Need a good cheaper bumper. It's only a matter of Time before I hit a deer on my New commute route. 

Any recommendations?

The one that came on it OEM is pretty cheap....................

The beefed up ones for such a situation aint cheap.  

I have to be able to have a justification for the budget committee...

If I total the truck, it's a deductible. If I buy a bumper, it starts at 1000. But I really like my truck...

I think im getting warmer!

http://cppdiesel.com/cpp-you-build-it-bumper-new-design-94-02-dodge-ram/?gclid=CKqa49i3-MgCFYZefgod910JwQ

Edited November 5, 20159 yr by hex0rz

They "Heavy duty front bumpers" have been around for so long now that I find tons of used ones all over the net on various classified sites for half of new. Especially for 2nd gen Dodge pickups.

I have bought 3 Ranch hands and absolutely love them, for 1100 bucks each they all have more than paid themselves back with saved deductibles for deer collisions on all 3 rigs especially my 05 Cummins, I have taken out probably 6 deer over the years already. My 2010 Hemi has taken out 3 I can think of as well.

The one on the right looks like something out of MadMax...

9 hours ago, Wild and Free said:

They "Heavy duty front bumpers" have been around for so long now that I find tons of used ones all over the net on various classified sites for half of new. Especially for 2nd gen Dodge pickups.

I have bought 3 Ranch hands and absolutely love them, for 1100 bucks each they all have more than paid themselves back with saved deductibles for deer collisions on all 3 rigs especially my 05 Cummins, I have taken out probably 6 deer over the years already. My 2010 Hemi has taken out 3 I can think of as well.

You sure are tough on the deer population!

For some reason I cannot type text in a post but I can post up pictures.  I ran out of time this morning to mess with it.  Now I am on my phone typing this, must be something up with the computer.  

Anyways what I wanted to write was that the truck on the right (mine)  cost around 200 for the front bumper.  I found it on Craigslist for $125 and spent about $75 on steel and paint.  The bumper originally was on tow truck.  Everything is 1/4" or bigger.  I guess it weighs around 250lbs.   I hit a deer once with the truck and it did some minor damage.  After that I decided I needed something to remedy that.

1 hour ago, Buzzinhalfdozen said:

You sure are tough on the deer population!

Just cleaning house on the suicidal critters..................trying to keep the roads safer for those without.

 

Rut just started and deer gun season opens at noon tomorrow and runs through 3 weekends and 2 weeks so they will be out even more for a couple weeks around me, I live in the middle of heavy Mule and White tail deer country so twice the amount of critters to watch for.

What keywords are you using to find these bumpers?

When I found that one I just typed in bumper and searched various cities.  I am on Craigslist almost everyday just checking what's out there.  Sadly I do a daily search for cummins.  Sometimes I come across ranch hand style bumpers using that key word.  I also find stuff by scrolling through the for sale section.  When I found my bumper I was searching sheboygan and found it down in Random Lake which is 20 miles away.  I was looking to either buy a new bumper or pick something up of craigslist I was not in hurry and looked for probably 4 or 5 months before I went the route I did.

One doesn't even need to go the full bumper replacement anymore, most of the companies have extremely solid bolt on grill guards now as well. I would not be afraid of going that route seeing some of them the last couple years, these are not the cheap chrome plated tinny junkers. They are even more reasonable at 3-500 used.

Duly noted. Cpp you build it kit looks very attractive. But only when the funds allow, lol.

I'll look into the grill guards..

How about deer whistles at $29.95 for a pair or place a whole row on the front bumper?

I got a CCP bumper kit when they were on sale for $499.  Awesome deal! Still a good deal at $599.

This is the bumper I have on my truck http://bumpersuperstore.com/i-11597331-tough-country-afr0025d-apache-front-bumper-dodge-ram-2500hd-3500-1996-2002.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cse&utm_term=11597331&gclid=CLTbk9P3g8kCFQiraQodNx0KJw

It's built by a shop that's about 20 minutes away from me. It's built very well and I've been happy with it. Here's the place that builds them http://www.toughcountry.com/fronts.php

8 hours ago, joecool911 said:

I got a CCP bumper kit when they were on sale for $499.  Awesome deal! Still a good deal at $599.

Do those come with the grill guard  or is that extra? I looked at the web site and it sounded like about $ 600 for just the bumper, and if you want the grill protection its quite a bit extra. Im looking at beefing up mine and looking at the full protection.

No grill guard. I'm going to do that on my own. Grill guard part is pricy from CCP. 

yep, that might be the deal killer for me, It is a good looking bumper though

Can you bend 2inch Dom tubing?