Beej
GOLD Star
- Thread starter
- #41
@superjuice How was it getting those lights recessed in there? Those look good too. I mean, bad. Those looks terrible. You should probably sell that whole bumper...to me...
Is there a way to add protection up front without totally replacing the bumper? (1 Viewer)
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
thatcabledude
GOLD Star
Reminds me of this:
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
Aside from having a winch behind the stock USDM tin-can bumper or a receiver for a winch / 'rock feeler', I don't see the point of anything short of a TJM -17 or an ARB winchless if winches aren't your thing.
The TJM is cheap enough & is low key / incognito enough to fly under the radar, and unless you weld yourself it's probably the cheaper option.
Personally I want my vehicles to behave like a defensive lineman in any accident. It is selfish to be sure, but I want to walk away uninjured (preferably even drive away) - & leave a perfect silhouette of a 80 from whatever angle I'm contacted in someone else's car.
It's a good part of why I have armor on all 4 sides of the 80, and why the Tundra has a 6" lift & 35's & getting Slee sliders & a winch & winch bumper. It's all about winning in an accident.
The TJM is cheap enough & is low key / incognito enough to fly under the radar, and unless you weld yourself it's probably the cheaper option.
Personally I want my vehicles to behave like a defensive lineman in any accident. It is selfish to be sure, but I want to walk away uninjured (preferably even drive away) - & leave a perfect silhouette of a 80 from whatever angle I'm contacted in someone else's car.
It's a good part of why I have armor on all 4 sides of the 80, and why the Tundra has a 6" lift & 35's & getting Slee sliders & a winch & winch bumper. It's all about winning in an accident.
That thing is a waste of time. You aren't going to climb a ledge with that. Pony up and get a real bumper. You are kidding yourself. My Ford X would crush all your fancy lights and front end into your engine block and firewall. Don't try to substitute half - ass for the real thing. You sure do got a pretty truck. - Excerpt sorta from Deliverance " James Dickey " author.
Have you every really been off road?
Last edited:
Beej
GOLD Star
- Thread starter
- #46
You can take the orangutan out of the Jeep but you can't take the Jeep out of the orangutan
The point isn't to destroy everything in its path; essential component protection only. And not even from accidents. I'd prefer to sacrifice everything back to the firewall, as long as the carnage stops there.
Meaning your life and those of your family. Trust me 8'500# with Ranch Hand bumpers vs. an 80 with a rock feeler will not be good. I've had five vehicles hit me over the past 17 years. All of them were total losses. I've never hit anyone with 80 or Ford X. Three folks have hit the 80 with an ARB up front. No damage - everyone safe. I am a firm believer in steel vs sheet metal and urethane. I don't know how to make the fxxx off thing, but I would never say that to you personally. Just not my thing.
The 80 wasn't built like modern day cars with crumble zones. If you have damage that goes back to the firewall then you probably hit the ballast of a crane at freeway speed 
. @scottm
Unstoppable 80 meets immovable object
. @scottm Unstoppable 80 meets immovable object
Beej
GOLD Star
- Thread starter
- #50
Hey to each his own. No disrespect. You click the smiley face and get all these emoticons and such. The eff off thing is 'mud's official greeting; you must know that with 1000 posts?
Anyway, maybe I'll cave and get the bumper one day but honestly, I'm the orangutan; I do everything the hard way when it comes to this truck, I swear. Or if I was to put a spin on it; I'm pushing the state of the art. I know there's got to be something in between floofy piece of tin and demolition derby ready.
The ARB is not demolition quality by a long shot. It does have crumple areas and is air bag compliant.
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
Bingo - they beat anything on a opposing car's body, but they somehow got airbag compliancy esp in the newer ones like the Sahara/Safari(?), also the Tundra ARB classic. (Not sure if it's a DOT approved thing as that's $$$ - but just had this exact convo this last week with Slee since I am adding a winch bumper to the Tundra)
They can be deformed enough in a serious accident & personally I would want a little 'give' in it for street use.
I get it that a Shortbus or similar may not give nearly like an ARB, as a real rock crawling bumper I'd want less ability to crumple than a street winch bumper like the ARB lineup.
Beej
GOLD Star
- Thread starter
- #53
Not trying to be contrarian. Was excited about the the prospect of the ARB being air bag compliant when I went to their website and this was the only mention of airbags (from the install manual):
WARNING THIS BULL BAR MUST NOT BE FITTED TO AIRBAG EQUIPPED VEHICLES. FITMENT TO AIRBAG EQUIPPED VEHICLES MAY INTERFERE WITH THE PROPER OPERATION OF THE AIRBAGS AND MAY RESULT IN SERIOUS INJURY.
Is there another source, from their R&D maybe (?), that shows incorporation of airbag compliance features? Again, not wanting to
or 
.I know what the greetings mean and all. I just don't go there. I don't tell anybody to eff off in real life so I don't do it on the internet. I've learned that what you say to other people in life means a great deal. It doesn't matter if it's the internet or face to face to me any longer.
And you are correct - there is always a compromise in life: with trucks, girlfriends, wives, kids, employers, employees, customers, dogs and in-laws. I think that pretty much covers it. I wouldn't worry too much about an airbag. It really boils down to Mass = Volume × Density. I'm not a smart man, but that's all I have to say about that. Credit: Forrest Gump.
