Winch Bumper Recommendations?

Mello Mike, thanks for the update. I too have an order in with Buckstop and am waiting on them. Will post a pic or two when I get it.

bka0721 good post.
wintersun, I didn't read bka0721's post as that he worked for an auto manufacturer. I read it as he investigated a number of accidents that may or may not have had aftermarket parts. As for these heavy duty style bumpers affecting air bag deployment, like bka0721 commented on, air bags may or may not deploy depending on the area of impact, force of impact etc, etc. I had a DOR bumper on a '99 Ram 2500 TCD and both front air bags deployed I believe, as they were designed. I was the only one in the truck, wearing a seat belt and it saved my bacon. Truck was totaled. Do I believe the DOR bumper helped? Not at all but it sure didn't hurt having it up front.
Like bka0721 stated, seat belts are the number one safety device in a vehicle. Guarantee that if it wasn't for the seat belt in my case, I would have been catapulted through the windshield.

BigToe wrote:

Mello Mike wrote:

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

Before assuming there is a "sensor behind the bumper that activates the airbags", it might be useful to check the wiring diagrams and look behind the bumper itself. It is just as likely that there is nothing of the kind in that location or even general vicinity.

In the earliest days of airbags, sensors behind the bumper were common, but that was a quarter century ago. Neither my Ford nor my Chevy trucks have anything like that in the front, and they are both about a decade old now.

With bumpers and grilles removed, and factory wiring diagrams in hand, I was able to verify this.

I'm not saying that adding an aftermarket bumper won't have any effect on crash energy absorption and the load paths the impact takes throughout the rest of the vehicle in distributing that energy... but I am saying that the sensors that trigger airbags do not necessarily require a "direct" or "line of site" hit to activate, and therefore the sensors are not necessarily required to be behind the bumper.

And which auto manufacturer do you work for as an engineer?

The person who first brought up the subject was the fellow at the auto body shop when I was looking to replace a damaged front bumper with something stronger. The body shop has to be sure that their repairs do not prevent the airbags from working as a single accident where they did not work would put the shop out of business.

I had brush guards on my trucks up to the point of them coming with air bags. To me it is a matter of having repairable damage from hitting an animal with my vehicle or dying in an accident when the air bags do not deploy. For me it is a pretty easy decision.

Something that I see all the time when looking at trucks that sustained damage from hitting a large mammal is that most of the damage to the vehicle is at the windshield and this is where the accident can prove fatal to both the animal and the driver. I can't see where a heavy duty front bumper and grill guard are going to protect the driver and personally that is a lot more important than protecting my radiator and head lamps.

wintersun wrote:
When I was investigating putting a winch bumper on my truck a fellow at an auto body shop where I have had work done mentioned that the sensors for the air bags are integrated into the mounts for the factory bumper and an aftermarket bumper would probably prevent the sensors for working properly and the air bags might not deploy in an accident. So I nixed the new bumper.

Whenever this counter argument comes up, I often wish to respond, but until this time, never have.

Airbags are a great addition to the safety of those motoring on and around the roads. But, they are a single tool in a large Bucket of tools to assist in ensuring your safety. But, Airbags are just that, a tool. The sensors are set to allow the airbags to function (goes off) in certain modes. For the majority of critical events, they will not activate. The side pillow airbags will activate when a collision from the side is detected. Thus the dash airbags may or may not activate, depending on the model of vehicle and dynamics.

So one needs to weigh their possibilities when considering a change in the front bumper. Yes, the OEM bumpers are designed into the “Crumple Zone” make-up of modern vehicles. But, in low speed accidents, with animals, small cars and steel posts, often times air bags will not deploy (Opinion gained in accident investigations of hundreds of accidents). The result is a large repair bill for these incursions that in most cases would never result in damage/minimal damage with the style of bumpers installed of this discussion. While important to consider, sensors, using all your safety equipment provides you many tools to aid you in your personal safety in a motor vehicle. For me, IMHO, two of these items is most important;

1. Using your seatbelt
2. Remaining in the passenger cage of your vehicle (the passenger compartment is designed to protect you and contain you in case of a certain level of accident).

Using these two safety items will heighten your survivability in the case of an accident. Sensors? They are just one part. But maybe the heightened bumper improves, or heightens, the other tool for safety too. Only you can make that decision.

Safe Travels.

b

bka0721 wrote:
Great looking set up, flht_db!

Here is a very timely article on this subject, too, in Truck Camper Magazine; Bumper Clicky

b

Thanks Bryan! Love your set up, working on it.

Dennis

When I was investigating putting a winch bumper on my truck a fellow at an auto body shop where I have had work done mentioned that the sensors for the air bags are integrated into the mounts for the factory bumper and an aftermarket bumper would probably prevent the sensors for working properly and the air bags might not deploy in an accident. So I nixed the new bumper.

If I really needed a winch (and 100% of the time I used winches on my other trucks to pull other people out and not get my vehicle out of trouble) I would get a portable one that I could mount as needed to either a front hitch receiver or one in the rear.

The problem with a front mounted winch is that more than 50% of the time I want to pull the truck back from a bad area and not continue forward.

flht_db wrote:

Mello Mike wrote:
No, not yet. Buckstop is backlogged after their recent move. Should be getting it in a week or two. I did buy an American made Warn 16.5ti winch.

Missed this thread when it started, Buckstop is a great bumper. Had one on my F250 (after original got bent by a Lexus that thought the phone was more important than driving) and when I got the F350 I ordered. I got the Classic II with the light buckets (need to install the PIAA lights) and have a 12.5 Warn winch. The winch was on the F250 which didn't have a camper, will probably upgrade to 16.5 in the future.

Only advice is keep on them about delivery and completion time, the move really caused issues. I ordered mine 3/31 and received beginning of July and had the incorrect grill guard. The grill guard was for the 2008 truck, not 2014. They did remake and ship the correct grill guard which was beginning of Aug. I believe most was caused by the move as it was happening at the same time as my bumper was being made.

Love the bumper on the truck though:

VERY NICE! Can't wait to get mine.

Great looking set up, flht_db!

Here is a very timely article on this subject, too, in Truck Camper Magazine; Bumper Clicky

b

Mello Mike wrote:
No, not yet. Buckstop is backlogged after their recent move. Should be getting it in a week or two. I did buy an American made Warn 16.5ti winch.

Missed this thread when it started, Buckstop is a great bumper. Had one on my F250 (after original got bent by a Lexus that thought the phone was more important than driving) and when I got the F350 I ordered. I got the Classic II with the light buckets (need to install the PIAA lights) and have a 12.5 Warn winch. The winch was on the F250 which didn't have a camper, will probably upgrade to 16.5 in the future.

Only advice is keep on them about delivery and completion time, the move really caused issues. I ordered mine 3/31 and received beginning of July and had the incorrect grill guard. The grill guard was for the 2008 truck, not 2014. They did remake and ship the correct grill guard which was beginning of Aug. I believe most was caused by the move as it was happening at the same time as my bumper was being made.

Love the bumper on the truck though:

No, not yet. Buckstop is backlogged after their recent move. Should be getting it in a week or two. I did buy an American made Warn 16.5ti winch.

Mike, did you get your new bumper yet? Decide on a winch as far as brand? Keep us updated!