quantrill88

So once again my front bumper is in need of replacement. I swear this truck is bad luck, (never had to deal w/ a bodyshop before this truck) had someone back up into my front bumper pushing it in and barely missed causing damage to the radiator/intercooler. Did DESTROY the back of the Ranger though so I do feel a little better .

Anywho, since this time time isnt really of the essence I figured its time to put some real protection on the front of the truck. The main three Ive been considering are the Road Armor base bumper, the Buckstop Outback bumper, or the FabFours winch bumper. Im familiar w/ the RA and Buckstop but dont know much about FabFours. Anyone out there have experience w/ one. I like it the best but my main concern is turn-around time. I hate driving around w/ a busted up frontend.

Thanks for any help yall can give me.

Jeff

hognutz

I just know based on price I think I would have to go road armor. I don't like the look of the buckstop as much as the fabfours or road armor. then when you compare those two the road amror just seems to look even better. unless that $2,000 price on there site is just bs. but the $1,244 on road amors site seems to look better to me.

there is a guy with an 05 at the gym with the road armor pait matched to the body and it lookes nice. It caught my eye. I don't think I could shell out the money right now but If my front end took some damage I would go that route for sure.

quantrill88

I like the road armors, had one for my 2000. Only downsides I see to them was turn-around time and its just the bumper.........no lights and looks funny w/o the winch.

After looking at the FabFours site again, the 2003 Dodge winch bumper w/ foglights and turn/marker lights is 1,764, as is the 2006, kinda confusing. What about the 2005 and 2004. Will tryn email them and get an answer.

ptgarcia

I don't care much for the Fab Fours bumper. It looks too droopy from the side. The center is so much lower and more bulky than the sides it looks odd.

I do like the Road Armor Sahara bumper. But I'm a prerunner type of guy. That's my favorite at this point in time.

There's a guy a couple building down from my office that has a white 2500 MegaCab. He bolted up the Road Armor Stealth with Titan II Guard in white, just like the dually has on the Road Armor site. It looks like crap, to me. It's so big it throws off the balance of the truck, making it look super nose heavy. Does that make sense?

quantrill88

I agree about the Titan II. Unless you've got 44's or the like it looks waaaaay to big, IMO. Ive never been able to see the FabFour in person, found them through one of the banner ads on this site. Id go with Road Armor again if I knew it wouldnt take so long and I didnt have to add so much stuff to make it not look ridiculous naked. Any other ideas. I know alot of yall like Buckstop. Im not crazy for the standard series, but the Outback looks pretty nice and they have alot of nice features.

hognutz

I still think the road armor is a better deal. you can buy lights for $500. the 2003-2005 model is not even $1700 it is 2k.

then again I would want a raw the bumber.

quantrill88

ehh, I dont think its included, if so Id jump on it. 16.5ti's aint cheap. Thats one of the problems for me. I dont really have any need for a winch and dont want to have to add one to make the bumper look normal, which is one of the biggest advantages I see with the Buckstop. FabFours sale price is 1764, doesnt seem to bad, although it only lists it for 2003 and 2006

hognutz

yeah that would be one advantage to having one that just did not have the cutout for the winch. me though I would just weld the hole up if it saved me $500. then again one of my good friends owns a powdercoat shop and another one is awesome painter so the raw bumper suits me just fine.

although it looks like the non-winch fabfours or being redesigned or something.

I have to say though once you drop 1.5k-2k on a bumber it should be law that you have to sack up and put the winch in it ha ha.

quantrill88

I hear ya, but Id rather spend the extra 1200 for the winch on a box/programmer Ill use everyday then on a winch Ill use once or twice a year. If I had more time Id consider having someone mod the bumper to my wished but I dont really have free time this part of the year. Decisions, decisions......

ptgarcia

I'm with you quantrill88. Nothing I have seen is really want I want. Either there are too many holes in it, or its big enough to look good on a Peterbilt, or too complicated or not complicated enough. I may just go down to a fabricator (there are a lot of great ones here in southern CA) and have one made.

hognutz

my .02 would be if you could find a road armor ready to ship this time that was raw. call around to some powdercoading or body shop and ask them for the price to mod it. it is not alot of work. cut a piece of plat the same size, weld the plate in. grind a bid, add a bit of compond to smooth it out and paint or powerder coat.

that way you don't have to really wait at all. Like the guy who does my powercoating builds custom dune buggy's so having something modded like that is nothing for thier shop. might cost you $100 or something but that is about $1100-1200 cheaper than the winch to throw in there.

quantrill88

Getting a raw bumper has crossed my mind as I was wondering what it would look like Line-Xed. I plan to get my rockers (and hopefully some flares) Line-Xed to cover up some serious scratches and dings down there.

Welding in a plate doesnt seem like a bad idea either. Have to do some calling around to find a place though. Days off are pretty rare at the moment (with the exception of the 4th, wont have one till late August ) so the best option would be getting a bumper exactly the way I want from the mfgr. If I had the time Id proly do exactly what your suggesting as I like the look of Road Armors the most.

nriver

thought fab fours was having a 20% off sale

06bluetank

what about Renault bumpers there really good real burly bumpers