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treks/tnt prerunner bumper good?
- Thread starter vagrant
- Start date
oakesters
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Rohnert park Ca
Tnt makes nice stuff, But do you want a winch bumper?
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Well... I'll be the first to say, I'm not a fan of tnt/treks. I've had issues with them in the past.
Now, onto that bumper, IMO it's not really a prerunner bumper. The point of a prerunner bumper is to be a few things. Light is one of them, that thing doesn't look light. Second it needs to be strong, strong enough that you can nerf someone or hit your skid and not have it fold. Third, the "stinger" style bar across the top, is there to protect lights... not a winch. It also needs to act as a skid plate for some hard hits, if you nose into a whoop, etc. That bumper looks strongISH but that's about it.
Now, onto that bumper, IMO it's not really a prerunner bumper. The point of a prerunner bumper is to be a few things. Light is one of them, that thing doesn't look light. Second it needs to be strong, strong enough that you can nerf someone or hit your skid and not have it fold. Third, the "stinger" style bar across the top, is there to protect lights... not a winch. It also needs to act as a skid plate for some hard hits, if you nose into a whoop, etc. That bumper looks strongISH but that's about it.
JeepFreak21
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Cameron Park, CA
Some pictures of their bumper:
It's probably worth mentioning that those two are Grand Cherokees.
Billy
JeepFreak21
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Cameron Park, CA
Do most people/companies that build "pre-runner" bumpers make the "stinger" that big for looks then? Tall stingers like that seem to be fairly common on "pre-runner" bumpers. Do they provide any radiator or hood protection in a rollover? I would think that in a race enviroment, you'd have bigger problems on your hands in the event of a rollover.
Billy
Is there anything I should know about Tnt/treks? Everyone I've talked to says they make great stuff. That was why I was wondering if this bumper would be a good runner bumper.
All of the pictures I've found don't show the mounting area which is the most important aspect I would imagine. They do have a steering box brace that will integrate with this bumper. It says on their website they take "weight into consideration" to paraphrase. Wonder how much this bumper weighs and if it will handle a nosedive without anchoring?
Do you have any other recommendations for a good prerunner bumper?
Thanks everyone!
I found a few pictures of the mounting system they use. It appears to be overkill for prerunning, but it would probably really help to stiffen the front end, especially with their steering box brace?
It does look heavy though. One post on here says it's 70lbs. How does that compare to other bumpers? That's a lot of steel on the front end of a nose-heavy vehicle.
It does look heavy though. One post on here says it's 70lbs. How does that compare to other bumpers? That's a lot of steel on the front end of a nose-heavy vehicle.
70 lbs. sounds very heavy. I bet I could make one that was no more then 40 lbs. Stay tuned on that one. I have a new bumper in the works.
Do most people/companies that build "pre-runner" bumpers make the "stinger" that big for looks then? Tall stingers like that seem to be fairly common on "pre-runner" bumpers. Do they provide any radiator or hood protection in a rollover? I would think that in a race enviroment, you'd have bigger problems on your hands in the event of a rollover.
Billy
I think so, it serves as a bar for the lights mostly like I said, and also something to "nerf" people with haha. Basically a bumper bar to tell the slow person in front of you to move outta the way. A lot of guys now days though who don't actually race, are just running no top bar, and just the lower bar. Keep's it a bit more low profile, some like the look better, and keeps it lighter. Like this:
Well, again this is just my personal opinion of them. I know a lot of people swear by them, and I won't knock them for that. I personally just had a really bad experience with them. Their rock rails didn't fit for shit, and I ended up selling them. And when I bought a pair of shackles for a buddy they ended up charging me for someone elses $500 order, and it took a week to straighten out because "their secretary was out of the office." When it finally DID get straightened out it was just that, "There you go, it's taken care of" I didn't get an apology, or an offer to reimburse me for any overdraft charges I might have incurred (luckily I had the money at the time).
So realistically I just won't be buying from them ever again. I did however pick up some frame stiffeners from them, only because they were dirt cheap.
As for a bumper, you really are probably better off having one custom built. You'll end up paying a bit less most likely than the treks one for a custom built one, depending on how crazy you go with it. expect around 350-500 for a good bumper from a GOOD fab shop. Head over to dezertrangers.com and cruise the boards for a while, feel it out, and you'll learn who does good work and who doesn't. On another thread here somewhere about bumpers, I posted up a few good fab guys.
THe mounting system they use is definitely not overkill, you want to mount it as good as possible. If the time comes you ever have to USE your bumper, you don't want it ripping off. I have to do something about mine since it's only held on by 2 bolts on each side.
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GrimmJeeper
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Gardena, CA
note to self: drive slow in front of Jim cause his bumper is only held on by 4 bolts and he cant nerf me.
:laugh: You have to get in front of me firstnote to self: drive slow in front of Jim cause his bumper is only held on by 4 bolts and he cant nerf me.
- Location
- Lafayette, CA
A friend of mine has one, and it is a very nice winch bumper.
It was designed as just that, a winch bumper, not as a prerunner bumper. It has a very good mount system, looks pretty good, and handles winching well, but none of that is all that important for the go fast crowd.
I would look at other bumpers if you will be doing lots of go fast stuff.
It was designed as just that, a winch bumper, not as a prerunner bumper. It has a very good mount system, looks pretty good, and handles winching well, but none of that is all that important for the go fast crowd.
I would look at other bumpers if you will be doing lots of go fast stuff.
Jump This
Just another minion!
- Location
- Borrego Springs Ca.
You know that most of the prerunner guys go both ways!
So a winch isn't such a bad idea.
So a winch isn't such a bad idea.
- Location
- Lafayette, CA
I dont want to know what happens down in the desert!:confused1
I would think a 80lbs winch hanging off the front of the Jeep is one of the last things you would want. I know when I went to JV, I was hating my huge winch and winch bumper and will be redoing it with something lighter.
dakineJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- central OR.
Just mount your winch in the rear.
chris_amrein
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- fullerton
I really like Chris's bumper. Good and strong for nerfing and it looks like it would save the radiator in a roll.
Keep in mind there have been some Jeepspeed racers that do not run a "prerunner" bumper, just the stock bumper by itself. I believe the thinking is that they were not going to nerf anyone so why take the weight penalty.
I usually only nerf in pre-race staging to say "hi", but we did have an incident where we hit a rolled car sitting in thick dust. The bumper saved our car and luckily no one was injured.
Chris
Keep in mind there have been some Jeepspeed racers that do not run a "prerunner" bumper, just the stock bumper by itself. I believe the thinking is that they were not going to nerf anyone so why take the weight penalty.
I usually only nerf in pre-race staging to say "hi", but we did have an incident where we hit a rolled car sitting in thick dust. The bumper saved our car and luckily no one was injured.
Chris
