Power Wagon Registry

MikeKey wrote:I recently came across another option, but I see a few design flaws with it for that are shopping.

http://www.775fabrication.com/shopbumpe ... -2014-2017

I do see a few design flaws though, like how do you access the clutch lever for manual release of your line? And the plug cut out is... mhem. My plug died, this bumper would require removing to replace if yours went bad. With Kye's I was able to replace without removal of bumper.

I do like the angles on the lights, but it looks like it lacks some of Kye's protection. But it's another option for those wanting a bull bar too.

MikeKey, I have emailed 775 about this bumper. It is hard to see in the pictures but there are two diamond cutouts on the top face of the bumper to access the plug and clutch lever. Probably fine for accessing the clutch lever but you are right about the difficulty to replace a plug if it goes bad. It also requires a Hawes fairlead and switch to synthetic line. I'm considering this bumper too because I like the bull bar look but it still doesn't quite check all the ideal boxes. Haven't found that bumper yet.

The other options I have found along with Kye's:

http://www.addictivedesertdesigns.com/f ... ory-winch/

Just learned of these guys:
http://www.throttledownkustoms.com/c-13 ... dodge.html

All have compromises. Wish I was a good welder and fab guy.

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Hammerballs wrote: MikeKey, I have emailed 775 about this bumper. It is hard to see in the pictures but there are two diamond cutouts on the top face of the bumper to access the plug and clutch lever. Probably fine for accessing the clutch lever but you are right about the difficulty to replace a plug if it goes bad. It also requires a Hawes fairlead and switch to synthetic line. I'm considering this bumper too because I like the bull bar look but it still doesn't quite check all the ideal boxes. Haven't found that bumper yet.

The other options I have found along with Kye's:

http://www.addictivedesertdesigns.com/f ... ory-winch/

Just learned of these guys:
http://www.throttledownkustoms.com/c-13 ... dodge.html

All have compromises. Wish I was a good welder and fab guy.

aearles told me that too. I'm looking at those little holes and we both had the same thought, looks small as S//T - My lever takes some force not a flip of the finger. Really hard to gauge without seeing it in person.

I've mentioned these before, but I'll add them to this post for others (Especially you 3rd Gen guys): https://www.ocfwelding.com/bumpers - has some really nice bumpers. Nothing specifically for the PW, but based on feedback he can change any bumper. Also, guy is a full-time welder building this stuff. So lead time is better than others who are doing it as side business/hobbies.

My criteria (no particular order):
Easy manual and visual access to the winch
Must be able to retain stock winch mount
NO usage of a second fairlead of any sort
Minimal protrusion
Removable skidplate (that protects winch and swaybar motor)
Bow shackle mounts tie directly to frame at 3-4 bolts per side (designed for 3/4" pin minimum shackle, no smaller)
Must fit my (2) driving lights, (2) fog lights and (2) rocklights
High clearance but full width (I've hit the plastic under my headlights a few times)

Kinzer meets all but the lights and the removable skidplate. With a little tweaking, I think it could meet all but the removable skidplate.

The 775 looks great! But, I would never run a bumper with so little ability to see the winch spooling, with that second fairlead setup, I don't know how well you'd see the drum at all! Plus, looks like getting hands on the winch pug and lever would be difficult, even with those access holes. Also, I personally would want the shackle tabs mounted higher up, I'd grab those on rocks a LOT in that position.

Another glaring problem (just giving my opinion, here again) the 775 bumper is another new shop, charging more than AEV or ARB and they can't ship tomorrow like both of those companies can. That price needs to be under 2k.

If you are building a custom steel bumper with lead time, and you're not a top-tier brand company doing SEMA shows, it needs to be under 2k. You don't have a 2k ++ product. You're not a known brand. I know the exact quality I'll get from AEV. I don't know what to expect from you till I have the product.

Also, guys. What is with the laser cut logos. I get it, you want to be like the ROCKSTAR BRAND, but maybe wait until people want your logo on their trucks before plastering giant LOGOs on things.

RAM4ROKS wrote:The 775 looks great! But, I would never run a bumper with so little ability to see the winch spooling, with that second fairlead setup, I don't know how well you'd see the drum at all! Plus, looks like getting hands on the winch pug and lever would be difficult, even with those access holes. Also, I personally would want the shackle tabs mounted higher up, I'd grab those on rocks a LOT in that position.

Yeah, that fairlead design is bad. And tells me the designer/welder hasn't spent a lot of engineering time thinking about it. If I was 775 I'd consider ripping off Kye's opening style with my own flavor. (Sorry Kye)

It's clear that Kye spent time thinking about all the pull angle on the winch line. I'll have no problems. I can see all kinds of problems with the double head design. Including failures.

The other thing I'm thinking about are those shackle mounts, look like fangs, and they're going to get dragged on things a lot if you actually use the bumper the way I use mine. Not a bad design, just might have done it differently. They are def going to get scratched to hell.

I love the angles under the headlamps and the bull bar on the bumper. It's a great design from a starting perspective. But there is room for improvement there. Especially with the whole winching setup. That just doesn't look thought thru. Especially for the price tag.

Just thought I'd update this real quick. I am going to be adding Baja Designs Squadron Pro LED's to the bumper.

https://www.bajadesigns.com/products/sq ... -combo.asp

The measurements match up perfectly, however the mounts that came with the bumper will have to go.

