since my incident with the pole i decided im going to build a brush guard to protect my truck from my next encounter if i have one and with this weather you never know what can happen. i know how to make the actual brush guard itself but where should it mount?

 

Mount to the frame rails under the front bumper. You can mount it to where the bumper brackets mount. Or look up a front hitch instruction sheet and mount where it says to mount the front hitch.
Then make supports that go between your grill and bumper and bolt them to the bumper or build a bracket that comes down from the radiator support.

It's been awhile since I looked under the hood of my dak so I'll get back to you on the best mount location for the supports.

However, it may be cheaper to get a black grill guard from JC Whitney or somewhere else. Black ones aren't very expensive, and if you have any painting skills at all, you can keep it from rusting by coating it Bed liner or if you prefer a smooth look use Por-15. It'll probably be cheaper this way unless you have access to basically free sheet metal, round bar, welding equipment and rod benders.

 

Possibly buy a set of tires that can handle the weather with the money?

 

Brush guards are for protecting your lights, grill, etc. from branches and stuff in the woods. Sorry, but had you hit that pole with a brush guard on your truck, you would be replacing the hood, grill, other headlight, other fender, radiator, radiator support, and possibly pulling out the frame rails. I worked several years in a body shop and have seen it too many times where the brush guard caused more damage in a front end collision than what would have been done had that brush guard not been there.

I'm not trying to steer you away from a brush guard, cause they can be nice to have, just get your facts right about them!

 

You could fork out the money for a massive bumper like mine!

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WHEN I HIT MY DEER DOING 65MPH IT HIT THE DRIVER SIDE THE BRUSH GUARD ACTULLY SAVED ALOT OF THINGS BUT THATS A LITTLE DIFFERANT THAN A POLE TOO BUT SAME CONCEPT. THE MOST DAMAGE WAS THE DRIVER SIDE FENDER DUE TO THAT THE WRAP AROUND GUARD BENT IN AND HIT THE FENDER. ( zanethan ) WHO MAKES THAT FRONT BUMPER. THE ONLY ONES LIKE THAT I CAN FIND ARE FOR FULL SIZE RAMS

 

Thats fine BigDavesDakota, but I was talking about hitting an immovable object or another car. A deer, although they can do nasty damage, is not the same thing. I'm speaking from personal experience where I have seen the aftermath of several trucks that rear ended other vehicles... cases where the bumper should have been the only thing damaged but because of how the front end got hit, the brush gaurd was shoved into radiator support, tearing up the hood, grill, radiator, a/c condenser, lights, radiator support, etc.

They can just as easily cause more damage than they save depending on the situation. Just remember that its called a brush guard, not a battering ram. They are designed to keep brush from scratching up the front of the truck, they are not designed to drive through a brick wall and come out ok. Its the same concept as people thinking a light bar is a roll bar.

Oh, and the caps lock key is next to the "a" key, can you please press it?

 

First of thanks for the CAPS LOCK advice i do know where it is.

I don't think it really matters if you have a brush guard or not. If you rearend another vehicle you will still mess up the front of your vehicle.

 

I was going to post this, but I figured I was going to get shot down. haha

 

Lol, you just gotta not be afraid of an argument, especially when you know you're right.

Lets try this. The brush guard is either attached to, or sits over the front bumper. Now how many wrecks have you seen where the front bumper gets bent up? Now if that brush guard is there, it will be pushed back into the radiator support when the bumper gets rolled back. If the brush guard is not there, the bumper gets rolled back and you'll need a new bumper and not much else.

If that doesn't convince you, well... theres a reason not everybody is cut out to be an engineer, and there is also a reason why rediculous warning stickers need to be placed on every product you can buy that should be common sense.

But don't take it from someone who has seen hundreds and hundreds of wrecked cars and trucks.