I'm a decent project welder and am thinking about fabricating my own front bumper and possibly rear bumper as well. I am wondering if there are criteria that the manufacturer meets with regard to resistance when designing the bumper. Automobile companies spend billlions in R & D to make cars safer. I would imagine a lot of this goes into how the vehicle can absorb impact so that the driver/passengers don't. In other words, If I build a steel front bumper that will not give, and I hit another vehicle with it, will I get sued for making a front bumper that is "dangerously rigid"?

 

Wondering this myself. Looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks.

 

Sounds like you should be talking to a lawyer, not the members of a truck forum.

 

If there are still lawyers walking this earth, than there is the possibility of being sued.

 

well big rigs have been doing this for years and no one has been sued that i know of, lot of big rigs around here have them, a family member has one that is rated to hit 500 pounds at 85 mph and is warrantied if damage is done if under speed or weight

 

Well, in doing some interweb research, so far I found this:
Bumper Questions and Answers
Looking into the code of fed regs now.

 

Found this too:
Bumper Height | AAA/CAA Digest of Motor Laws

 

And the one that gives me the most correct info (being as I live in Michigan) is this one:
Bumpers; Height Limitations; Lift Blocks; Prohibited Modifications; Construction of Section; Applicability; Definitions - Mich. Comp. Laws Section 257.710c - Michigan Attorney Resources - Michigan Laws

It basically only addresses heighth of a bumper based on GVWR. The GVWR of my F150 is 6250 lbs. So, based on that the lowest part of my frame cannot exceed 24" off of the ground, and the highest point of the bottom of my bumper cannot exceed 28".
Also of note in this section are the laws pertaining to lift kits. If any of you have these installed, or are thinking about it, might want to take a look.

 

We have no laws against lift kits or bumper heights here in Oregon. Instead we have laws against lowering your car too much...

 

We buy bumpers for our feed trucks that you can hit a concrete feed bunk at 25mph and it won't even scratch it. Hit a deer one night running 70 and the deer exploded! Did zero damage to that truck. But if you put it on a new truck it voids the warranty. Go figure.

 

As far as i know (fellow michigander here) I dont think there is. Just as long as your dont exceed the height violations. I have a buddy that put on 2 steel round posts about 3 inches thick on the back of his truck and no one cared less. cop drove by our complex when we were out and stopped and said nice work. Mustve been a fellow off roader haha

 

Yeah, I'm not too worried about the cops. What I'm worried about are the lawyers in case I get in an accident. If I hit another car and kill someone, I want to make sure that a fabricated, home-made bumper isn't the reason.