NOT PRODUCTION QAULITY


I don't want to post this, but I'm pretty upset about the overall quality. My high from Moab has come down. I left a few exchanges I had with Kye out of my original review in an attempt to be fair.

But the fact remains, the bumper is not production quality. At best, it's like I had a buddy who just learned to weld do the work.

I mentioned in my first review about the back of the bumper not being welded. That was a serious concern of mine. And I DID DENT THIS BUMPER in Moab because of a lack of rear reinforcement on the back lower half of it.

That being said, I am paying someone else and getting a lot of the welds fixed. Most of the welds on this bumper are of low quality with zero penetration in some places. Some places like the backside as I stated earlier weren't welded at all. I'm sorry, but THIS IS NOT PRODUCTION QUALITY.

Did I mention all the scratches in the metal? It's as if he used a hard abrasive disk to sand it. I'm having a lot of work put into fixing all the mistakes Kye made.

Evidence supplied. Note, the person fixing my bumper had already begun grinding on things when I took these photos.













My final verdict, DO NOT BUY FROM KINZER OFFROAD.

I remember my first custom bumper; coincidentally it looked like the same quality. "Trust me, I'm an engineer"...anything you say sport.

Damn dude , mine was nothing that poor !! maybe he used a different welder for mine. I had the one cracked weld.

TheDirtRoad wrote:Damn dude , mine was nothing that poor !! maybe he used a different welder for mine. I had the one cracked weld.

One too many. You also welded the back.

MikeKey wrote:

TheDirtRoad wrote:Damn dude , mine was nothing that poor !! maybe he used a different welder for mine. I had the one cracked weld.

One too many. You also welded the back.

Yes I did weld the back. Which IMO should have been done initially.
Hey you gonna put some drain holes in the skid plate?

Some of it looks like flux core, some looks like poor gas coverage. Weird to see both on the same piece. He wasn't doing any of the welding, correct?

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Agree with Firerescue. Some look mig welded without any gas, others look like flux-core that the sittings was set wrong. Too much wire, not enough voltage. Wonder if they did the welding next to a shop door that was open with a strong breeze blowing through?

Yea. Well it's getting fixed. I'm also making some changes. Well I'm not, DamageWagon is doing the work for me. I just shower money down on him and point and say do XYZ and it magically happens.

Some of the photos are hard to tell because I had already ground or wire wheeled them, but it all looks like MIG to me. For sure the welds on the tow hooks were MIG and had very bad gas coverage. I think they all look confusing because several welds are done with different settings. On one of the only 2 inside welds done on the plate, it's obvious the welder used one setting for a few inches and then changed settings for the next few inches. Overall it just looks like a very underpowered machine was used, OR a too-low setting was used to compensate for al the joints being outside knife-edge welds since every piece is completely separate and there aren't any bends. Oh well.

MikeKey wrote:Yea. Well it's getting fixed. I'm also making some changes. Well I'm not, DamageWagon is doing the work for me. I just shower money down on him and point and say do XYZ and it magically happens.

Stop dominating all his time. He was supposed to help me with my airbags over a beer.

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TankerZak wrote:

MikeKey wrote:Yea. Well it's getting fixed. I'm also making some changes. Well I'm not, DamageWagon is doing the work for me. I just shower money down on him and point and say do XYZ and it magically happens.

Stop dominating all his time. He was supposed to help me with my airbags over a beer.

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Haha yeah we gotta do that too!

Hate to say it but my arc welding day today makes me want to say I could do better than that. If it was mig it should have been way better. Less he used like a 70-80amp flux core buzz box. But even then some 030 wire and max heat could have pulled off a better weld. Glad yo caught it before it broke at the most inconvenient time!!

Kinda like a Road Rhino U-Weld-It bumper kit...

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VERY disappointing to see the poor welds. Sorry to see this MikeKey. Especially a bummer since it's a good design at what would be a fair price (if the welds were better) and one of the only truly Wagon specific bumpers on the market. Good work DamageWagon fixing that hot mess!!!! I look forward to seeing the end result with you on the task! I wish you were closer, I have a TON of welding work I need done for my Wagon!!!! (I've got all the materials, just no time, DOH!!!)

Well, I'm in Boise, I could just keep driving East...

DamageWagon wrote:Well, I'm in Boise, I could just keep driving East...

I've got plenty of beer, a pool, and am near some fun southeast wheeling spots! Heck, I'm only 2 hours from Overland Expo East and 1 hour from American Adventurist Appalachian Rendezvous! You know you want to come weld tons of things for me.... I mean.... umm.... see all the awesome wheeling the southeast has to offer! (yeah, that's it!)

RAM4ROKS wrote:

DamageWagon wrote:Well, I'm in Boise, I could just keep driving East...

I've got plenty of beer, a pool, and am near some fun southeast wheeling spots! Heck, I'm only 2 hours from Overland Expo East and 1 hour from American Adventurist Appalachian Rendezvous! You know you want to come weld tons of things for me.... I mean.... umm.... see all the awesome wheeling the southeast has to offer! (yeah, that's it!)

Haha hey buddy, if it was a profitable enterprise I'd pencil it in as soon as I was done with Boise! Sounds like tons of fun to live there, although I think if I want to join the wheeling you're doing I'll build my tube buggy first I at least have a few sheet metal panels without major dents still!

You're gonna need to set up a mobile fab shop at this point. I can get u a good deal on a 27' cargo trailer lol.

This thread reminds me of the crap I had to go through with my Fusion rear bumper. Never buy from those assholes!!!!!