CBI Covert vs Victory Blitz

[PirateMcgee]

So I've had a CBI covert bumper on order for well over double the initial stated lead time of 6 weeks and am still waiting and waiting. Coupled with CBI's semi notorious customer service and seeing a pair of less than pristine sliders shipped to someone unwrapped on a pallet and I am really starting to second guess my order.

In the mean time Victory has released the Blitz for the 14+ and it appears to be aluminum for the same cost with better lines.

What's folks opinion on cancelling my CBI order and reordering a Victory bumper? Are there any concerns with Victory's stuff? I realize this restarts the watch but I'm not in a huge hurry and their lead times seem reasonable.

 

[Skorcher]

So I've had a CBI covert bumper on order for well over double the initial stated lead time of 6 weeks and am still waiting and waiting. Coupled with CBI's semi notorious customer service and seeing a pair of less than pristine sliders shipped to someone unwrapped on a pallet and I am really starting to second guess my order.

In the mean time Victory has released the Blitz for the 14+ and it appears to be aluminum for the same cost with better lines.

What's folks opinion on cancelling my CBI order and reordering a Victory bumper? Are there any concerns with Victory's stuff? I realize this restarts the watch but I'm not in a huge hurry and their lead times seem reasonable.

I originally was going to go with the CBI bumper and almost pulled the trigger on it when Victory announced their Blitz. I like the looks of the Blitz better and seeing the quality of their roof rack solidified my decision. I'm biased but it's a no brainer for me to go with Victory.

 

[sedonut]

I like the idea of the Blitz and the fact it is aluminum. I was going to go that way until I read some threads on their quality, or lack of same. I would also contact someone who has bought a Victory and see about their actual lead times. It's one thing to make a pretty prototype for a picture, it's another to deliver on production.

Also, pay in full and we will ship it when we can, someday, scares me. What happened to build something and then sell it? You are basically paying for their inventory and materials financing. The rest of the world builds it mass production and then sells it. It would not be the first the a bumper company, or any company, went broke, oops.

Victory is saying 90 days lead time for a bumper. If enough people are willing to give them a free loan for 90 days, they will take it. I would. Why not 180 days? If we stopped giving free loans for something we don't need, then there would be no lead time. Personally, I'll wait until someone has something to sell besides a promise.

 

[PirateMcgee]

I like the idea of the Blitz and the fact it is aluminum. I was going to go that way until I read some threads on their quality, or lack of same. I would also contact someone who has bought a Victory and see about their actual lead times. It's one thing to make a pretty prototype for a picture, it's another to deliver on production.

Also, pay in full and we will ship it when we can, someday, scares me. What happened to build something and then sell it? You are basically paying for their inventory and materials financing. The rest of the world builds it mass production and then sells it. It would not be the first the a bumper company, or any company, went broke, oops.

Victory is saying 90 days lead time for a bumper. If enough people are willing to give them a free loan for 90 days, they will take it. I would. Why not 180 days? If we stopped giving free loans for something we don't need, then there would be no lead time. Personally, I'll wait until someone has something to sell besides a promise.

That's basically where I am with CBI too; paid the price in full and am now waiting 90 days with nothing. I wish Slee made a similar 460 bumper.

I know folks really enjoy the Victory racks but a bumper is a different beast and I haven't seen anyone install one.

 

[r2m]

The only thing I've purchased from them has been the rear quarter MOLLE panels.

• Received them quickly,
• Very good YouTube instructions done by Victory
• Everything lined up and mounted correctly.
• They are active here on MUD for Q&A: Victory4x4 prototyping part 2 - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/victory4x4-prototyping-part-2.1240244/

Regarding CBI, I have never purchased from them so I can't give an honest review on them.

 

[yeos]

I have some experience with Victory 4x4 and their Blitz bumper on my GX470. I ordered it right after it was released last year in April and it showed up 3 weeks later. I ran it for a year before I had a mishap during a recovery where it was tweaked during a pull. I contacted customer service and explained what happened. They told me that there have been revisions to the bumper compared to their initial design and that they would send me an updated one at no cost. The new bumper showed up 2 weeks later and was definitely beefed up at certain parts that would have not allowed it to be tweaked during a recovery. No complaints about Victory 4x4s service.

 

[OCGX]

I have dealt with both companies. I feel both have great customer service. CBI was quick to respond when I was dealing with them. When I hinted at cancelling my order, my bumper shipped out within a couple of days (maybe give this a try, lol). This was from the original pre order when the bumper was released. The CBI bumper came wrapped and bolted to a pallet, no damage. I'm sure Victory will be the same due to the size. I've ordered Blitz sliders from Victory, those came damaged from UPS. Victory took care of the problem, I shipped them back and they re-powercoated them. Both companies have very long lead times, and are subject to delays. I have a Victory order pending that I expect to wait 3+ months for. I feel you are comparing apples to apples, both are great looking high quality bumpers. Go with whichever one you think looks better.

 

[thunderklees]

Just curios if anyone has received anything from CBI lately?

I am looking at both bumpers and I prefer the looks of the CBI but I really like the idea of aluminum. All of the CBI reviews I have been reading have scared me. Their customer service seems to be lacking.

I want to go with a CBI bumper and Victory sliders.

 

[suitcase]

I ordered a CBI GX460 Covert bumper and aluminum skids last spring, maybe April. Finally received it I think in August. I was hoping to get it along with a lift installed for a July trip. So, it's still sitting on its shipping pallet. The bumper came out to 86lbs on my bathroom scale - a bit heavier than I was expecting. I read on Clublexus that some people had problems with the bumper rubbing up against the AC lines while others had no rubbing problems. Something to watch out for on the install.

