Save your old bumper. If you had to, you could sell the Slee/BIOR rear bumper for a little less than new and have people standing in line to buy it.
Buy one and call me if you want to sell it for a little under new cost.
i hear this all the time but how many people ACTUALLY save all that crap and then put it all back on back to stock when they sell it....1% maybe? Face it...once we modify and get ready to sell the trucks are even older and the audience we are selling to is primarily other offroaders, outdoorsmen, etc. The years of the soccer mom are behind our vehicles...that is why the hell we got them as they were being sold for newer vehicles or ones with better mileage.
I think it is a waste of time and money to buy a motorcycle or offroad gear for use and then expect to get an investment return on either.
A little reading and experience will tell anyone what certain upgrades give you.......tires- traction and ground clearance and of course bad ass looks; sliders- protection to sills and body and some say maybe one of the MOST important upgrades if you are going to be driving offroad near rocks, stumps, etc or parking at Walmart where welfare moms park next to you and like to slam their doors into your nice ride; lift kit- ability to use larger tires, some increase in handling and ride in on and off road circumstances; front bumper- recover points, winch, lights, front protection from animal or obstacle collisions, approach angle when offroading; rear bumper- recovery points, departure angle when offroading, more protection than stock, ability to get spare without laying in mud, ants nest, snow or hot asphalt when retrieving tire....ability to load water or fuel cans without carrying inside of cabin or on roof; roof rack- more carrying capacity of varying items, more secure tie down of gear.
Look at your own use for vehicle....offroad once a month, hunt every weekend, camp half a dozen times a year......yeah I would get a bumper on front and rear with recovery points, winch, lights and spare tire carrier as well as water/fuel especially if you do some or all of these activities ALONE!!!! As far as comparison......if one spindle is rated at 20,000lbs and other is at 25,000 lbs.....does it really matter which you get if you only load 200 lbs on them ever? A gusset that is bolted vs welded is no different if the welds dont fail or the bolts dont come loose....it is for extra support and not bearing all the weight itself. Over engineering is good....but also drives up cost....some things are still better than required without going to the extreme while others are only good enough. I dont recommend comprising safety or reliability and getting GOOD ENOUGH....but I do not also endorse beefing up things to the extreme and making them more costly...a good compromise is what most people need and want. Hence my choice of BIOR....more than what is needed in any situation....but at a slight price difference. Face it....any of the top players is better than stock or me doing it myself. LOL
If you go to Uwharrie once a year....hunt once or twice very year....camp only when you go offroading to Uwharrie....then likely could get by with tires and nothing else....especially if always with someone else and not in middle of nowhere alone.
As much as your vehicle goes offroad and rock crawling and stuff....I would leave it alone and drive it....tires are about only thing you use on regular basis.....anything you do would be for looks....and besides the rear bumpers are not Air Bag compaitble...LOL
Just kidding....but if you dont have a valid and solid reason for needing the bumper.....dont get one.
People complain about having it with kids...dont understand how kids make a rear bumper more bothersome. the little things ride in seats right...they dont enter through back even in third row...they typically are not the ones to load and unload groceries in your vehicle unless you are starting to buck child labor laws early...then send them over as they can wash and wax mine and use their little fingers to dig fries and peanuts from between my seats and get dust out of vents.
If it is your ONLY vehicle then yeah maybe getting stroller is a pain but these are big vehicles with big doors and large seats...everything will fit in cabin area except maybe a large stroller. That is why you put car seats and that stuff in your wifes vehicle and dont drive yours when you need it all.
That is what I did....or we just dealt with it as it was only really a problem once or twice every month. Not worth me giving up on a vehicle I wanted for one or two times.
That is like buying a vehicle that will seat 6 instead of a truck you really need......because your parents come to visit once a year or your friends dont like riding in the back seat on the jump seats of your truck to lunch or to bars. F- em......they can drive if they dont like it...I buy my vehicles for the person that will sit in the driver seat 90% of the time...not the peasants and lesser beings in the 2nd and 3rd rows. LMAO
