flexin94 Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 well...Time for a winch lol,Just wndering what you guys have used for a front bumper? Have you made one or bought one? I was looking at the ARB front bumper but its 850us and im still going to have to modify it because of my body lift.. any info or suggestions would help thanks!! Perry----- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 an arb for a hardbody would sit 1.5" higer so if you have a 2" BL you'd be fine... 3" BL; you could choose to live with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 I just ordered an ARB, yeah they are expensive but I think they are the most hassle free option. There is also KMA but I have heard they take double the time they quote you to get the bumper done (made on demand) and apparently the quality has gone down. Making your own is another option, there are lots of designs to choose from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flexin94 Posted October 30, 2010 Author Share Posted October 30, 2010 thanks guys!! ya the arb is bad ass but i mean with a 6" BL i might just suck it up buy one and extend the mounting bracket.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 It is very common and fairly easy to modify the mounts on the ARB to accommodate a lift, but extending them 6" without considerable reinforcement may not be sturdy enough to winch from. You may be better served by buying a bumper for some other vehicle (the right length and shape of course) and making custom mounts for it. That would be cheaper and most of the harder work is done... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flexin94 Posted October 31, 2010 Author Share Posted October 31, 2010 It is very common and fairly easy to modify the mounts on the ARB to accommodate a lift, but extending them 6" without considerable reinforcement may not be sturdy enough to winch from. You may be better served by buying a bumper for some other vehicle (the right length and shape of course) and making custom mounts for it. That would be cheaper and most of the harder work is done... B Good point but then ill have to modify the bumper to accommodate a winch!! I'll try to figure something out lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 LOL, I meant winch bumper, that's the whole point... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 6" BL!!! WTF really? Thats insane! lol. I just found your pics, looks good but I think you gotta hide those frame rails from view by gettin some sliders. anyway, back to topic... There is also KMA but I have heard they take double the time they quote you to get the bumper done (made on demand) and apparently the quality has gone down. I've got a half finished KMA sitting under my couch with razor sharp edges, some Booger welds and allot of dissapointment. I guess their work is made on demand I spent over 6 months demanding what I paid for when the estimated me 2-3 weeks. Every time I called them I got excuses, insincere apologies and weak promises that they would make progress by "next week". WTF they said "next week" for half a year. once I save up to get a few more tools I'll be finishing the product on my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flexin94 Posted October 31, 2010 Author Share Posted October 31, 2010 (edited) 6" BL!!! WTF really? Thats insane! lol. I just found your pics, looks good but I think you gotta hide those frame rails from view by gettin some sliders. anyway, back to topic... I've got a half finished KMA sitting under my couch with razor sharp edges, some Booger welds and allot of dissapointment. I guess their work is made on demand I spent over 6 months demanding what I paid for when the estimated me 2-3 weeks. Every time I called them I got excuses, insincere apologies and weak promises that they would make progress by "next week". WTF they said "next week" for half a year. once I save up to get a few more tools I'll be finishing the product on my own. Ya Iv'e looked at a bunch of posts from google regarding KMA,needless to say I only saw a few good ones....Looks like I'm going to fab one up and just deal with it! BTW sorry to hear about your shi*ty experience with KMA, hope the bumper works out for you.. Perry-------- Edited October 31, 2010 by flexin94 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRich Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 I have a KMA bumper, and my experience wasn't that bad. Myipathy ordered a rear tube bumper I think. My guess is they don't make very many of them so maybe that is why it took so long. I think my bumper will fit other application too. I was told 5 weeks and it took two and a half months. I have no body lift and the lower brackets didn't fit very well. This makes me think they had never made one for a truck with no body lift. Another member here, Samtex I think, has one with a 3" body lift. A kma (or copying there design) might be the best option for your setup. Unlike the ARB it is not made all in one piece. There are lower brackets that bolt to the tow hook locations on the frame and then the bumper bolts to the brackets. There are blank tabs where the factory bumper brackets go so I just bolted my factory brackets to the blank tabs for the extra support. If you change your body lift you would just have to change or modify your lower brackets. A word of caution on your body lift. I don't know how you did yours but I saw a guy that had 8" of body lift on a bronco 2. His was made out of 2" square tubing for the spacers with all thread bolts holding it together. He had 44" swampers on the truck and it looked good but one day he hit a dip while wheeling and the all thread bolts bent and his body came crashing down. I think if he would have made a type of frame support connecting all the 8" spacers together he would have been ok. It caused so much damage he junked the truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flexin94 Posted October 31, 2010 Author Share Posted October 31, 2010 I have a KMA bumper, and my experience wasn't that bad. Myipathy ordered a rear tube bumper I think. My guess is they don't make very many of them so maybe that is why it took so long. I think my bumper will fit other application too. I was told 5 weeks and it took two and a half months. I have no body lift and the lower brackets didn't fit very well. This makes me think they had never made one for a truck with no body lift. Another member here, Samtex I think, has one with a 3" body lift. A kma (or copying there design) might be the best option for your setup. Unlike the ARB it is not made all in one piece. There