Replacement bumper vs grill guard

[kschitoskey]

I'm trying to decide on a Ranch Hand Legend Series replacement vs grill guard for my 06. Clearly the replacement will have more weight; however, the stock front end bumper is flimsy. My question is this: is the front end sheet metal purposefully built as part of an engineered crumple zone? And will I negate any engineered advantage to these front ends? My suspicion is that Dodge is just cheap...

 

[Pawpaw]

Some members have strong opinions that the stock front bumper is a crumple zone and that replacing it will negate that safety feature.



Some have also noted some front end sag after installing the Ranch Hand bumper.



All I know is that I put one on mine and have never looked back. I have no front end sag, either.



For what it's worth, the Ranch Hand says the Legend weighs 255 lbs. I estimate the stock bumper & hardware that you remove weighs about 80 lbs. The extra weight did not change the way my truck handles or rides.



Bob

 

[wcjp]

The ARB front bumper is designed to crumple before the frame. Not sure about any other bumpers.

 

[CDonaldson]

I also went through the decision factors of the Ranch Han Grille Guard vrs the full bumper. I decided on the grille guard because I was concerned more about all the front end weight with the engine, etc that was already there plus the crumple zone considerations then the sagging spring stuff. After I installed the KORE Leveling Kit and the heavier springs I did re-consider getting their bumper but decided the grille guard was good enough when I took out a 250# buck with it at 50mph or so, NO damages to the grille guard or the bumper/fenders etc.



I have seen 2 Dodge trucks that were in accidents, both high speed and almost head on, one with the grille guard and the other with the full bumper. The fellow with the grille guard actually came out much better, basically un-injured. The fellow with the full bumper had a lot more injuries because the front end did not crumple right. That also made a bit of an impression. Both of the other drivers were in smaller cars, they were killed.



Having said all of that, I still really like the looks of the bumpers and easily could be persuaded to get the full bumper.



CD