Ranch hand grill guard?

FishOnOne wrote:


That truck looks like a jewel! :C

Thanks! I try to keep her looking good so that she'll be happy and won't give me any trouble. Had her 5 years now and it's been working; no major issues to speak of!

N-Trouble wrote:
I couldn't justify uglying up my truck enough to put one of those things on. An unfortunate and rare animal strike is exactly what insurance is for...

:h

Yeah, I must take issue with this also.

Most all the new pickups are heavily plastic in the front. My old Dodge (2006), my 2003 Chevy, and now my 2011 Ford.

Hit a big enough deer and you are stranded at the spot of impact. Sure, insurance will fix things, but I surely hate the thought of sitting around in the middle of nowhere awaiting a tow truck.

Besides that, us older folks (me :B ) just don't have the night vision we used to. I get almost paranoid driving at night around my area, especially considering the body sized corn fed monster deer (full sized 200 pound plus biggies) that we have around here.

One of those grill guards (Buckstop, Road Armor or Ranch Hand) is going on my truck, and very soon.

N-Trouble wrote:
I couldn't justify uglying up my truck enough to put one of those things on. An unfortunate and rare animal strike is exactly what insurance is for...

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I like the looks of them.

I hit a deer with my 2009 GMC in Burnett Texas and did $7800 in damage and I could still drive the truck.

Didn't take me long to get a Ranchand installed.

nremtp143 wrote:

N-Trouble wrote:
I couldn't justify uglying up my truck enough to put one of those things on. An unfortunate and rare animal strike is exactly what insurance is for...

Unfortunately around here, animal strikes are NOT THAT RARE. We've hit 8 this year with 6 trucks in our fleet. Lots of money out and time lost. I've thought about one similar to this on my 6.7L, it's not the thought of all the damage, it's where I will be when it happens. Stranded somewhere in the dark with my family is what concerns me most. I agree, some of them are not that nice looking, but a few are. If you take a deer in the grille of any of the Big 3 trucks(past several years) and you damage the intercooler, you have a very large paperweight. Yes, insurance will cover the cost and hopefully no permanent damage is done to the truck, but I'm all for not exposing my family to predicaments like that.

Amen to that. Somebody hits a deer at least once a week here. I bet Kalifornia doesn't allow them because all the tree huggers might get offended. And besides, the deer couldn't afford the taxes amd moved out.

TexasATM wrote:
I've got one on my truck and wouldn't go without it. I like the look of it, and it definitely helps protect the front end. This particular one used to be on my Dad's truck and saved him from a couple of deer (zero damage compared to potential major damage). He had a similar one on the front of an older truck that really save him in a collision once... he was doing 55 and someone pulled right out in front of him and there was nothing to do but hit him. The grill guard got bent up pretty good, but the truck was completely driveable, compared to being nearly totalled. Air bags didn't deploy, nothing behind the grill was hurt, just needed some new sheet metal. I'll always have one on my trucks for this reason.

That truck looks like a jewel! :C

N-Trouble wrote:
TexasATM what size are those Duratrac's your running?

325/60/R20 I just put them on in the spring and have been very happy with them thus far. I may end up running them on all of my vehicles.

Engineer9860 wrote:
must just be a problem for the guys trying to protect their sheep from the deer.

Ha-Ha... I got that one :B
Deer is one thing, try a bull moose someday :E

TexasATM what size are those Duratrac's your running?

I've got one on my truck and wouldn't go without it. I like the look of it, and it definitely helps protect the front end. This particular one used to be on my Dad's truck and saved him from a couple of deer (zero damage compared to potential major damage). He had a similar one on the front of an older truck that really save him in a collision once... he was doing 55 and someone pulled right out in front of him and there was nothing to do but hit him. The grill guard got bent up pretty good, but the truck was completely driveable, compared to being nearly totalled. Air bags didn't deploy, nothing behind the grill was hurt, just needed some new sheet metal. I'll always have one on my trucks for this reason.

My son had one on his 2500HD. Saved his truck from $$$$$ damage right after he bought it.

GVWR wasn't a problem for him.......must just be a problem for the guys trying to protect their sheep from the deer.