Good Heavy 1st Gen Push Bumper/Grill Guard?

[LJHagen]

I make a lot of evening trips from LaCrosse, WI to Duluth, MN. Somehow up to this point my truck has only hit two animals with minimal damage (bumper pushed back into fender and dent where roof meets windshield). Now that the days are getting shorter, it's not a question of IF I'm going to hit a deer, but when and how many.



That said, rather than pull out my old light-duty front bumper, I'm looking for something heavier, preferably with a grill-guard. (Not a show-boat front bumper, just heavy duty... Maybe tow-truck style).



Does anyone know a good place to look for said bumper? (I'm not independently wealthy, so price is a factor).



I am not above used parts.





Thanks!!

 

[dpuckett]

MMiller has a nice looking Reunell (sp?) bumper on his 1st Gen. Not too flashy IMO, and has the grille guard built in. I also know a guy who might have just the grille guard from my 91. PM me and I can give you his email address. It is bent from where it hit a tree, but I think with a big enough press it could be straightened out. Otherwise, you're looking at $350-450 for a new one.



Daniel

 

[1stgen4evr]

Is there a sheet metal shop around your neck of the woods. Get a piece of 3/16 bent to the shape of a tow truck pusher. Get under your truck and look at the attachments for the bumper. You can make adapters to bolt all of it on and fit some struts to the lower part so that it is very substantial. Plenty of holes alread in the frame.



Since there are already tow trucks with that sort of pusher plate, you won't look so unusual. HOWEVER, if you smack something, you may get frame damage. Deer contact at sixty or seventy miles per hour makes one helava bump. I try to run behind a simi and let them clear the road. I was behind one a couple of years ago when the road turned to cotton fluff. Someone had lost a recliner in the road. I stoped to help him straighten some stuff on the front of his truck. What a mess.



What about a cow catcher like an old locomotive. Roll them out the side.



Good insurance is about the only real alternative.



James

 

[Moab4x4]

From what I have researched there are a few options: Ruenel, Buckstop, TrailReady, and more. Be sitting down when you see the price though. The price is consistently 1300+ for an option that includes grill guard though.

Good Luck, I still haven't decided.

Do a google search on winch bumper.

Ken

 

[Philip]

If you can weld and have a metal fab shop to bend the piece you need. I can send you spec's for the one I have been working on for a year or so. I need to get around and finish it off. :-laf



Total for the one in this link is around $300. for the water jet work and the metal. Page 3. The pic's don't show the rest of the brush guard I made. The uprights bolt into the factory bumper holes in the frame.





https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124233&page=1&pp=15

 

[WJune]

You mean like (Quad 4x4's) shop truck ?

I am at Sparta and have some parts and sources in state. If as your sig says 94 model, the good news is there are more accessories around for it than for 1st gens. Lots of Chev, Ford, Jeep, deer catchers around to modify. PM me if you like.

 

[bmoeller]

Be sitting down when you see the price though. The price is consistently 1300+ for an option that includes grill guard though.

Mine was less than $800 shipped from TX.



www.lonestartruckequipment.com



The powdercoating job isn't good at all, but the rest is good.

 

[LJHagen]

Just figured out how to fix my profile, so now my 91 SAYS 91!



I appreciate all the advice gentlemen... So far, the used or home-grown bumpers are sounding better and better...



I also agree that there is such thing as 'too' much bumper--I know finding that balance between minimizing damage and bending a frame is hard to find (without testing... ).



Thanks again, and keep the advice coming (or leads on used ones!)

 

[bmoeller]

Call up JC Whitney. http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/ContactView/c-10614/s-10101



IIRC, they do/did carry the push bumpers that are on tow trucks. I've seen them in their catalog before. Can't find them on the site, though. Would be worth a shot.



Did a quick 'net search, and found this place-



http://www.nussbaumwreckers.com/truck_parts.html



I suspect building one will be the cheapest.