 

WTB an aluminum version...Eric hows the turn around these days?

 

x2 this is currently being discussed in another thread right now. erics bumpers are one of the lightest weight wise of any plate steel bumper out there the arb is almost 60 pounds more.

if weight is your concern but, you still want full protection i don't think his bumpers can be beat.

 

How would an aluminum bumper compare against a steel version in a deer hit?

 

idk because i have yet to plow into any forest creature lol but, i would have to think it would handle it ok i guess you could have eric make it out of 1/4 inch aluminum that would be bad ass! it would cost a pretty penny but, 1/4 inch thick of good quality aluminum is going to be pretty stout to say the least and be very light still. i know he offers his steel bumpers with an option to upgrade to full 1/4 inch steel so that may be an option if you want light weight but severe protection. animals i would have to imagine would be handled rather easily but rocks on the other hand would def gouge it up.

if i'm correct aluminum is considerably stiffer than steel but is more brittle or some shit. years ago my friend a metal worker was telling me some stuff and that is what i retained. iirc he had said that when bending aluminum compared to steel the aluminum would break sooner due to it being more brittle or something.

someone feel free to correct me if i'm wrong.

 

Well I'm getting a new truck as soon as my order arrives at the dealer, so invariably I will hit a deer within the first week of having it. Maybe Eric will let me borrow an aluminum one... for science!

Aluminum is more brittle, but if you hit it dead center then I think there's enough internal support to keep it from flexing to the point of snapping. Maybe the outer edges would be more vulnerable?

 

You're not going to snap the 1/4" aluminum if you hit a deer

 

Save ammo.


Hit a deer.

 

yeah i don't think so either. if you opt for 1/4 inch aluminum that would be a stout bumper for sure man no doubt just just watch out on rocks aluminum will not hold up like steel in that respect.

 

Yeah , aluminum will scratch / gouge more easily than steel , but for animal strikes I don't think there would be any difference in protection .

 

The aluminum bumper is 1/4"

 

wait is your truck going to be a 2012?

if so i don't think there are any bumpers being made for them yet.

 

x2

 

his standard aluminum is 1/4 inch thats cool i thought it might be an option to have it made out of 1/4 inch like his steel bumpers.

 

Yeah that's pretty beefy.

I know the '12 bumpers aren't ready yet. Hoping the ARB will be soon. Seeing it on the Oakley truck gives me hope ;-) I want to do the bumper and winch when I get the lift and do everything at one time.

Had my last car for two weeks when I hit that deer. Little bastard ran along beside me to get the timing just right before running in front of me while I rode the brakes. Smashed the front end up then pranced away. Stupid deer.

 

Get a Relentless, or an Elite.

 

ARB weighs in at 115 lbs when i weighed it before it went on my truck

 

So what I am hearing is that both arb and relentless fab are very strong... do you think stronger than the kr fab tube bumpers....?

ANd back to the initial question would a tube bumper look stupid on a truck with only three inches of lift?

 

no it does not mine weighed in at just over 148 idk if the models are different or something but, mine was significantly heavier than yours.