Have a great day and respect others in life. It has taken me far. Kill those who would harm you or your loved ones.
And you are correct - there is always a compromise in life: with trucks, girlfriends, wives, kids, employers, employees, customers, dogs and in-laws. I think that pretty much covers it. I wouldn't worry too much about an airbag. It really boils down to Mass = Volume × Density. I'm not a smart man, but that's all I have to say about that. Credit: Forrest Gump.
Have a great day and respect others in life. It has taken me far. Kill those who would harm you or your loved ones.
So the air bags work with a small switch with a motion activation (various designs but all do the same thing). It is not in the bumper. Most are behind the dash or under one of the seats. Honestly don't know where the one is in the 80. When you hit an object at speed (ie stop very fast) that switch closes and causes the air bags to fire. Most vehicles have crumple zones or sacrificial parts on the bumpers to absorb low speed collisions without causing enough force to close the switch. The factory bumper on the 80 does this through the flimsy sheet metal and the flimsy brackets.
Bumpers like the ARB and other steel/winch bumpers don't have as much give. This results in more force applied to the vehicle at low speed collisions so there is a chance that the air bags can fire with the ARB/steel bumper when they would not have with the factory set up. This is why ARB gives that warning. Its not that the airbags won't work when they should, its that they may go off when they shouldn't. The serious injury part is because getting hit in the face with an air bag hurts like a MFer.
In a high speed collision the minor crumple areas in the stock bumper are irrelevant as you plow though them instantly, get into the frame (solid steel) air bags fire, etc. In this case its better (IMO) to have the big bad steel bumper as it will deflect more energy back to the object that hit you (or you hit).
Bumpers like the ARB and other steel/winch bumpers don't have as much give. This results in more force applied to the vehicle at low speed collisions so there is a chance that the air bags can fire with the ARB/steel bumper when they would not have with the factory set up. This is why ARB gives that warning. Its not that the airbags won't work when they should, its that they may go off when they shouldn't. The serious injury part is because getting hit in the face with an air bag hurts like a MFer.
In a high speed collision the minor crumple areas in the stock bumper are irrelevant as you plow though them instantly, get into the frame (solid steel) air bags fire, etc. In this case its better (IMO) to have the big bad steel bumper as it will deflect more energy back to the object that hit you (or you hit).
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
Not trying to be contrarian. Was excited about the the prospect of the ARB being air bag compliant when I went to their website and this was the only mention of airbags (from the install manual):
WARNING THIS BULL BAR MUST NOT BE FITTED TO AIRBAG EQUIPPED VEHICLES. FITMENT TO AIRBAG EQUIPPED VEHICLES MAY INTERFERE WITH THE PROPER OPERATION OF THE AIRBAGS AND MAY RESULT IN SERIOUS INJURY.
Is there another source, from their R&D maybe (?), that shows incorporation of airbag compliance features? Again, not wanting to
Good to know - yes, I saw the sticker they put on the framerail (legend was it was laywer-ese for "We ain't paying yo hospital billz!"). That & leaving the airbag hooked up meant someone might be able to trigger an airbag with a sledge hammer or hard hit when you land the front on a rock, etc. (I've never experienced that)
That said the ARB classic / 80 series seems built to crumple, and many of us have a bent wing to prove that. It's armor, but only 3/16" at best vs. 1/4" & 3/8" some independent builders use.
Airbag compliancy was a term that came into conversation when I called Slee about the Sahara / Safari bumper for a Tundra. I've never seen it in person.
You make a good point - I do need to check ARB site to verify that, it could be a wives' tale. No worms or dead horse/dog food, good point really.
@spartan - you make a good case for not dropping the 'mud salute', I never throw the bird (aside from my nephew, inside joke) either.
Never know how people take things over the interwebs, some may mis-interpet easily and get turned off to the forum.
Beej,
Sorry I don't have any closes ups and not with the truck for awhile. basically you flip the Hmmwv winch box upside down and redrill for the MM winch. You also have to cut a slot for the winch line (roller) Its fits within the frame rails. I think there was some grinding needed but not much and was a inexpensive solution. Extremely stout. You can add wings later if desired. The HMMWV winch boxes should readily available.
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2008
- Threads
- 291
- Messages
- 3,490
- Location
- West MI near GVSU
- Website
- www.mcdesignsoffroad.com
Do you ever really wheel your rig other than mall parking lots?
My wife rear ended a new car with a plastic bumperette from a stop (she was Dutch woman angry at me) and mangled our stock bumper.
For a time I used to help Luke build his bumpers and learned that if you understand how to use the rig and how to modify it you wouldn't try to put lipstick on a pig as I think someone already mentioned. If you need a real bumper, build or buy it, but don't mess with the stock junk. You can get a much better approach angle and better engineered protection for your truck if you really need it.
My wife rear ended a new car with a plastic bumperette from a stop (she was Dutch woman angry at me) and mangled our stock bumper.
For a time I used to help Luke build his bumpers and learned that if you understand how to use the rig and how to modify it you wouldn't try to put lipstick on a pig as I think someone already mentioned. If you need a real bumper, build or buy it, but don't mess with the stock junk. You can get a much better approach angle and better engineered protection for your truck if you really need it.
