I've had a few close calls recently with deer, elk, and a Bigfoot (JK) and I figure it's only a matter of time until I hit one. I also need a winch so I'm now in the market for a winch bumper or as El Jefe 4x4 would say, a "bovine deflecting bumper." I'm looking for recommendations. There are several big name brands out there, like Fab Fours, Iron Cross, and Iron Bull, but I don't know where to start. They all look nice, but I'm curious about quality, weight, and ease of installation. Pics of your winch bumpers would help me, too. Thanks in advance.

Be careful as these replacement bumpers can result in the air bags not activating in an accident. The airbags are usually activated by sensors behind the bumpers and designed to work in tandem with an impact. The people selling these bumpers are either not aware or not about to hurt their business by mentioning this aspect of the "upgrade".

Mike - I just had an add-on grille guard on my previous Ford truck that save me several times running the back roads around ALA... There is deer everywhere back there haha... I was lucky the couple times I met up with a deer and he was knocked down instead of up. Going over the hood probably would do some serious damage to something...Mine looked something like this... Got from PEPBOYs i think it was...Roy Ken

With investigating hundreds of Deer/Elk/Black Bear/Horse/Cow/1 Goat and a flock of domestic geese vs. Car/Truck accidents. As well as my own dances with 1 Elk, 2 pheasants and an oil truck, coming across the center line, one of my first priorities was to install a bumper to provide protection for both me and the expensive plastic front end of my Ford F550. Oh, yeah, some place to hang a Warn 16.5 Winch and enough lights to turn the road in front of me from night, to day. For that, the easy pick was a Ranch Hand Bumper CLICKY. While there are many prettier bumpers out there, I would just challenge someone to whether some of these really attractive bumpers provide protection from the aforementioned dangers, or just provide an opportunity to hang lights, winches and an occasional protection from concrete filled yellow steel posts. Your choice, pretty or functional. One doesn't always follow the other.b

The front end of my truck, with bumper installed.b

wintersun wrote:Be careful as these replacement bumpers can result in the air bags not activating in an accident. The airbags are usually activated by sensors behind the bumpers and designed to work in tandem with an impact. The people selling these bumpers are either not aware or not about to hurt their business by mentioning this aspect of the "upgrade".That's a great point, Bruce. Thanks for bringing that up. Mike

Winch Bumper Recommendations? | Good Sam Community

bka0721
Explorer II
Jul 19, 2014
With investigating hundreds of Deer/Elk/Black Bear/Horse/Cow/1 Goat and a flock of domestic geese vs. Car/Truck accidents. As well as my own dances with 1 Elk, 2 pheasants and an oil truck, coming across the center line, one of my first priorities was to install a bumper to provide protection for both me and the expensive plastic front end of my Ford F550. Oh, yeah, some place to hang a Warn 16.5 Winch and enough lights to turn the road in front of me from night, to day. For that, the easy pick was a Ranch Hand Bumper CLICKY. While there are many prettier bumpers out there, I would just challenge someone to whether some of these really attractive bumpers provide protection from the aforementioned dangers, or just provide an opportunity to hang lights, winches and an occasional protection from concrete filled yellow steel posts. Your choice, pretty or functional. One doesn't always follow the other.

b
RoyB
Explorer II
Jul 19, 2014
Mike - I just had an add-on grille guard on my previous Ford truck that save me several times running the back roads around ALA... There is deer everywhere back there haha... I was lucky the couple times I met up with a deer and he was knocked down instead of up. Going over the hood probably would do some serious damage to something...

Mine looked something like this... Got from PEPBOYs i think it was...

Roy Ken
wintersun
Explorer II
Jul 19, 2014
Be careful as these replacement bumpers can result in the air bags not activating in an accident. The airbags are usually activated by sensors behind the bumpers and designed to work in tandem with an impact. The people selling these bumpers are either not aware or not about to hurt their business by mentioning this aspect of the "upgrade".

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