some blonde twit crunched my bumper in a parking lot, so i'm taking the insurance and a couple of hundred extra bucks and getting a nice shrockworks piece. anyways, i ordered it bare steel, and i'm lookin for opinions on whether i should paint it flat black, body color (black), or something else. here's my truck when it was a little shinier...


here's a couple of the bumper...




[Edited on January 5, 2006 at 7:10 PM. Reason : approximately what would line-x on something this size cost?]

1/5/2006 7:08:40 PM

Line-X

1/5/2006 7:09:20 PM

i personally think that bumper is fugly

looks good stock

1/5/2006 7:26:56 PM

ask coronakid what happens when you have a bumper like that and hit somebody.

1/5/2006 7:32:32 PM

^^i did not ask opinions on the bumper itself. its bought and paid for. the stock bumper looks alright, but has absolutely no reinforcement (foam, metal or otherwise) and is no thicker than a frisbee. the girl hit me right on the drivers frame rail and due to the lack of reinforcement in the corner, she made it all the way to the tire and fucked up both control arms. i mean, i understand crash safety and all, but wtf.
i'll take a pic in a bit. remember, this happened in a parking lot for god's sake. she Destroyed my bumper and did suspension damage at under 15 miles an hour.

i know this won't protect the tire any better, but i fuckin hate plastic. its not a fuckin saturn]

[Edited on January 5, 2006 at 7:40 PM. Reason : i know this won't protect the tire any better, but i fuckin hate plastic. its a truck not a saturn]

1/5/2006 7:37:29 PM

good side


bad side




[Edited on January 5, 2006 at 8:14 PM. Reason : s]

1/5/2006 8:13:31 PM

Quote :

"the girl hit me right on the drivers frame rail and due to the lack of reinforcement in the corner, she made it all the way to the tire and fucked up both control arms. i mean, i understand crash safety and all, but wtf."

that's good logic. now when you get hit, the frame will bend but at least you would have saved a tire and tie rods.

1/5/2006 8:17:37 PM

most of the impact was apsorbed by the drivers frame horn anyways. it was the only thing solid that she encountered before the tire, and did most of the damage to her car. at least the steel bumper might absorb impact if it bends/deflects. i destroyed the front end of a nissan from the engine block forward with my dad's gm1500 a couple of years ago when a girl pulled out in front of me. i took her at 90degrees and removed the front foot and a half of her car. the only damage to the pickup was about 1.5" delfection in the corner of the bumper. it had to be replaced, but no frame or body damage to the rest of the truck.

1/5/2006 8:34:08 PM

dude your logic is badly flawed.

1/5/2006 8:44:46 PM

^explain.

my view:
1)plastic bumper disipates very little energy upon impact.
bending/deflection of steel bumper can absorb significant amounts of energy
2)w/ plastic bumper, frame horns and/or tire absorb remaining energy
w/ steel bumper, frame horns and/or tire absorb remaining energy

regardless, my question was about which COLOR would look best for the new bumper

[Edited on January 5, 2006 at 8:58 PM. Reason : n]

1/5/2006 8:49:09 PM

black

1/5/2006 10:15:09 PM

^thank you, glad someone besides underpsi finally responded to the actual question.

also, anyone have guestimate as to what line-xing it would cost?

1/5/2006 10:26:07 PM

300

1/5/2006 10:34:56 PM

I agree with black. Maybe a matte black or something of the such.

I have a whole gallon of generic coach black alkyd enamel...durable and inexpensive. It won't be Line-X, but it's something. You prep it, I'll shoot it for cheap. This IS gloss paint, which might not be exactly what you want.

1/5/2006 10:35:49 PM

^ second that.

1/5/2006 10:55:04 PM

pickle green

1/5/2006 11:14:21 PM

line x

1/6/2006 8:23:09 AM

finally got the bumper in and fitted up so i could trim the grill. getting painted this week. i noticed it mounts up about 1/4" to the right, so i'm going to have to find some way to correct that. other than that, i like it a lot.


I'm very happy with the quality overall, everything is straight and clean. welds look good too.



" The entire bumper is made of 3/16" steel plate except where the mounting plates are, which are made of 3/8" steel plate. The tubing used is 1.5-2.0" in diameter (thicker center hoop, thinner headlights guards) and very smoothly bent. The wings are extremely stiff and are short enough to accomodate large tires without trimming required as with the ARB. Strong and beefy, yet only 105 pounds - able to accomodate winches rated up to 9,500 pounds. Another point to note vs. the ARB bumper is that the ShrockWorks unit hangs down 3" less - giving you a better approach angle."

[Edited on February 19, 2006 at 6:05 PM. Reason : d]

2/19/2006 6:02:26 PM

more pics in the gallery



[Edited on February 19, 2006 at 6:44 PM. Reason : gg]

2/19/2006 6:43:12 PM

u gonna leave it bare metal?

2/19/2006 6:48:03 PM

nope, already paid the body guy who's been working on it to finish painting and fitting it. probably going with a dark grey to somewhat match the rear bumper, rack, plastic bed trim, wheels, etc. something similar to the gray crap thats on all the non-ground metal. it would be a ball of rust inside of a month otherwise.


[Edited on February 19, 2006 at 6:52 PM. Reason : d]

2/19/2006 6:50:32 PM

grey linex

2/19/2006 6:59:11 PM

body man has been paid, and linex would cost nearly as much as the bumper itself. linex on a bumper won't be guaranteed either, so repairs would be expensive when necessary.

2/19/2006 7:11:24 PM

looks mean

2/19/2006 8:02:57 PM

now it's a real 4x4 and can go anywhere.

2/19/2006 8:15:27 PM

^not quite, i still need a big safari rack with a highlift jack and at least 6 or so hellas.

[Edited on February 19, 2006 at 8:21 PM. Reason : ]

2/19/2006 8:20:57 PM

how bout some lockers, lift, and tires?

2/19/2006 9:30:11 PM

paint it don't shoot me orange

2/19/2006 9:40:43 PM

dont forget stickers

2/19/2006 9:58:31 PM

guess i need a snorkel too!

^^^hmm.. not catch the sarcasm? i realized that my truck was not necessarily in need of a new bumper, but since the stock one was being replaced by insurance, i didn't see the point in replacing it again later on. on the same note, i'm not going to waste good money on bigger tires until the current ones need replacing. I just started a new job, and don't have the money or time to spend on fun stuff right now. However, i have a work truck now, and this truck isn't a daily driver anymore.

[Edited on February 19, 2006 at 11:02 PM. Reason : d]

2/19/2006 10:43:13 PM

so you going to add some fog lights on it too?

2/20/2006 9:35:19 AM

Not going to spend any more money on it in the time being. trying to buy a house right now. maybe find something to fit in the license holder and cover up the fairlead mounting hole since i have no need of winch anytime soon. maybe a ncstate plate or something

2/20/2006 1:36:38 PM