Another winch bumper option for 92-96 trucks

[mattplumber]

Been wanting a bumper to mount the 12k warn ive had in storage for years but just havent found anything i really liked for 92-96 style trucks, not that there are many options out there.
Warn used to make some nice ones, but they have been discontinued as well as a few other companies that made winch type bumpers.
RanchHand stuff really never impressed me, it was super expensive new, with crappy welds and cheap finishes(Painted, not powdercoated.)
Reunel makes nice ones, but their lead time for production and overall availability was non-existant.
Bronco Graveyard had some nice stuff, but nothing with grill/light protection and powder coating was an additional expense if i rember correctly.

Ive always had ARB bumpers on all my Land Cruisers, a Tacoma, and even a Range Rover once. They are top notch quality and tough as nails. They just didnt make any for Fords until the Super Duty came out. They did make one for 87-91 Broncos back in the early 90's but according to their design manager they only sold like 15 of them in 5 years, so production ended quickly.

This bumper was intended for a 88-98 Chevy ARB bar #3462030. I made it work on my truck.
I used very little of the chevy mounting parts included in the kit w/ the bumper with the exception of 2 triangular nut plates.

I just cut off my stock bumper brackets(read: PITA!), drilled some holes thru the frame and bumper and mounted it up.
I had to cut just a small amount of steel from the bumper on the corners to get it to clear the contours of the truck better, but no big deal..........
Overall the thing fit damn near like a glove. Its just a tad on the small side width wise but beggars cant be choosers.
Here are some pics-

 

[mattplumber]

A couple more pics

 

[mattplumber]

after I mount the winch, im going to make some strengthening gussets and plates to weld from the bumper to the frame as well as a cross brace between the inside edges of the bumper and frame with some 1-5/8" DOM for side to side support. Looks good I think.......

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

I can't believe that's a Chevy intended piece, looks like it was born there.

Very nice job and write up

 

[Matrix37495]

I like it!



Why are Chevy trucks so much narrower than Fords?

 

[Diesel_brad]

Looks nice, but that would never fly here. It blocks the front blinkers

 

[Rot Box]

That looks awesome I've always been a huge fan of the ARB bull bars--looks like it was made for your truck

 

[mattplumber]

Looks nice, but that would never fly here. It blocks the front blinkers

Just out of curiosity, if you wired the indicators supplied with the bumper to your turn signals would that be legit? Thats the way ive always wired mine............

I know those inspections yall go thru up there can literally mean the last dance for our trucks of advancing age, especially when rust takes over, but never knew they looked for things like that Brad..............

 

[Diesel_brad]

O, I thought those lights in the bumper were fog/driving lights. If they are blinkers, they would be legal here.

Yes, Inspections cab be a real pain. If you have fog lights on the truck, they BETTER work or if fails. How asinine is that, an AUXILIARY light has to work

 

[Darrin Tosh]

Nice Job on the bumper!, It actually looks better than the ARB that was designed for the Fords!

Here is one that I had on a Bronco here at the car lot, It is a Brick Nose but you get the idea,..

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[mattplumber]

Yea Darrin, thats one of the limited run that ARB had for the 87-91 Broncos. Apparently they only made like 15 or so. Back then, ARB wasn't widely distributed stateside and to get one you had to find a dealer and order one and play the waiting game for it to come from their factory in Australia. I still would love to see a pic of the backside of that bumper to see how it mounted........

 

[Darrin Tosh]

Yea Darrin, thats one of the limited run that ARB had for the 87-91 Broncos. Apparently they only made like 15 or so. Back then, ARB wasn't widely distributed stateside and to get one you had to find a dealer and order one and play the waiting game for it to come from their factory in Australia. I still would love to see a pic of the backside of that bumper to see how it mounted........

WOW one of 15,..Had I known that I wold have pulled it and put on a stock bumper on to sell the truck,..Then hung onto it for future projects,...oh well.

Sorry to say I have no other pics of that,

Again nice job on yours!

 

[riotwarrior]

Very impressive nice write up and great pics, that unit does look fantastic on there.

 

[SLC97SR5]

That looks very good on there!