In my Quest for a front bumper, How's the Ute bullbar ? group purchase?

[stew]

I see the TDR had a group purchase early this year. In looking at some pics of the Ute the fit and finish appear to be superior... In the pics this bumper gives the impression that it was engineered as OEM...



How many did Ute require for a group purchase? Would any interest be here for a group purchase again? I am not even sure of the cost of the Ute yet... Any Idea's ?



So, with a past group purchase we must have several out here... Is the bumper clear coated? Is it beefy enough for you? What is the weight? Would you replace it with another Ute if needed... Would you do it again? Can it withstand a deer hit? Is it beefy enough to push with?



Shipping must be high coming from Australia...



I gotta say that this bumper is stylin ! I don't think I've seen another with that much attention to detail... the addition of inset signals and fogs look nice...



Check out the link for detail and pics

http://www.uteltd.com/dodge/ram.html



So, come on Ute owners give up some dirt !!!



Thanks,

Stew

 

[JHansen]

You are correct-the Ute fits and looks like a dream. I never weighed mine-but I unloaded it from my truck by myself. Install was another topic-I ended up splitting the aluminum bumper from the steel mounts and installing them 1 at a time. Probably around 150 #-hopefully one of the guys that paid shipping will still have their waybill to verify this #. Would I push with it? No-simply because I wouldn't want to mark the aluminum-definitely not for lack of strength. I would think any deer you tagged with it would be toast-the bumper is 3/8" thick and the steel mounts are also 3/8" thick! There is no clear finish-just high-polished aluminum although I'm sure you could wax it to preserve the shine for longer-I meant to but haven't gotten that far yet.



Seems to me that the initial group order was either 20 or 25 units. Not sure what you'd be looking at $$$ wise for another group order-that's the type of question you'd have to direct to Randy at Ute. There should be a contact button on one of their site's pages.



HTH

Jason

 

[JR2]

I do not have a UTE as I was on the fence about bumpers when the gp went down. I will say I have seen and touched the ford version at the local distributor here in AK and they are a high quality piece. They are expensive, local guy wants $2200, I belive the gp was around $1500 plus shipping, which depending on where you live could be high. I emailed Randy at UTE the other day and asked if he was still making our bumper and he said "not right now". The last time he did it it took an order of 25 bumpers for him to do the run (if I remember correctly). The TDR guys bought like 14 and then a distributor in Canada bought rest.



Hope that all helps.



JR2



By the way..... here is a good pic of one installed.





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[Jammar9082]

Weight Of Ute Bumper

I weighed the Ute when I received it and it weighed 154 pounds. I used a stand-on bathroom scales which could vary somewhat but not significantly.

 

[Sregorb]

Check out:

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=61851



Another group purchase is going on.



Brian

 

[stew]

Thanks for the info folks

It's very helpful !



Now Layne, Denver Off Road is a dealer for the UTE also!



The UTE and the DOR, one phone call away !



I'll be spending some cash soon on precious metals... Aluminum !



Thanks,

Stew



The TDR rocks !

 

[rmrc]

UTE Bumper

I'll be paying close attention to this post. I'm currently looking for a good after market bumper after an unwelcome meeting with a deer. The picture of the UTE bumper is exceptional. I'm definitely interested!

 

[P-Hansen]

Ute Bullbar

Is there a group purchase ongoing for the Ute Bullbar? Time to put something besides the stock subaru killer (don't ask) :BAG"in on front of my rig

 

[homeka45]

I've got the ute bumper and aluminum bed, purchased during the first group purchase. Shipping was high but I live in Hawaii. The workmanship and appearance always garners approving glances and comments. Installed the bumper, it was fairly easy. Paid someone to do the bed install. Randy C at Ute Ltd. was easy to work with and very diligent about answering his emails. I'm just waiting for them to offer a rear bumper.

 

[lgibson]

You may want to look into the TJM Bullbar, also from Australia. TJM has been building Bullbars since 1973 distributed all over the world. The US warehouse is in Knoxville, Tennessee. The are priced good too, $1,235 for the bullbar. If you want a winch you will need a winch plate for another $169. The bullbar weights 100 pounds and the winch plate is 40 pounds.



The TJM were initially built to protect vehicles from animal strikes, so they will handle the deer. All TJM Bullbars have an engineered steel mounting system designed to sacrificed before the vehicle frame is damaged. This is what saved my truck when the Suburban pulled out in front of me. A steel bumper with stout mounting brackets is stronger than the vehicle frame, so the frame will bend before the bumper, which is not good. The TJM mounting system will fold and take the shock off the frame, saving thousands of $$$ in damage. This is not to say that an animal strike will damage anything. I have hit two deers, been in a rockslide, hit a couch that feel off the truck in front of me, and the Suburban. Only the Sub. damaged the Bullbar.



I am busy this week, but I will post a picture sometime this week.

 

[The patriot]

Hey....Thats my truck!!!!

That pic is of my truck!

I really like the UTE. I put it on alone over the summer when I was on temporary disability,it was almost 100 out when I did it.

Since that picture was taken, I got a license plate frame welded up. It fits in the front reciever hitch hole.

It's made of 2x2 square stock and 1/4" plate steel. Weighs about 25 lbs. :-laf

I'm thinking about having a rod holder/cooler basket made up.

I like surf fishing.

Eric

 

[jkern]

another option...

i got the Denver off road bumper from layne a couple of years ago, and love it. mine sticks out farther than usual because i asked him to make it to accept a Ramsey 12k worm drive winch which is much larger than the planetary type. any how, the bumper fit up great to the truck, has hit two deer without a scratch and i have stalled the 12000 pound winch against it without hurting it at all. the finish is really tough as well. it came with light tab mounts and shackle mounts. it weighs in at 140 pounds and cost $135 to ship it from CO to PA. it is definetly a quality product that i would recommend looking into! ... now i wish he could build one to fit my Audi A4... second deer in 3 months... practially totaled:{ :{

 

[JWEST]

Aftermarket bumpers

For any of you Rammers out there, I'm still in the bumper business for 2nd Gen Rams! I just don't have an ad in the TDR anymore. Email me for real pictures an info.

Mine are simpler and made of nothing but good old steel,

and take a deer hit without destroying your heat exchangers.



I'm at -- email address removed --

and -- email address removed --

 

[Josparkz]

I got to help unload a couple of those Ute bumpers a few weeks ago when I was getting my Denver Off Road Bumper.

The Utes look nice , but in my humble opinion the DORB is built more solidly.

However , if you can't wait for one of Layne's masterpieces , those Utes should be good to go.

 

[wyosteve]

I finally got to see a Ute in the flesh so to speak a few weeks ago when I picked up EarthRoamer's old DOR. The Ute gives a more finished look to the truck in my opinion. To really set it off, one can have it powdercoated in black like Bill did. The only thing I'm not sure of is whether there is enough air flow to keep temps down when towing, especially here in the high altitudes. The air intake holes on the Ute seem a bit smallish, but I have no data to actually back up that statement. Either one is a fine unit.

 

[Jammar9082]

I don't think the Ute will cause any temperature problems. It sits out further from the truck and has a lot more free air movement that the original bumper. I haven't used my truck in hot weather pulling an RV but really think there is more air available with it than the original bumper. I will know late next summer when I go to Washington.