Front Aluminess bumper - Page 2

sdwindansea · 05-24-2010, 09:37 AM

Unless they changed something in the 2010 van, an extremely important advantage of the Aluminess bumper has been left out. It gives you front recovery points if you need to be pulled out of a "situation". The stock van/bumper does not have any front recovery points, a problem I'm still driving around with.

Switchfoot · 05-24-2010, 07:28 PM

Solved the lack of a front recovery point by using a bolt-on front receiver hitch and d-ring from etrailer.com. Fits nice, no messing with factory bumper valence.

Would love to have Aluminess front and rear, but $5K for bumpers is pretty darn steep! Maybe when the economy picks back up...

sdwindansea · 05-24-2010, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchfoot

Solved the lack of a front recovery point by using a bolt-on front receiver hitch and d-ring from etrailer.com. Fits nice, no messing with factory bumper valence.

Would love to have Aluminess front and rear, but $5K for bumpers is pretty darn steep! Maybe when the economy picks back up...

Switchfoot, can you please let me know which model you purchased from etrailer.com? Also, did you install it yourself and where there any "gotchas" along the way? Thanks!

Switchfoot · 05-25-2010, 02:27 PM

Here's two choices for a front receiver hitch. I got the least expensive one. http://www.etrailer.com/fmr-2007_Ford_Van.htm.

This is like the d-ring I bought except mine is a 7/8" stamped for 6.5 tons http://www.etrailer.com/Ball-Mounts/...y/TR63046.html.

Install was a piece of cake. Drilling some holes in the frame and fishing the bolts through (they give you little wire bolt holders) were the most difficult parts. The receiver bolts through the engineered crush zones on the front of the frame which may have safety implications because this area can no longer collapse in a collision as designed. This could influence how the airbags deploy too, but I haven't lost any sleep over it. SMB welds and/or bolts large leaf spring spring hangers over this same area of the frame so it can't be that critical. I look at it as adding strength and rigidity.

You have to take off a factory radiator air deflector to fit the receiver, but I plan on making something up to direct air flow from the lower bumper vents to the bottom of the radiator.

Here's some crappy pics of the front receiver. Pueblo Gold Metallic rules!

sdwindansea · 05-25-2010, 08:16 PM

Switchfoot, thanks so much for taking the time to post your install, links and pictures. That helps a ton and is now a project at the top of my list. It looks really good as well...a nice bonus. My only followup question is how did you "hold" the top of the bolts when tightening the nuts? Do the wire bolt holders accomplish this task as well?

The only other bumper I've considered is the one made by Camburg for the E-Series vans - http://www.camburg.com/?p=404. It is still pricey ($1300), but still significantly less than the Aluminess. It doesn't appear to have any airflow restrictions as well. The only part I'm unsure of is recovery points as I have not contacted them yet.

**daveb** · 05-25-2010, 11:22 PM

If you guys can, it would be nice to see what the componets are rated for (including the receiver mount). My rear shackle insert is rated somewhere about 7K Lbs. The van weighs 11K+. Greggde had a post about a anchor point that was rated much higher.

I never trust the Aluminess bumper shackles or the rear receiver for more than what the winch can single line at even if it can take more...I just don't push it. If I double block, I sometimes split the load with a harness when winching off the front bumper.

Switchfoot · 05-26-2010, 07:17 AM

Sdwindandsea - The receiver bolts tightened up fine with nothing needed to secure the portion inside the frame. I can't remember if the bolts had a special head or not.

Daveb - the front receiver I installed is rated for a line pull of 9,000 lbs. It's pretty stout and looks just like the factory rear receiver that is rated for 10,000 lbs. The D-ring website listing states 8,000 lbs capacity, but mine is stamped 6.5 tons.

I wouldn't hesitate to use the two to extricate the van in a difficult stuck situation. Hard to say what factor of safety the manufacturer used to establish the ratings to know if 11,000 lbs would be okay or not (Chinese vs. American steel, etc.). Seems to me the receiver bolts would rip out of the collapsible portion of the van frame before the receiver itself failed (but I'm a geologist and not an engineer).

**daveb** · 05-26-2010, 10:14 AM

Thanks a bunch...it's now on my list as well. Even though I have an aluminess bumper, the reciever will serve a few other purposes as well.