Full Bumper Replacement or Grille Guard
 

I am going back and forth on whether to do a full bumper replacement or just a grille guard on my 2020 F250. I mostly drive in the city, but go out to our Farm/Ranch 5-10 times a year. I also do not want to lose the use of ACC.

I really like the Ranch Hand Legend full bumper, but I am concerned that it sticks out too far.

I also like the idea of the Fab Fours Matrix with the Pre-Runner Bar because it’s more close fitting.

Last alternative is just a Ranch Hand Grille Guard, without the the bumper replacement.

Any thoughts, suggestions, and pictures are greatly appreciated!

I'm at the same point...kinda, for me and my 2020 F-250's intended use I'm going with the Grill Guard.

I do not have to pull the trigger until my VIN# is available and I have narrowed it down to three;

Ford Cattleman Grillguard, 1357P ? Cattleman HD
https://www.hdtruckware.com/ford-c-1...ard-p-748.html
https://www.ranchhand.com/2020-ford-...ggf201bl1.html

My F-250 will not have ACC

I wouldn't be concerned about sticking out too far, these trucks are massive as is, what's another foot? I have a brush guard simply due to easy of install and cost. My reason behind purchasing was primarily for mounting equipment without doing permeant changes to the truck, aside from that it's to protect from someone getting too close when I parallel park and brush from busting the headlights in the woods. I can push open gates without having to get out and just don't have the need for a full bumper, ever. BUT I love the look and if I had the time and money hell yeah I'd throw a massive bumper up there. ACC can be had with the right brand of both.

OP, I run full replacements on ever single truck I own whether for personal use or business. Here are my thoughts that I will share.

#1. Having had a few hard lessons on this very topic, I can tell you this. Grill guards are utterly useless for anything but mounting lights. The only thing they will do is offer a false sense of protection as they flex and are not made to stop much at all (i.e. deer strike or giving an angry cow a nudge). If your goal is front end PROTECTION, buy a full replacement bumper that includes protection for the radiator (pre-runner bars are useless for this as well). I say this as they will protect the most vulnerable area of your truck and will help prevent large animals from taking out your cooling system and from flipping up towards your windshield.

#2. Unless it's made of aluminum, plan on having rust from the rock chips. This is especially true with Ranch Hands cheap powder coating that likes to rust from underneath and the fact that they use the cheapest steal found. The same can be said with Fab Fours as I have owned their products as well (powder coating that is). You WILL have rust no matter if you live in the salt belt of the midwest or in the Arizona desert. Do yourself a favor before mounting that extra 150 lbs on the front of your truck and get it coated with Line-X.

I agree on both the brush guard and powdercoat. Grille guards are useless and they are well known as damage multipliers because they just fold and take everything else with them.

There is also the Push Bumper.

More than just a Grille Guard, a true Push Bumper (from an emergency vehicle upfit manufacturer like Setina) is designed to literally push other vehicles to the side of the road in an emergency.

With fire and rescue and law enforcement as primary applications, at least for Setina's push bumpers, the vehicle interface engineering faces additional scrutiny from public agencies, with officer safety and public liability in mind.

In particular, the mounting interface of the PB-400 that I installed in the photo below retains the controlled collision deformation characteristics already engineered into the Ford front frame horn, while simultaneously providing a superstructure stiff enough to push cars around, or stand on to service under the hood.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...ceb6a3f9a0.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...71aec18516.jpg

Another advantage of a push bumper is the swing clearance when turning while backing or going forward in tight quarters. There are no wings around the headlights that reduce clearance, and there is no stickout of the bumper itself in front of the tires. The part that does stick out beyond the factory bumper is in the middle of the truck, which remains within the rotational arc of the swing regardless.

I have a Ranch Hand full bumper replacement on my daily driver, and have been thankful to have it many times. I've used it to push other vehicles around, it has hit several deer with no deformation. I will agree to the above statements that the powdercoat is awful. It didn't make it through one Wisconsin winter before the expanded metal and every weld seam had rust bleeding through. If I would have known how fast it was going to rust, I'd have definitely spent the money to have it Line-X'd.

I like the push bumper that Y2KW57 shared. But being in a rural part of the country, I like the additional protection from wild life that a wrap-around style full bumper replacement gives, even at the additional cost of maneuverability.

This could be an important point to @Joshua Flores , because he said in his original post that he goes "out to our Farm/Ranch 5-10 times a year". If the farm/ranch has cattle gates typical of those in Texas, where one literally uses the truck to push the self closing cattle gates open to pass through them, then the bar wraps around the headlights would actually serve an important useful daily purpose, even at the risk of those headlight wraps folding into the fenders amplifying body damage in an offset frontal collision.

The push bumper is more to mitigate hits from slow moving or non moving vehicles and equipment... not for deer hunting on the highway. Optimal choice between replacement bumper, grill guard, or push bumper obviously depends on application and location.

I appreciate all the input. I am indeed from Texas and we have cows and deer on all of our family ranches, so it seems the Ranch Hand Full Bumper is the way to go.

This is the way I was leaning, so I appreciate the confirmation. Also, I was not aware of the rust issue, so I will definitely look into getting it sprayed with Line-X or something similar.

Thank you.

I like that push bumper!

Having hit two deer, one without any protection and one with a full bumper, my vote is full bumper replacement every time.

No protection nearly totaled the truck and wound up costing the insurance company about $12,000. Full bumper strike cost me $120 for a new headlight assembly, some spray paint and a day off work.

Full replacement, I've used Trail Ready, ARB, RH, all did a good job of pushing deer and cattle out the way. My favorite now is LOD it fit well not extending to far out used on my 2017 F350 and has been tested thoroughly pulling truck and RV out of places normal folk wouldn't go...

https://lodoffroad.com/products/ford...ull-guard.html

https://lodoffroad.com/media/catalog...fb1013_-_2.jpg

Unless its a garage parking situation or parallel parking on the regular get the full replacement.

I haven't hit a deer in years but hit pheasants every year so I just went with the Ranch Hand grill guard to save my grill from bird strikes.

When I had my 2013 I was screwing around on my nephew's fourwheeler course and dropped the front end into a 2' deep trench and nose planted the truck into the bank on the other side. I went from about 15mph to zero instantly, the bottom crossbar of the guard took the full impact and didn't even bend.

A guy I work with put a Ranch hand guard on his F250 and hit a deer at 60mph and had no damage.

Ranch hand will be releasing the 2020 version within 6-8 weeks I was told this week. They are ramping up production to start getting these out there. Will retain acc and front camera if needed.

I had a full replacement Ranch hand on my 17 450 and loved it.