 

[URJ150L]

Ordered a CBI bumper in March and it showed up in September, so about a 6 month wait. I think there was another guy on here that ordered a victory rear bumper and it took a little under 4 months. So it seems like victory isn’t quite as backed up.

CBI weighed around 80 lbs which is also the weight of the factory parts that you’ll remove, so that’s a wash. Seeing that they are similar in size, I’m guessing an aluminum victory is probably 40 lbs or so?

Not sure why people on club Lexus are talking about ac lines. It doesn’t come near any. The winch is a different matter.

 

[Acrad]

Perhaps winch contributes to issues... a few pictures on following post here. Klinquist said shop had to bend his lines too.

#Overlanding #bumpers - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion

GX - 2nd Gen (2010-2023) - #Overlanding #bumpers - Keep in mind, this is for a base model as I continue to plan and see if the 2010-2013 GX460 is worth it to buy and mod. Looking at videos and photos of both the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 150, and GX460, it seems that this bumper could fit since...

www.clublexus.com

 

[URJ150L]

Perhaps winch contributes to issues... a few pictures on following post here. Klinquist said shop had to bend his lines too.

#Overlanding #bumpers - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion

GX - 2nd Gen (2010-2023) - #Overlanding #bumpers - Keep in mind, this is for a base model as I continue to plan and see if the 2010-2013 GX460 is worth it to buy and mod. Looking at videos and photos of both the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 150, and GX460, it seems that this bumper could fit since...

www.clublexus.com

That’s the same line I had to slightly bend out of the way because of the winch. The pipe is aluminum so it bends easily. No tools were needed. The interference was between the winch motor and a few inches above where the high pressure line goes into the condenser. I didn’t have any issues with that line and the bumper itself.

 

[Banandalorian]

Ordered a CBI bumper in March and it showed up in September, so about a 6 month wait. I think there was another guy on here that ordered a victory rear bumper and it took a little under 4 months. So it seems like victory isn’t quite as backed up.

CBI weighed around 80 lbs which is also the weight of the factory parts that you’ll remove, so that’s a wash. Seeing that they are similar in size, I’m guessing an aluminum victory is probably 40 lbs or so?

Not sure why people on club Lexus are talking about ac lines. It doesn’t come near any. The winch is a different matter.

My 2014+ Victory Blitz is somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 pounds and I thought the CBI was like 130. The OEM crashbar and plastic that gets removed is 40 or 50lbs total.

 

[URJ150L]

My 2014+ Victory Blitz is somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 pounds and I thought the CBI was like 130. The OEM crashbar and plastic that gets removed is 40 or 50lbs total.

Is your victory steel? The cbi is steel and weighs 80 lbs. Their website says 140, but it’s wrong. Oem parts removed was 70 lbs and the winch was 70 lbs… total weight gain was only 80 lbs. sliders added 90 lbs and front and rear skids added another 50… grand total was 220 lbs added to the truck.

 

[Roody]

Both the CBI and Victory bumpers require the removal of the factory crash bar / bumper beam, correct? And the only bumper still "crash tested" or that supposedly retains factory crash standards is ARB? Hoping someone can confirm these, been doing a ton of reading as I just got into the GX world but haven't been able to find definite, concrete answers.

 

[URJ150L]

Both the CBI and Victory bumpers require the removal of the factory crash bar / bumper beam, correct? And the only bumper still "crash tested" or that supposedly retains factory crash standards is ARB? Hoping someone can confirm these, been doing a ton of reading as I just got into the GX world but haven't been able to find definite, concrete answers.

The beam is removed for the cbi. I assume same thing for the victory. I thought the Ironman was crash tested too?

 

[Banandalorian]

Is your victory steel? The cbi is steel and weighs 80 lbs. Their website says 140, but it’s wrong. Oem parts removed was 70 lbs and the winch was 70 lbs… total weight gain was only 80 lbs. sliders added 90 lbs and front and rear skids added another 50… grand total was 220 lbs added to the truck.

It's aluminum but it's pretty beefy with basically a full coverage skid underneath and the solid center section where a winch would mount. I guess the CBI is more skeletonized since its steel.

I didn't weigh the parts that came off but the OEM crashbar felt like it was about 40 or so pounds and everything else removed was plastic. The 20-30 pounds added by the new bumper isn't really noticeable.

 

[URJ150L]

It's aluminum but it's pretty beefy with basically a full coverage skid underneath and the solid center section where a winch would mount. I guess the CBI is more skeletonized since its steel.

I didn't weigh the parts that came off but the OEM crashbar felt like it was about 40 or so pounds and everything else removed was plastic. The 20-30 pounds added by the new bumper isn't really noticeable.

Yeah the cbi is only covered underneath at the center where it bolts to the frame. The sides at the wheel wells are not.

 

[Acrad]

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[Banandalorian]

Both the CBI and Victory bumpers require the removal of the factory crash bar / bumper beam, correct? And the only bumper still "crash tested" or that supposedly retains factory crash standards is ARB? Hoping someone can confirm these, been doing a ton of reading as I just got into the GX world but haven't been able to find definite, concrete answers.

Both remove the front bumper beam and effectively replace it with the bumper itself. The rule that the "crash tested" Australian bumpers like ARB have to follow is that the aftermarket bumper cannot impact the OEM airbag functionality. Back in the day, airbags would detonate via some kind of direct impact sensor(s) in the front bumper of a vehicle. Modern airbag systems have more complex sensor systems that are not mounted with the bumper itself.

The OEM bumper bar is a pretty simple steel tube capped with styrofoam and held on with 6 bolts. There are no electronics or sensors within it. Any aftermarket metal bumper has the potential to impact crash results since you are changing materials and shapes and no aftermarket company can match OEM testing resources. Just something to consider.