New Alu Bull Bar on the Market

[JR2]

Guys -

I was at my local 4X4 shop the other day and the owner showed me a flier for a new bumper company. They are making bumpers for Fords right now (he had one on the showroom floor for the Ford) but have a Dodge bumper made and are taking orders for it. The only bad news is that they are in the land downunder, but the good news is that they are starting to get some US distributors. The company is uteltd.com and here is a link to there dodge page. That bumper sure looks sweet.

 

[The patriot]

I like it I want it how much?

EricOo.

 

[JBlock]

Nice Ute bullbar, I lived in Aussie Land for the past 4 years, and Kangroo due bounce off these things, Looks like they have some nice trayback too!





http://www.uteltd.com/pg/tray.html

 

[JHansen]

I've seen one of these bumpers at a distributor here in Alberta-it was a Super Duty as the Ram ones aren't out yet like John said. It's a sweet piece of work-3/8" thick all the way through. On the Super Duty one anyway the mounting bracketry is steel-and the bumper has provisions for a winch. The actual grille guard bar assembly bolts to the bumper itself in 4 places... . so if you did manage to hit something and bend it you should be able to replace it if you can't straighten it... .



Beautiful piece of work-you really do need to see one in person to appreciate it. But the price left me breathless... can't remember now whether it was $2300 or $2600 CDN! But they would install it on the truck for that . I still don't know if they have one for the Sport trucks-doubt it. Also don't know if it would coexist with my front receiver or not-the hitch has to stay no matter what. But it is sweet!



Jason

Currently Bumper-Challenged!

 

[The patriot]

Is the exchange rate still at about 30%?

That would make it comparable with the DOR.

What I like about it is, it extends down a bit lower than the DOR. I have many friends that hit deer, dogs etc, that messed up the front end parts (tie rods etc) so I like the fact that it's lower.

Eric

 

[JHansen]

I don't even think the exchange rate is that good Eric-last time I paid attention our dollar was up to a screaming high of 62 cents and change compared to yours... ... I suspect that Raven (the distributor) is padding them up pretty good too as the price they quoted me for an Ali-Arc (little lighter design than this Ute and made in Winnipeg) was a ton over what the moderator on the DiRT list had worked out with Ali-Arc on a group purchase). There is a list of distributors on their website-may be worth it to contact one close to you and see what exactly they're worth. If you do wanna let me know so I can figure out just how much Raven is tacking on? I'd be willing to drive across the border and put one on if the price was right.....



I'm gonna drop them an e-mail too and see if they can provide me a pic of how it bolts on and how low it comes (compatibility with my hitch) and how it would co-exist with the Sport grille. I'll post my findings back here



Jason

 

[JHansen]

Managed to trade e-mails twice with the president of Ute Manufacturing-prompt fella! I'll cut and paste his replies in here with some comments where appropriate:



In the 1st email I asked him how the bumper mounted to try to determine how it would fit around the receiver hitch-here's his response:



Jason,

Thank you for your interest in our products. In answer to your question

about the receiver on the front of your Dodge Ram.



Our Bullbar mounts to the frame in the same mounting holes as the factory

bumper. The only question would be whether your receiver will clear our

bumper or not. We will have an option soon that allows a receiver to bolt

in place of the winch mount. The receiver would come through the opening in

the bumper.



How is your receiver mounted now? Does it come through or under the bumper?



Here is our Dodge Ram web page. http://www.uteltd.com/dodge/ram.html

You can view pictures there.



Also, you did not indicate what year and model your Ram is.



please advise...



Randy Cryer

President

Ute Ltd

-- email address removed --

www.uteltd.com

206-510-8621



And here's the 2nd response-I provided year etc. for the Silver Cloud as well as a link to the Reader's Rigs so he could see how my hitch came out the bottom and how the Sport grille dropped lower than a standard one. I also asked him about the extra signal lights that are shown in the pics:



Lights are standard 1157 bulbs and 192 for the white running light I

believe. These lights are required in Australia due to the fact that the

bars interfere with the frontal visibility of the turn signal. You just

wire them in with your existing lights.



As for the grill and mounts. Our mounts go into the end of the frame rail

just the same as the factory bumper. If you look at your bumper mounts you

will find that they have 3 bolts on either side that hold the main mounts to

the frame. That is where our bumper bolts on as well. The top face of our

bumper is about 10mm thick and is cut by laser to its shape. You will be

able to adjust the level of the bumper down a bit to leave room for this,

but I don't know if you will want to cut into the surface. We recommend

mounting the Bullbar down and inch or two anyway, to allow for chassis

flexing. Our bumper/bullbars do not flex. Your chassis does. If you don't

allow room, you will have damage to the paint when you go off road or torque

the chassis, like going at an angle through a ditch.



Other notes;

Our receiver model will come through the opening in the bumper.

Your factory fog lights will mount on our mounts.



I hope this helps.....



Randy Cryer

President

Ute Ltd

-- email address removed --

www.uteltd.com

206-510-8621



So far so good-I'd prefer to have a model made specifically for the Sport but I've given up on that idea-only way I think it's gonna happen is if I do it. I'm teetering on the edge right now of buying a spool gun for my MIG to do some aluminum work-I'm trying to fab up a custom headache rack now and needing something else to justify the purchase . I'd also prefer sealed lighting up front-but I probably could adapt some in there. Some more info for those of you that are interested anyways...



Jason

 

[JHansen]

More info.....

Jeez I think I've worn an electronic path between here and Seattle today talking to Randy at Ute Mfg. ! Probably would have been easier to pick up the phone-but I'm kinda lazy today... . Anyways the last e-mail I sent him was inquiring about delivery time/availability and here's the answer I received:



The factory is ready to manufacture, just waiting on commitments to do a

production run. If you are serious, get with Raven and make a deposit or

what ever they require of you. They need to know how serious Ram owners are

in order to make the investment I guess.



It will take about 6 to 8 weeks once we start production. If you are

willing to pay air freight (about $450 US) you can get it sooner.



Wonder how many they need to get going? I'm still on the fence... but I think most of the questions are now answered anyways.



Jason

 

[The patriot]

I just got off the phone with the local distributor. He dont have any in stock for the Dodge, but sold some to phord owners.

The price he quoted me was VERY competitive with the DOR, and IMO, the looks of the Ute blows the DOR out of the water!!

All I can say is

EricOo.

 

[JR2]

My local 4x4 shop has one for the Ford on the showroom floor and it is one nice piece of work.

 

[JHansen]

Hey Eric wanna drop me a PM or email with the price you got quoted-so I can see just how bad my local distributor wants to put it to me?



Jason

 

[The patriot]

Jason, consider yourself PM'ed.

Eric