Hey all, I have 1997 Ford F350 in beautiful condition. It is essentially uninsured, since the blue book value on it is around $4000 and the market value about six times that. I also live in a high deer strike area, and it is inevitable it will happen eventually. So I am looking for protective measures. The only kind of front bumper guard I like the looks of is the N-fab pre-runner light bar, since it is nice and minimal (the truck is largely stock and I want to keep it that way). But I am wondering if it would really do anything to protect the truck, or if the deer would just crush the bar into the truck and do the same amount of damage. The bar is 1-½" diameter and .095 thick, fully welded. Any thoughts?

My truck

The bar I am considering

 

0.095" is very thin. It's enough to support lights but it's not going to stop a deer. Beyond that it uses the existing factory bumper for structural support.

If you want something to stop a deer, look for a channel-section bumper fabricated from minimum 3/16" steel plate and full coverage around the sides to protect the fenders and lights. A tube bumper fabricated from double 2" sch 80 pipe (that's 2.375" OD and 0.218" wall thickness) would probably also be strong enough. Also look for something that uses an attachment to the frame rails that's stronger than the flimsy factory brackets.

 

Im in an area with the same issue, deer and moose. Not much you can do for moose, god forbid you hit one of those.

Imho, you would have to get something pretty big, and that wraps around the front and over the hood to really get protection. As well, something that will direct the deer down, and not up and over. A pre runner bar, is more for lights in our application. You might also be thinking of a nerf bar, they are built very strong and for racing, but not for aesthetics. I have seen some nice bush bars in the past that cover the whole front end and lights, I think they were Westin - but I can’t remember. They are out there, but I’m not sure you would like the look of them.

Here’s what I did, I built one years ago. Not for protection really, more for lights, but I did build it with strength in mind for pushing on or going through some light bush etc. The same as the one you found, it attaches to the front bumper mounts, which are actually the frame rails. Best spot on those model years to attach to. This bar is DOM1025 2” (0.125) tubing with 3/16 plate attach brackets. It’s pretty strong. I do not recommend black pipe, It’s very brittle. This tubing was left over from a roll cage build. Strong enough for my application. I’m not sure how it would do with a deer, some protection.

But on our older trucks, there really isn’t a great place like that to attach to. I’m in the middle of fixing up my ‘96 F250, same as yours essentially, and I still have that light bar. I looked for a good spot to attach it to, but can’t really find anything. The only place I can see, is to have it under the bumper, and attach to the frame. At which point, it’s going to have to be so big and thick looping under the bumper to have any strength, it would be low and ugly. The only other option, is to cut into the bumper and have it pass through. Which I thought of doing, but would ruin the chrome.

Personally, I decided for now to pass on using it. I have used ultra sonic whistles in the past that stick on the front end in the grill, or anywhere you can stick it. Only evidence I have of them working is that I’ve never hit a deer.

If you come up with something, post it here, I’d like to see it too.

Ps. Nice looking truck by the way, very nice shape.

 

That little bar isn't going to do much for you in the event of a deer collision, except for become embedded into your grille.

In my experience, your best bet to protect the truck from a deer is to go with a full replacement style bumper. Something like a Ranch Hand Legend, or a Buckstop Inc. bumper with a grille guard built into it. These are much more structural than the flimsy, bolt on "bars" or the grille guards that bolt on over the bumper.

I have repaired numerous trucks that suffered deer damage here in WI. From what I have seen, nearly all of the cheap grille guards do more damage to the truck than a deer by itself would. If you hit a deer on the drivers side, instead of the deer taking out a headlight, a grille, a fender, you now pound the grille guard into the hood, both fenders, and maybe 1 or both headlights. I have a home made bumper on my '89 that is made of 1/4" wall tubing, and the main tube is 3/8" wall. I've hit a handful of deer with that and have suffered no damage to the truck. My '14 has a Ranch Hand Summit full replacement bumper, and that has saved the truck from 1 white tail at 60 MPH, again no damage to the truck or the bumper.

I also think that there is a lot to be gained in the headlight department on these trucks. Most of the time when people hit a deer, it's because they never even saw it until it was already on the road in front of them. I put some fairly expensive headlight bulbs in mine and it made a slight difference. I then added 2 KC lights to my bumper and it's amazing how much more stuff I can see off in the ditch and in fields. You might benefit from adding additional lighting. I know there are several places that make light mounts to go into the holes on your bumper. This would still appear fairly "stockish" anyway.

Beautiful truck by the way.

 

2" rigid pipe is what I used on a truck I had before. Welded right to the frame. The rear bumper was 3" rigid, welded shut on both ends, drilled and tapped with an air chuck and valve on it for use as as a tire inflator, again welded to the frame.

Granted this was a truck for beating around in the back / off road area's in northern Michigan but I could plow through the woods and push over trees as I made paths through the woods and biffed a few when the truck got away from me. Worked great.

That guard isn't a guard, that's a light bracket.

 

Excellent info, thanks!

 

There is a lot of expertise on this site, thank you everyone for your input, super helpful!

 

Hey GNR, Can you post a couple pics of the bumpers you mentioned, I’d like to see them.

 

This is the bumper on my '89. I've had it for nearly a decade. The only revisions I've made were the KC lights and the Chevrolet tow hooks. I don't think I even have a picture of my '14. Here's a picture of the same bumper though. https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Ranch-H...-/113568008478

 

Thats substantial, that would do the trick. Nice job. Looks like it wants a winch.

 

Thank you. It's probably 200 lbs. or slightly more.
I have been intending to add a 2" receiver tube to the bottom of the center tube in the bumper, but just haven't had the time or space to pull the bumper off to plasma cut it open. The center section in the bottom of the bumper is actually the center of a Warn Enforcer bumper that can have a winch bolted to it, but I prefer being able to move the winch from front to rear more easily. I actually don't know that a winch would fit in there anymore anyway, as the Sky's RSK mount has a cross bar that runs behind the bumper that's probably in the way.