RUNCK bumpers

[Slick]

ok, so as some of you know, my friend Doug who owns Runck bumpers was here the past 3 days, measuring King for a sexy set of the VERY FIRST set of Runck bumpers. In the past, and the previous owner of the company ONLY catered to Jeeps...... Doug and I have been friends 8 years, and I convinced him that us pathy owners want another option for tough, functional bumpers other than ARB.... so out he came from Indiana.

We came up with some good design ideas, functional add-on's (like notch's for hi lifts on the under side of the front & rear bumpers.. thanks Simon!) D rings, place for the license plate and factory turn signals, hidden (and optional) integrated Warn m8000 winch's. Also skid plates that reach down underneath (compatible with stock or any kind of lift on the Pathy, includung SAS) Receivers & D rings std on the rear bumper (in the center not underneath) and optional tire with hi lift & jerry can carriers.

now, the pictures i am going to post give you an IDEA of the design of these bumpers, at the moment, the Jeeps are the only vehicles with these bumpers, so we can only show those (obviously!)....

as for the posts that stick up both sides, it is a Runck trademark, and I was told THEY STAY. however, on the Pathy's, the bumpers will wrap around to beyond the corner/marker lights, and the posts will be at the sides of the bumpers for fender and corner light protection, rather than up front as on the Jeeps.

For the rear, same applies, bumpers will wrap around half way to the rear fender well. because of trimming (like King needs) going all the way to the edge of the fender is asking for trouble.

you will have options of base model bumpers with no winch allotment, turn signal allotment or D rings. on the rear, you can get a base model with nothing on it, or have receivers, d rings, carriers, and we are figuring out a way to add a support for those who want to make use of stock carriers, but want a support to help carry the load.

SO! suggestions are GREATLY appreciated, and I need a fair input of how many of you would be interested, and which bumper would you purchase.. bear in mind, all these bumpers are laser cut, and will be of high grade steel (can't remember but it's thicker than an ARB).... the price. reasonable but not set yet.. have to see how much of the Jeep design we can use before knowing how difficult they will be to make.

YES!!!!!!! we are thinking about R-50's too, but we didn't have an R-50 available for measuring, so that will come after King's bumpers are made and fitted in late Sept or early Oct (before Johnson Valley)

So, here's a link to some of the design pics....... let me know whatcha think/want.

 

RUNCK BUMPERS

[eglaisi_91pathy]

Beef. I like.

[MY1PATH]

wow man! I wish I'd known sooner and I kinda dig the posts on the side (they're like tusks!). I just bought a smittybilt not too long ago. I was gonna do like slicks mini me. maybe I still will (and add side posts lol) and see how the runk rears turn out. I'd want one w/ tire carier (removable if possible) and reciver but I can't exactly put my money where my mouth is rt now.

Edited August 13, 2008 by MY1PATH

[Slick]

well, these bumpers won't be "for sale" (on the market) probably until early next year. the reason why we're rushing to get a set made for King is for the Johnson valley run in Oct, the event will be covered by a 4 wheel drive magazine AND, there will be about 50-60 other NISSAN ONLY rigs there (plus a couple yota's and jeeps)..... so we want to showcase it to all the nissan owners and see what they think.

these bumpers are VERY popular in the mid west where they are manufactured, but we want to get them known out here. They are kick ass bumpers, tough as all get out, and extremely functional.

I have spent the last 3 days converting Doug to think like a Pathy owner (he is 110% Jeep guy)...... we require other things than jeeps, and we wheel different, our rigs ACT different. so after Doug spoke to Scott (redpath88) and I nagged, (I am an ex Jeeper too) he gets the idea of what we're really about, and our rigs... in fact, he even called a local junk yard back home and asked of they had a Pathy he could buy (that way he has something sitting there to work with too)

now, I will say, those back bumpers (with everything on them) for the jeeps are $1,300 ...... and you can fit up to a 38" tire on em. you can also piece by piece remove the tire carrier section of the bumper if you wanted to...... it's a VERY cool/functional design indeed. I LOVE them.

the current high price of steel is going to have an effect on price, and the fact these are laser cut and not all welded together pieces (only the corners) and that they will be new to the Nissan market. the more we can get on order, cheaper they'll be for us as he'll be more willing to produce them. (they WILL be cheaper than ARB's tho)

Edited August 13, 2008 by Slick

[k9sar]

since our pathys are ... well... slightly underpowered, how about controlling the weight by using materials other than steel? Kevlar, carbon fiber, titanium, granite, whatever.

Edited August 13, 2008 by k9sar

[Slick]

since our pathys are ... well... slightly underpowered, how about controlling the weight by using materials other than steel? Kevlar, carbon fiber, titanium, granite, whatever.

i don't plan on getting shot at! :tonguefinger:

[flnl]

since our pathys are ... well... slightly underpowered, how about controlling the weight by using materials other than steel? Kevlar, carbon fiber, titanium, granite, whatever.

 

Uh... granite?

[Skwerlb8]

those look really good.. will the Pathy version of the tire carrier swing the same as the Jeeps or will they be flipped to swing as i'm used to?

[kh1991]

Carbonfiber composites, Kevlar, etc.. Will drive the price a lot higher than a fully loaded ARB bumper

Edited August 14, 2008 by kh1991

[SC88Pathy]

Also isn't carbon fiber designed to shatter on impact?

 

Something tells me that might not be best for an offroad bumper...

