ThankYou for the info Alfons. Question- Should I use 1/4" steel for the crossmember?
I am putting tow hooks, dont have the money for winch yet.
But i want to have the stregth already in the bumper for miner fabricating later.

had some Progress w/ the Bumper!
IMG-20130113-00558.jpg
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Now we weld up everything, than start fabricating the bottom half and top middle half. Once done with that, start making a strong Skeleton on the inside.

 

It's looking really good. 1/4" steel should be more than adequate for a crossmember and a winch plate unless you're using rectangular tube, then I'd go with 3/16" (I'd make a winch selection very soon, not to buy, but to use the bolt pattern to drill holes for the plate. Consider where you may want captive nuts for ease of installation & removal of all these heavy parts).

 

durapu, I think I read your story on another forum. Pryofossil, did you get your bumper? How do you like it? Somehow I came across somebody trashing Tactical Armor online, so I searched for reviews, and now I'm nervous. I already paid them full price and they told me on Dec. 26th I'd have it by the end of Jan. so I emailed them for a ETA, since all other updates and add ons are complete on the truck except for the paint. NOW they said SIX WEEKS from the time ordered is average. Sounds like the start of a long journey I have read over and over. One excuse after another why they aren't done. I'm wondering if I should just cancel the order? If six weeks really happens I can live with it, though it will set back my paint job since the body shop owner is leaving the country on vaca and wanted to shoot mine before he left. Moan* Anyone else have any input on TAG ?

Oops. That's odd. I looked for more pages and only saw one when I posted. I'll finish reading now.

OK after reading pg 2 I'm bummin. After reading several reviews, what I took away is that the(TAG) take forever to get an order done and to fix any screw ups. That said, in the end, people say they get a superior product for less money. This tells me that TAG isn't charging enough for their product, so they are overwhelmed with orders. I guess I can wait. I have seen advertised costs where just a front wincher costs as much as I'm paying for both F & R.

 

UPDATE: OK I'm NOT a happy camper. Big blizzard on the way, no bumper, no winch on my truck. The rest of this project is DONE, and the bumpers were ordered when I started. Tranny is rebuilt, truck is painted , all the body work done, new wheel ordered and delivered from Ohio, new tires. Still, NO BUMPERS!

First they said they were two weeks out and I could expect them to be done toward the end of January. To me, that means 27th 28ish. So I have a trip to Mane planned to work on my property which timing is critical. Have to leave when my buddy does while his wifes away in Fla. and have to be home before my wifes surprise B day party. So I email TAG and ask what's up? They said All orders are 6 weeks. I told them that's NOT what they said, and I'll probably just cancel the order and buy new OE bumpers. They said You can cancel any time but you only get a 50% refund once production has begun (and it has). So technically there were 5 weeks in Dec. and they said they were Right on track. A week later I check in and they said Your bumpers are in paint prep and will need a few days paint, dry, pack to ship, so I said, if you just prime them will that save a few days? They said yes, They will ship on Friday or Monday. Well, today is a week from that Friday and nothing. I asked on that Tuesday if they went out and they said Another order ran over and tied yours up. So, I'm pretty tired of the BS right now. I'm calling my credit card company today and having the payment charged back and cancelling the order. I don't recommend this company, and I'll never do business with them again.

 

Well, it looks like I wont EVER recommend them to another 3G dak owner again. Maybe we should get a list of DF members that will put the pressure on TAG and force them to stop f*cking members over. PM me if you want to move forward with this and I can talk to the admins.

 

I think the free market system will work by itself. Once the word gets around the only customers they will get will be the ones who slip through the cracks, and maybe TAG will be able to service them better because they will have little work to do. I never got to call the CC company today to stop payment. Too busy prepping for this blizzard/Nor easter. We ALWAYS have enough supplies, fuel, food, water on hand for two months, but I had to prepare for the stupids who could effect us otherwise. Got two vehicles in the garage and tucked the other two up close to the garage so the plow and delivery trucks don't hit them. Idiot mail guy parks in my driveway to deliver next door today. Unreal. My blood pressure went down when I read a few other people waited months for other companies to deliver their bumpers. I'll do some more reading on the internet before I totally flip out on them. Looks like I couldn't be out with my new tires and winch anyway. The Governor shut down all the roads at 4:00 PM.

 

should have ordered stuff from a real fab company

 

So far not much additional progress on the bumper. We welded along the whole bumper, than I grinded everything smooth. I have already made the cardboard cut-outs for the bottom pieces and top pieces, just havn't had the time to cut them out. Once I get those cut out and welded were gonna put some supports/crossmembers inside the skeleton. I do have to modify my mounting system also, cause lets face it. I'm not a professional and well its not lining up the way I want, so gonna have some more moding before I'm done. Ill make sure to take some more pics when we get workin on it.

stacks.jpg

3" Leveling kit- 265/75R16 BFG Rugged Terrains- Custom Short Ram Intake- Flowmaster 40 w/ custom 3" stacks- Black housing headlights 6k HID- Custom HarleyDavidson Shifter

 

I have made extensive modifications to my bumper from TAG (crap) just to make it fit and usable, WAY better now (BTW) I think I forgot to post before but they Changed the name of their company while mine was in production to TAG, I don't remember what it used to be... - III% if you are anywhere near NC and still in need of a front bumper, I'll sell you mine.

Most importantly ... the bumper Pyrofossil is making looks good and I think will look great on that truck .... maybe a skid plate?

 

TACTICAL ARMOR GROUP SUX! They talked tough about only giving me a 50% refund, but I have been with my credit card company for 28 years . I JUST got off the phone with them, and they issued me a FULL refund $1,312. They said the $45 for the receiver mount hasnt been charged to me yet. Before I called I researched online and discovered it's illegal to bill a customer for a product before you ship it. So, TAG is up the creek My credit card company said don't delete the emails in case TAG's bank disputes the back charge. People need to be warned about these scumbags. I don't know how they stay in business. I even call my clients back a month after job completed to see if they had ANY complaints about my work, not that I expect any, but shnit happens, and it's a nice gesture to assure I'll be invited back if their inventory gets hit again. I guess I'll go buy the winch before the sale ends at HF, and stash it til I get the bumper issue resolved. Who knows, maybe TAG will be having a sale on 98 Dakota bumpers LOL. 50% off. But I doubt they ever started fabrication. I called there Sat. and nobody answered the phone. You'd think if they were behind, they'd work weekends. When I have the volume of inventory to fix, I work 7 days, 12 hours a day. The customer should be #1 priority.