drafalske

Good morning guys! I got rear ended yesterday on my way out to lunch. Total bummer. No one was hurt, and the damage to my truck was minor (but whooeee, you should that poor Jeep Cherokee)... hoowever I will need a new bumper. I'd been wanting one of those sexy looking stainless drop bumpers for a while, looks like this is my chance to get one for free. Both body shops I went to for estimates have agreed to use an aftermarket bumper in place of the Mopar one. But I can't decide what I want. I'm afraid a drop bumper will interfere with my hitch, and everything else I see just looks too "stock". Any suggestions on where I should look? If anyone has one istalled, I'd love to see some pics. Thanks in advance for all your help!!!
-D

Commatoze

Sorry to hear about your mishap. Yes, the Dodge bumper is flimsy, as they all are these days. I don't know how much weight you pull, but if it's under 15K, I'd recommend the Reunel bumper. The bumper is actually the hitch as it mounts directly to the frame where the hitch goes. The receiver is a separate assembly and mounts under the bumper with 2 enormous bolts. If you click on my gallery, you can see the mounting process of the bumper. I opted for the stainless skin over steel, but it can be fabricated entirely out of stainless for a price. The holes in the bumper are now filled with driving lights to aid in backing up. The bumper weighs around 170 lbs. and is extremely stout. With the receiver, the options, and shipping it came to around $900.

Palmetto_kid

i have a bumper from these guys: http://toughcountry.com/dodge/

They make great products, and have good customer service.

jfpointer

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...threadid=41956

Luverne Truck equipment 8" drop rear bumper. About $300. Thread reference above has a picture that's not great but should give you an idea what it looks like.

BarryG

Yet one more option is that Denver Off Road is now starting to produce a rear bumper. I do not have pics but have been to Laynes shop and saw one (actually 10 of them). I did order one. It utilizes the factory hitch. It has storage in it as well. It is approximately the same depth, width and length of the stock bumper. However the locking top hinges up and allows storage. The storage is approximately 4-5 inches by 6-7 inches by the length of the bumper. A high lift jack will fit in it. He also has options for swing-away tire and can carriers for it. There were some pictures of it on another site. I will see if I can locate them and post a link.

Ok found the thread. Go to the second page most of the way down to Josparkz he has some pictures there. He has one with the tire carrier on it.
http://www.turbodieselregister.com/f...5&pagenumber=2

drafalske

Great info guys! Pointer... looks like exactly what I want. Best of all... the other guys insurance will be paying for it, and my body shop will be installing it!!!
-Dave

jfpointer

No easier way to install it than having someone else do it, that's for sure.

Really, installing would have been quite a bit easier if it hadn't been near dark when I was doing it It's heavier than the stock bumper, but still not too much for a pretty normal sized guy to pick up by himself. Since it just barely clears the hitch, I was able to get it balanced on top of the tube and have the bolt holes lined up enough to get the bolts in it.

I will say that Denver Off Road one that's referenced looks pretty nice, especially with the built-in storage, but it seems a bit pricey to me.

Crimedog

I will second the Luverne. I love mine, I had the 10" on when I bought it. Putnam sells a class V hitch for the 10" drop, and let me say it fits up perfectly. It looks real nice, and deflected a van quite well (more than I can say for the van).

Here is a kind of crappy winter pic, but you can see how the hitch tucks up nicely against the bumper

Saxet Nomad

I agree with Palmetto_kid's suggestion with the tough country bumper( http://toughcountry.com/dodge/ ) You won't have to worry about getting hit from behind anymore. I also like the one on the front of mine...(see my photo gallery). It'll get the slow people to move over when they see a chunk of iron rattling in their rearview mirror!!