Nice bumper. I like how it squished the trash can, lol.

 

Ok it has been a long day but it is all installed, the control box for the winch is not sitting right but I will work on rerouting the wires within the box so they will come out where I want them to tomorrow. I still need to figure out placement for the fog lights & the remote controlled searchlight.

I will probably do some picture editing & put up a poll to see what you guys think on placement but for now here are some pictures.

Before:




After:



























I really like how it looks with the new black grill, totally changes the whole look of the truck. Now I won't have to scoop snow out from between the grill guard & the headlights.

 

Surprisingly the front end only came down about a 1/2" after adding 300+ lbs to it. The stock bumper & grill guard was somewhere in the 100 lb range so I guess I only added 200 lbs or so. Since I have a 2" leveling kit on it which actually sat a little high in the front now it is level.[/align]

 

Man oh man! That looks good! Nice job!

 

Now thats a heavy duty bumper. I t looks really good.

 

Not bad...

I like the price better than what I paid for mine, but I have more front end coverage than you.

You do have a weight advantage and I like the eyelets for hooking the winch up too. My winch sits completely inside of the bumper and I basically have to spool in right up to the hook vs. being able to hook up someplace.

 

You did a great job! Now your truck will stand out in a crowd!

 

Thanks a bunch guys! I fell in love with the 2nd gens when they first came out & have been picturing how I would want one ever since.

My shackles came in today so I will get them painted & on tomorrow.

I do have a few issues with specs & service with this company.

The website states 1" id on the tow points so I ordered shackles with a 1" pin so they would fit nice & tight. The actual size of the holes in the tow points is 1 3/8" this is not good as 1 thing I hate is rattles & a large shackle in an over sized hole is going to rattle & bang around. I think I will address this with some urethane bushings. "slightly oversized" is one thing 3/8 of an inch is something else.

I was told when placing the order 3 1/2 - 4 weeks for the bumper to be ready to ship, it took 8 weeks.

The winch mount opening, now understand this bumper is made specifically for a 2nd gen ram & not some universal bumper. My truck has a gross vehicle weight of about 6400 lbs so when ordering a bumper for this specific truck I used a standard rule of thumb, vehicle weight + 50% to order the winch so 6400 + 3200=9600 lbs so I ordered a 10,000 lb winch.

The opening for the winch on this bumper is 6 1/4" in height (TAKE NOTE OF THIS IF YOU ARE THINKING OF ORDERING ONE OF THESE BUMPERS MADE SPECIFICLLY FOR OUR 2nd GEN DODGES) I was told that this is a generic mount was for a "smaller diameter winch". After doing some homework & stopping by the local Jeep club meeting & measuring some winches the lowest height winch I could find both in online specs & personal measurements was an 8000 lb Milemarker which was 6" & the terminals for the control box were up to 6 1/8". My 10,000 lb winch is 6 1/4" high & the terminals come up to 6 3/8", I had to cut the terminals down a bit so that they would not arc to the bumper, the winch slides in with no gap at all so the top of the bumper can not flex or be pushed down onto the terminals.

I only mention this because of the response I received & I wonder how small of a winch was this designed for when the bumper is made for a specific truck which has a specific weight.

Now don't get me wrong I love the bumper & am happy overall with the whole transaction, they provide a great bumper for an even better price considering the quality. I also understand after many years in the automotive industry that when customizing a vehicle that things do not always go as planned.I just wanted to let you all know these issues so that no one else would be surprised.

Anyway here are some pics of possible mounting locations for the fog lights, I also have some 3" round ones that could go ing the same locations & I have not decided which ones to use yet. Any input from you guys/gals would help.

 

I like the last place for the fog lights. Is it possible for them to go in the hole right above them, I think that would look really good too.

 

I wouldn't be able to inset them much because the winch is about 3/4" inside those holes, I have been leaning toward the inset grill option but am not sure yet how the plastic grill will hold up to the heat & if the correct angle could be achieved so it is looking like inset into the bumper may be the one.

lizardhuntWhat bumper do you have on yours & do you have pictures?