are lower brackets that bolt to the tow hook locations on the frame and then the bumper bolts to the brackets. There are blank tabs where the factory bumper brackets go so I just bolted my factory brackets to the blank tabs for the extra support. If you change your body lift you would just have to change or modify your lower brackets. A word of caution on your body lift. I don't know how you did yours but I saw a guy that had 8" of body lift on a bronco 2. His was made out of 2" square tubing for the spacers with all thread bolts holding it together. He had 44" swampers on the truck and it looked good but one day he hit a dip while wheeling and the all thread bolts bent and his body came crashing down. I think if he would have made a type of frame support connecting all the 8" spacers together he would have been ok. It caused so much damage he junked the truck. I'm going to call KMA this week see if they can help me out and see what there story is lol...... As far as my body lift, I don't think that will be happening to mine as i found almost the same type of material that the regular body lift kits came but mine came in a 12 foot length. so i cut a bunch of 6" sections installed them with 3/4" threaded rod and i have 5 triangle supports just so that my body doesn't do just that.. ( come crashing down) and I've put it threw its passes lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpathy Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 ARB does make a nice bumper, but didn't they discontinue the WD21 bumper line? I was thinking of getting one for my D21, but will likely wait till summer. If you do get one from KMA, at least you will be close by so I can take a look at it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 .... My1path ordered a rear tube bumper I think. My guess is they don't make very many of them so maybe that is why it took so long. OK 1 off or unique build I can understand taking a LITTLE longer but that is NO EXCUSE FOR POOR QUALITY WORK. I literally cut my self taking this thing out of the box and one of the welds looks like it blew out and they had to fill it. The rest of the welds aren't perfect either. For a fab shop, ppl who cut metal and weld all day every day for a living, you should expect MUCH MORE. Now if my neghbor had made something like that in his garage in his spare time the bar would be much lower and I would say "good job, can I help you clean up these sharp edges" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSlowReliable Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Make it. Mine only needs a small modification before it is winch-capable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRich Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 OK 1 off or unique build I can understand taking a LITTLE longer but that is NO EXCUSE FOR POOR QUALITY WORK. I literally cut my self taking this thing out of the box and one of the welds looks like it blew out and they had to fill it. The rest of the welds aren't perfect either. For a fab shop, ppl who cut metal and weld all day every day for a living, you should expect MUCH MORE. Now if my neghbor had made something like that in his garage in his spare time the bar would be much lower and I would say "good job, can I help you clean up these sharp edges" Yes I agree with you there. It should have had better work than you described. I hate not getting what I paid for. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuphDivin Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 I don't trust those pre-made after market bumpers one bit. I haven't bought one yet that hasn't busted on me or thrown a winch. I've bought three over the years until I started makin em myself. Doesn't matter who's makin em or who's sellin em- they're all garbage. My KMA bumper worked fine up until I took it through some knee high grass and hit about a 4 inch thick oak sapling. Damn thing crumpled that bumper like a tin can. About a 6 inch weld busted right open. I thought it must have been that bumper so I got a replacement and the same thing happened to me two weeks after that. So I said I'll never buy another bumper from them. So then I got a ARB bumper. Ran over a submerged log in about 13 inches of water and got stuck. Wrapped my winch around a tree and slowly stared to pull out. After about 30 seconds the bumper threw the winch. Just pulled it right off. Since then I won't look twice at a pre-made bumper. I weld all my own bumpers and haven't had a problem since. Plus I can add a few goodies like front steps and 3/4 U-rings. :-) Happy trails, Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmccallister Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 Really? I have been saving money for an ARB bumper for several months. I know they dont make them for the Terano anymore, but i have the body lift, so from what I hear the hardbody one will work? Are they really not strong? I need something i can hook a chain onto and have my buddies pull me out, or better yet me pull my buddies out. I cant afford to spend that kind of the money on the ARB if it isnt quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitrohazelton Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 I don't trust those pre-made after market bumpers one bit. I haven't bought one yet that hasn't busted on me or thrown a winch. I've bought three over the years until I started makin em myself. Doesn't matter who's makin em or who's sellin em- they're all garbage. My KMA bumper worked fine up until I took it through some knee high grass and hit about a 4 inch thick oak sapling. Damn thing crumpled that bumper like a tin can. About a 6 inch weld busted right open. I thought it must have been that bumper so I got a replacement and the same thing happened to me two weeks after that. So I said I'll never buy another bumper from them. So then I got a ARB bumper. Ran over a submerged log in about 13 inches of water and got stuck. Wrapped my winch around a tree and slowly stared to pull out. After about 30 seconds the bumper threw the winch. Just pulled it right off. Since then I won't look twice at a pre-made bumper. I weld all my own bumpers and haven't had a problem since. Plus I can add a few goodies like front steps and 3/4 U-rings. :-) Happy trails, Tom I've had an ARB bumper for 5 years and winched myself out 50+ times from some seriously deep mud. That bumper has held up just fine so you must have been buying some duds. Ebay maybe? Anyway, not trying to insult your craftsmanship but I seriously doubt your homemade welds meet the same standards as a well-known