RANCH HAND FRONT END REPL.?

[CRUZILLA]

I AM THNKING ABOUT THIS BUMPER FOR MY TRUCK BUT I HAVE QUESTIONS HOW IT WILL EFFECT THE INTER COOLER AND WINTER OPERATION / COLD WEATHER OPERATION. IS ANYONE NOT HAPPY WITH THE QUALITY? I LIVE IN NJ AND CANT SEEM TO FIND ONE ON A D/A AROUND HERE. I WAS ALSO WONDERING ABOUT HOW WELL THEY FIT THE TRUCK AND ANY MOUNTING PROBLEMS.ANY FEED BACK WOULD BE GREAT BEFORE I BUY IT. (P.S.-HIT A MOOSE IN MAINE WITH MY OLD TRUCK AND WOULD FEEL BETTER WITH SOME PROTECTION.) :mad:

[afp]

Ranch Hand's are big heavy bumpers that extend a good 12-14" in front of the truck. I hear they compress the front suspension quite a bit.

Becasue of alll that, I used a front end replacemet from Frontier. It is lighter, only sticks out a few inches in front of the truck, and only compressed the front suspension about 1/4". The Frontier cost $697, which I believe is less than the Ranch Hand.

Here is their website address, and they finally show the GM full-front end replacement: http://www.frontier-gear.com/

Blaine

[wushaw]

I have one that is just like a Ranch Hand that weighs @200lbs and I had it sprayed with Line-X. If you do get a Ranch Hand just measure the height of your ft. end like from the wheel well edge to the ground and after your replacement just crank up on your torsion bars to put it back to factory height. There is even a sticker by the torsion bar bolts to say to adjust them to back to factory specs if weight is added to ft. end.
I have 21,000 on my truck and it has been on there since day one and I have had no problems at all with anything. I have the hitch reciver built into mine and have used it to pull someone out of a ditch and have pushed vehicles with it. I wouldn't even think about doing that with the factory beer can that was on there.

[Turbo Al]

Moved to Accessories forum

[Michigana_Joe]

I have Ranch Hands front and rear on our '99 2500 Suburban and will have them on my Silverado soon. Cheap insurance against deer and people in parking lots that don't seem to know where the front of their car/truck ends. I couldn't even guess the number of times that these bumpers have payed for themselves -- very satisfied to say the least. The only problem I have had is some rust after last winter -- I touched them up, but I do need to get them re-powder coated soon.

Not sure about winter operation yet, but I will be dealing with it myself this winter. The extra weight did require a few turns on the torsion bar bolts, but I actually raised the front end about an 1" higher than stock. Ride quality is now better than it was stock -- the extra weight seemed to help.

[Pizza Man]

No replacement bumber for me because of the extra weight and the darn things sticks out too far. The crew cab is already long enough. But check out the pics too see how the trans4mer was mounted on a 2001 dually crew cab duramax.

[ski]

check out www.roadarmor.com. (http://www.roadarmor.com.) very high quality, sharp looking and well built. a bit more expensive than ranch hand, but worth it in IMO. less weight, nice style and strong

[silva455]

I've got a "cow catcher" on the front of my truck that I'm looking to replace with a stock bumper. I can email you some pictures. contact me at silva455@hotmail.com