I have a 2005 F350 and I'm thinking about putting on a brush guard because I spend some time in deer country. I'd like to hear from people who have had minor accidents ( Like hitting a deer ) with a brush guard. Did it save your grill / headlights / bumper etc.? Last Fall my Tahoe vs deer encounter cost $3500.

 

I'd say a brush guard is basically just for looks. Whatever brush it might push out of the way will still scrape the side of your truck unless it's a small twig you can push over.

If you're looking for something to protect you from deer, I'd say you'll need to go with a full replacement bumper with the grill guard attached. I've got a ranch hand on the front of my truck. Several years ago my wife swerved to avoid a cow in the road. She caught the tail end of the cow and spun it around. The following day the cow had to be turned into dinner. My bumper lost some black paint.

On the other side of the coin, I wrecked my 99 (some idiot ran a light in front of me) and was told that my ranch hand acted like a cheater bar and tweaked my frame, thereby totaling my truck. The truck didn't look too bad at all and the frame was only bent in front of the front wheels a hair, but the insurance money was so good I accepted the total loss and bought my 02.

 

My experience with bolt on brush guards(I've owned 2), is they are primarily for looks. They will deflect very light brush, but not animals of any size. They also intimidate most people in small cars

For any kind of real protection for your body and all the coolers mounted up front, you need an after market off road type bumper replacement with the welded on brush guard.

Good luck

 

Maybe he hunts small deer.

 

Thats one thing I have heard as well since I am considering a full replacement. That if the bumper is built to strong it will be stronger than the frame so the frame will go before the bumper. In your case though, do you think with a factory bumper the frame would not have been tweaked? The factory one will absorb more of the impact but after a certain point its still going to mess up the frame.

 

If I had hit the side of the car head on, I don't think my frame would have been damaged. There was a small kid in the back seat so I swerved hard and it was the angle I hit, combined with the direction of travel of the car that did it. I do not think the truck would have been totaled with the factory bumper, but would have taken more visible damage.

There are valid points on both sides, but putting one back on my 02 has paid for itself with the cow incident.

 

Just yesterday I hit a 150 lb buck. Took out 3 rads, bumper, grille and hood. I am waiting to hear what the bill will be. I would certainly like to find a grille guard that would be effective.

 

I nailed a 200 lb buck at highway speed with only the stock steel bumper, and it only bent it in a little of it in by the headlight. Other than the fur stuck in my axle, the truck was fine. But my truck is lifted so that bumper took most of the force which otherwise may have been directed into the grill/headlights/hood/etc. Like they said, if you want real protection, you need to get a replacement, not a brush guard.

 

i put a ranchand on my truck about 3 years ago now and as hard as i try i cannot get a deer to come out in front of my truck. as far as moving brush it just pushes it to the sides but the way the ranchhand is made i believe if i did hit another vehicle then it would take a fair bit of the impact and act as a secondary bumper. it is a bolt on brush guard but is built pretty dam good. plus it is light enough that it is only a one man operation to put on and take off if you so choose. plus there is the intimidation factor that is kinda nice to see the look in some peoples eyes! )

 

I have a front bumper with a built in bull bar that is pretty good. Heavy as well. I think that would be better than an aftermarket brush guard as well.

 

I have to concur with most above, that the brush guards are mainly for looks and wont do much when hitting a deer. If you want looks, I personally like the prerunner baja type ones. If you want strength, get a complete bumper system.

 

The way I see it, which would you rather do... scratch a chrome brush guard or scratch a chrome bumper? Unless you do a lot of off roading (which these trucks don't usually see) or just need something to stick extra lights on, I say just for looks.

 

Anything that would help in a front end collision cant be bad. The more metal there , the better.

 

IMO brush guards aren't worth it. Front replacements are but they are a little heavy and ~$2200.

These guys make some of the best:

Tough Country Products | Replacement Bumpers, Step Bars, Running Boards, Headache Racks & Brush Guards

 

Brush guards that bolt into sheet metal will rip off if you hit anything hard, usually taking the sheet metal with them. If you push on stuff with them, normally they'll just bend until they hit something on the truck, and then noramally dent that in too. Stay away from them IMO, they're pretty pointless.

Full front end replacement absolutely suck if you hit anything big at high speed, like another SD or large truck. If you beat on them on the farm, they hold up great. We used a Ranch Hand yesterday to straighten up bent pipe uprights in an arena, I've put some pretty heavy trailers on the front receiver on them, and hit deer and various other animals, and they've always held up fine. If you bend the grille guard part bad enough or bend the plate stell, you can torch it off and weld replacement parts in, you lose the powercoating, but they are fixable to an extent. But again, in a truck-truck collision, you're screwed no matter what in a SD.

Edit: Price wise, $2200 is WAY high. Ranch Hand full replacements, the good ones with the sched 40 pipe are 1300 installed in Lubbock, and from what I've seen around Texas, even that is a little high. If you look around you can find new ones for ~1100, the install is easy. ARB and road armour winch bumpers are expensive, and IMO worthless because they're made of all basically plate steel and have no grille guard uprights on them. Ranch Hand is best, but I'm prejudiced because that's what I've used the most.