company like ARB. Definitely not good advice for most folks in any case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 For all anyone knows, he is a certified welder with 10 years experience. Just because he welded them himself doesn't mean they are substandard. I'm a machinist so if I make a part on the equipment in my garage then it isn't as good as the ones I get paid to make at work? Not arguing, just saying... So then I got a ARB bumper. Ran over a submerged log in about 13 inches of water and got stuck. Wrapped my winch around a tree and slowly stared to pull out. After about 30 seconds the bumper threw the winch. Just pulled it right off. You pulled the winch out of the ARB bumper?? It is an internal, forward foot mount so you literally ripped the front of the bumper out along with the winch?? I have never heard anyone complain about defects with an ARB bumper, just price. What was the rating on the winch?? Really? I have been saving money for an ARB bumper for several months. I know they dont make them for the Terano anymore, but i have the body lift, so from what I hear the hardbody one will work? Are they really not strong? I need something i can hook a chain onto and have my buddies pull me out, or better yet me pull my buddies out. I cant afford to spend that kind of the money on the ARB if it isnt quality. Yes, the hard body one will work for a 1.5-2" body lift. any taller and it will have to be cut and extended. No problem though because if the welder uses a second plate, the bumper will be stronger than stock (in that area anyway). As I said above, I have not heard of complaints of ARB bumpers failing and they do have 2 points to hook up to. If you do get the ARB, do get a winch too, it's 1/2 the point... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 (edited) I checked out MR Jims ARB pretty closely. the only thing I could seen it needing was to be installed with a few stich welds or have some better anchoring on the top half. But all in all it was really good even pulling me up hill after I dug a deep rut. Edited November 2, 2010 by MY1PATH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 I checked out MR Jims ARB pretty closely. the only thing I could seen it needing was to be installed with a few stich welds or have some better anchoring on the top half. But all in all it was really good even pulling me up hill after I dug a deep rut. He may not have had the upper mounts re-welded on when it was relocated for his body lift. The ARB is strong, as I winched a bunch with it, even modified, and had no issues. I can't help but be skeptical of MuphDivin's story of ripping the winch OUT of the bumper. Doesn't make sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 me too. Maybe if the log got wedged under the chassis and blocked the truck from getting pulled forward by the winch, but I imagine the winch would bog down, or you would realize the truck isn't moving before you just "pulled itself right off". The ARB bumper is a fine product. It only has a few welds holding it together as most of the angles are bent into it. Also nothing says you can't grind the paint off it and weld whatever you want on it (more light tabs, limb riser mounts etc.). By all means, you don't have to use it as is out of the box, Most people i know cut theirs in half and weld it back together so it fits a body-lifted truck properly. I challenge anyone to go buy or build something better and when it happens, i would love to see how it turned out. MuphDivin, show us some of your handywork; even if you haven't made one for a pathfinder/hardbody yet flexin94, you can look in my members rig thread for pictures of an arb that was modified for a body lift. I'm not sure how it would work with a 6" body lift, but you can get an idea of what you need to do to make it fit. If you change your mind, you can weld an old trailer hitch on the front of your frame and mount your winch on a plate with a receiver. Splurge and get the synthetic winch line. It's lighter and easier to care for than the traditional cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuphDivin Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 Nitro- I've been welding since you were pissin yellow. But honestly, I don't trust anyones welds but my own. I worked in a shop for a few summers after high school and I've seen some of the "craftsmanship" these companies are selling out there. It's bad enough to make you sick. And that's exactly what I was when my bumper threw my winch. It's just plain dangerous when it comes down to it. I had my step daughter in pathfinder with me sitting in deep mud and starting to sink. I had to roll the window down and let her climb on top of the roof to jump to safety. When it was all said and done I had about 8 inches of water on my floor boards and had to pull the pathfinder out with two dozers. My son took pictures of all of this stuff. When he comes home for thanksgiving in a few weeks I'll have him post. He also keeps the pathfinder at his house, so i'll have him take some pictures of my welds to show y'all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitrohazelton Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 (edited) Nitro- I've been welding since you were pissin yellow. But honestly, I don't trust anyones welds but my own. I worked in a shop for a few summers after high school and I've seen some of the "craftsmanship" these companies are selling out there. It's bad enough to make you sick. And that's exactly what I was when my bumper threw my winch. It's just plain dangerous when it comes down to it. I had my step daughter in pathfinder with me sitting in deep mud and starting to sink. I had to roll the window down and let her climb on top of the roof to jump to safety. When it was all said and done I had about 8 inches of water on my floor boards and had to pull the pathfinder out with two dozers. My son took pictures of all of this stuff. When he comes home for thanksgiving in a few weeks I'll have him post. He also keeps the pathfinder at his house, so i'll have him take some pictures of my welds to show y'all. Looking forward to seeing them. Post up a picture of that ARB that threw the winch while you're at it. VERY interested in seeing how that happened. Edited November 2, 2010 by nitrohazelton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Looking forward to seeing them. Post up a picture of that ARB that threw the winch while you're at it. VERY interested in seeing how that happened. x2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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