Winch Bumper Recommendations?

Bigimac wrote:
Interesting discussion - I have a ranch hand grill guard v/s full bumper replace basically to keep the GM designed saftey features in play as best as possible; crumple zones, saftey cage, & airbags.

If (when?) I hit a 600-800 # critter @ 60mph with 10,000 #'s of mass (that's north of 1.6 millions jules ...) the cool grill, front end, and the rest of the less important outer" parts, not to mention the critter, are ... sacrificed for my survival; GM saftey designs dissipate & spread all that stored up kinetic energy well before it gets to me & the cab. No doubt the frame will be toast as well - the insurance company will end up owning the truck, but I'll still be around to deposit the check ... Hopefully ...

Bolt another 200#'s of non engineered rigid steel on the front end & an additional 2% energy is directly added while removing the critical point-of-contact sacrificial crumple parts: bumper, grill (including that ugly plastic cross-bar between headlights on the new 2015's ...), panels, etc.

Now, different story, when I hit that 2" branch @ 20mph on a forest road last week that was about 3' off the ground - no busted head light with a grill guard - different use intended.

Lastly, I have a front hitch that I will hang a Wren winch when the need is there.

Very well articulated and sound logic - though one seldom buys a winch based on logic or many other macho man truck accessories.

I had winches on a number of my Willys and trucks and after a period of years came to the realization that 100% of the time I had used them to pull some fool out of trouble and not once used them to get my vehicle unstuck. After that I stopped putting them on the trucks and SUVs I bought.

The grill guards also seem more cosmetic than beneficial. I have seen too many photos where a buck hits the windshield breaking it and injuring the person inside to think that any bumper or brushguard is going to provide the needed protection for anyone in the front seats.