 

Also Slick, will these bumpers fit 87-89 Pathy's too?

Edited August 14, 2008 by SC88Pathy

[Slick]

those look really good.. will the Pathy version of the tire carrier swing the same as the Jeeps or will they be flipped to swing as i'm used to?

they will work just as on the jeep. swing out.

 

Also Slick, will these bumpers fit 87-89 Pathy's too?

of course my dear! 87-95

[MY1PATH]

I work with composites here for aircraft; carbon, arimids (kevlar), fiberglass, phenolics... to name a few. In solid form: (as in bumpers and non-flexible products like bulletvests) altho light weight they do not like sharp edges and dynamic loads (impact) the 2 things I'm sure these bumpers will encounter most. Some of them can be made more flexible than others so they don't break so easily but it they flex too much they might "beak" on the inside and show no wear on the outside and then completely fail the next time you really need its protection.

I'm not trying say compotes are bad cause they can be great in the right place and conditions but the above stated, the high cost and the equipment needed for production are the short version of why I think not to use it for an offroad bumper.

[Skwerlb8]

hmm.. i don't think i got my question worded right I had figured it'd be a swing out carrier... but the pathy opens out to the right and the jeep opens out to the left (have i got that right?) Which direction will these ones open? I'm just curious...

[purdyboy89]

Will i be able to get a hold of one of these things in GA?

 

since our pathys are ... well... slightly underpowered, how about controlling the weight by using materials other than steel? Kevlar, carbon fiber, titanium, granite, whatever.

 

Carbon Fiber, Granite, and Kevlar are way to brittle to make a bumper out of, and i dont think you want to even think about the price it would be to make a titanium one. Steel is just about the only way to go, unless you make it out of high strenghth aluminum but then you still go back to the price issue.

[Slick]

hmm.. i don't think i got my question worded right I had figured it'd be a swing out carrier... but the pathy opens out to the right and the jeep opens out to the left (have i got that right?) Which direction will these ones open? I'm just curious...

it will probably open the same way as jeeps.... less mods for him to make..... and since it's not "attached" like a factory carrier.... direction won't matter so much

 

Will i be able to get a hold of one of these things in GA?

yuppers! anywhere in north america, and if they take off, canada too

[Oliver]

Would it be possible for the design to tie in the front corner posts to the center grill guard with a horizontal piece a-la ARB?

[OffroadFreak]

If it looks close to this bumper, then count me in! (Someone posted it on the other thread you started!)

[94extreme]

wow.. how old is this thread?!

[JoeBob]

looking at the rear bumper prices on their site... 462.00 is the cheapest version. I would be down for sure to get a rear bumper but holy crap.. it looks like 462 bucks goes to a bar.. two vertical tubes and the connecting pieces.

 

[StatutoryApe]

what are those vertical tubes for anyway?

[JoeBob]

protection?

[Slick]

what are those vertical tubes for anyway?

it is runck's trademark, and for fender protection, on the jeeps, where they are located it works for very good protection, on the pathy, they will be on the side just after the corner marker lights front & rear.

and yes, $400 doesn't buy you much of a bumper....... the full blown rear for a jeep costs $1300........

[bitemedoughboy.com]

it is runck's trademark, and for fender protection, on the jeeps, where they are located it works for very good protection, on the pathy, they will be on the side just after the corner marker lights front & rear.

and yes, $400 doesn't buy you much of a bumper....... the full blown rear for a jeep costs $1300........

for 1300 i could by a wirefeed, a hydraulic tubing bender and a buttload of tubing and fab up a full exo cage.... i must be in the wrong business...

[MY1PATH]

for 1300 i could by a wirefeed, a hydraulic tubing bender and a buttload of tubing and fab up a full exo cage.... i must be in the wrong business...

I doubth that some cheap wire feed is being used to make these. If it is wired feed Its prolly a nice MIG welder that uses a flow of argon or helium gass to produce superior oxygen free welds. But more likely, for strength purposes while using thick metal, they are using a High amp arc welder or possibly even a TIG welder. Our new (non hydraulic) tubing machine here at my work was a few thousand dollars and getting the bends right (no rinkles or flat spots) does not exactly come easy to everyone. and our hydraulic machine was over a grand just to have somone come in and fix it.

I'm not saying that the prices don't seem high, I'm just saying that it may not exactly be that simple.

[bitemedoughboy.com]

I doubth that some cheap wire feed is being used to make these. If it is wired feed Its prolly a nice MIG welder that uses a flow of argon or helium gass to produce superior oxygen free welds. But more likely, for strength purposes while using thick metal, they are using a High amp arc welder or possibly even a TIG welder. Our new (non hydraulic) tubing machine here at my work was a few thousand dollars and getting the bends right (no rinkles or flat spots) does not exactly come easy to everyone. and our hydraulic machine was over a grand just to have somone come in and fix it.

I'm not saying that the prices don't seem high, I'm just saying that it may not exactly be that simple.

 

when i said wire feed, i meant MIG, not flux core. and TIG is highly too time consuming and overkill for any kind of production work other than with stainless or aluminum. and as far as needing a hydraulic mandrel bender to bend tubing for a exo cage, it would be nice to have and a hell of a lot fast, but a wet sand packed tube will bent good enough for a cage. especially if your doing the work yourself. wouldn't recommend it for a parking lot princess which tends to be the trend these days... not too many ppl that actually wheel their rigs.