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Do any of you have a Fab Four or Ranch Hand front bumper with grill and headlight bars? I have it narrowed down to these two and would like some opinions on quality and how smooth installation was . I like the ranch hand Legend or the bullnose, and I'm not sure what the Fab Four is called but it is diamond plated just like Ranch Hand
Last edited by jstihl; 11-13-2017 at 05:10 PM.
Reason: Spelling
I put a ranch hand on my 99 and some lady ran a light and I ended up just about T-boning her. Swerved at the last minute because I saw the kid in the back seat staring out the window at my truck and I did everything I could to soften the blow and not kill the kid.
Kid was fine, as was everyone else. The angle I ended up hitting the vehicle, combined with her speed, shifted my bumper about 4" to the right. Bumper was crooked, but not too bad. Turns out it bent the frame due to the extra leverage of it being up there so the truck got totaled with a crooked bumper, dented quarter panel, kink in the hood, and leaking radiator.
Put another one on my 02. The wife was kind enough to test it out for me. Black cow standing in the road just around a turn after dark. She swerved and only caught the tail end of the big momma cow. Took the powder coating off the grill guard portion down to bare metal on two of the bars. Spun the cow around over 180 degrees and knocked it down. (had to be put down the following day) Required some touch up paint to the bumper, but has been fine otherwise. I got the one with the front reciever hitch on it, which has been used on more than one occasion to pull it (2wd) out of what didn't really look like mud at first. Bumper is still on the truck and strong as ever.
Wife has the bull nose bumper on her 01 with the 05 facelift on it. Fit isn't quite as good on that one, but that's because the 05 bumpers don't really fit the older trucks perfectly anyway.
I put a ranch hand on my 99 and some lady ran a light and I ended up just about T-boning her. Swerved at the last minute because I saw the kid in the back seat staring out the window at my truck and I did everything I could to soften the blow and not kill the kid.
Kid was fine, as was everyone else. The angle I ended up hitting the vehicle, combined with her speed, shifted my bumper about 4" to the right. Bumper was crooked, but not too bad. Turns out it bent the frame due to the extra leverage of it being up there so the truck got totaled with a crooked bumper, dented quarter panel, kink in the hood, and leaking radiator.
Put another one on my 02. The wife was kind enough to test it out for me. Black cow standing in the road just around a turn after dark. She swerved and only caught the tail end of the big momma cow. Took the powder coating off the grill guard portion down to bare metal on two of the bars. Spun the cow around over 180 degrees and knocked it down. (had to be put down the following day) Required some touch up paint to the bumper, but has been fine otherwise. I got the one with the front reciever hitch on it, which has been used on more than one occasion to pull it (2wd) out of what didn't really look like mud at first. Bumper is still on the truck and strong as ever.
Wife has the bull nose bumper on her 01 with the 05 facelift on it. Fit isn't quite as good on that one, but that's because the 05 bumpers don't really fit the older trucks perfectly anyway.
No experience with Fab 4.
Well i hope i never have to test my bumper out as much as you , ha! How was the ranch hand to install? Did it bolt right up or did you have any problems? I was also looking at the legend bullnose, but for our trucks the bumper is flat all the way across unlike the one they make for 05 and 06 which is slightly angled towards the head lights. ive researched for hours but hard to tell by just looking at pics
im actually debating on which bumper to go for, due to the last jerk off (who committed hit and run) side swiped the truck and caused the bumper on it now to get slightly bent, along with the front left quarter but meh it was already in the plane to replace it anyways, so I am curious which bumper would be nice to go with, I defiantly like the front hitch reciever idea as I can use plows and other attachments as required, but would like one with a prerunner style bar perhaps? (I think thats the name of the angled bar that sticks out some?)
Install was easy on all of them. Even the 05 bumper on the wife's 01. That one took a little more adjusting with washers to get the right balance, but otherwise, it bolted right up just like the ones on my 99 and 02.
I will warn, if you have a 4wd truck, if you remove the factory tow hooks, you have to put the bolts for those tow hooks back in place as they help secure the front of your leaf springs. I've seen where others just remove the tow hooks, leave the bolts out, then have issues with wandering steering.
Otherwise, just be sure you've got jacks, friends, hoists, lift equipment etc to make the install easier. They're not the lightest bumpers, but I've installed them by myself before.
Jacks and zip ties can keep the bumper balanced while you get into position to start the bolts (not an OSHA approved method)
I actually have a ranch hand on order, should be coming in any day now (left Atlanta three hours ago actually). Ever since I got the truck painted I've had countless encounters with deer getting ballsy, until two weeks ago when two Bambi's decided they wanted to race me up the road. Slowed down to a thirty mile gate, one decided to smack into the fender, the other went head first into my bumper and got drug about 50-100 feet, then started running again and went off (he deserved to live after that).
Thankfully only a dent in the bumper and no actual paint damage, I took it as my sign that I needed to invest $1400 in a bumper to help preserve my $8k paint job. Will post up once it comes in!
I actually have a ranch hand on order, should be coming in any day now (left Atlanta three hours ago actually). Ever since I got the truck painted I've had countless encounters with deer getting ballsy, until two weeks ago when two Bambi's decided they wanted to race me up the road. Slowed down to a thirty mile gate, one decided to smack into the fender, the other went head first into my bumper and got drug about 50-100 feet, then started running again and went off (he deserved to live after that).
Thankfully only a dent in the bumper and no actual paint damage, I took it as my sign that I needed to invest $1400 in a bumper to help preserve my $8k paint job. Will post up once it comes in!
thanks for your reply, which one did you get? Does it really take six weeks to get delivered?
thanks for your reply, which one did you get? Does it really take six weeks to get delivered?
The legend one, if you go through a dealer probably not, mine shipped out on the 6th from Oregon and had to be freighted across the country in a round-about linehaul. I'm sure an actual dealer could get it in a couple days max if it isn't in stock.
Wow! that baby looks nice!!! thats the one i'm looking at as well. Finally a nice clear picture,thanks! I think the only down side to that one is if i want to put a winch on down the road, that one isn't "capable" or winch ready. The legend that is winch ready doesn't look as good as yours imo.
Last edited by jstihl; 11-14-2017 at 03:06 PM.
Reason: blah
The legend one, if you go through a dealer probably not, mine shipped out on the 6th from Oregon and had to be freighted across the country in a round-about linehaul. I'm sure an actual dealer could get it in a couple days max if it isn't in stock.
ok i'll check around the dealers. I found a killer price online though. only 1,080.00. starting to wonder if there is something wrong with it, cause its so cheap..... not that a grand is cheap by any means but comparatively speaking
Went through this process a year ago, decided on Frontier. fit is very good and it looks great. Allows you to leave the tow hooks in place as well as fog lights.
Went through this process a year ago, decided on Frontier. fit is very good and it looks great. Allows you to leave the tow hooks in place as well as fog lights.
11-13-2017, 05:08 PM
