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. The MIG work lacked proper penetration like the person didn't use enough gas.
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.
The other thing I learned is that the owner doesn't actually build these. He hired someone else to do the work, and just designed the bumper. And doesn't seem 100% interested in growing his own business. There are some business end issues I had with my purchase. The main one being that when I asked about delays, I was treated like I was a hassle.
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.
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MY ORGINAL REVIEW
So we've been in Moab for a little over 11 days. And have wheeled the truck almost every day with the bumper. What follows are my thoughts on the ordering process, dealing with Kye and overall impressions of the bumper. I know some of you have been PMing me asking what's up and if I got my bumper yet. And where I got it from.
I placed my order on February 28th, 2017 for one of Kye's bumpers. I paid a total of $1,998.00 usd via Paypal.
http://forum.powerwagonregistry.org/vie ... f=6&t=4513
My initial quote for a lead time was exactly this:
However, Kye informed me on March 10th, that he was still waiting on his truck. And I sent him another email on March 20th asking him for an update, if he had received his truck. I heard back later that day that he would be receiving it the following Friday. On March 30th, I sent another email, asking for an update on the status of the bumper build.Lead time is currently estimated 3 weeks+ shipping. The only thing that could potentially delay that is the delivery of my new power wagon. It is supposed to be delivered by this Friday, but has been delayed once already. At the moment I am truckless, and I test fit each bumper prior to painting to ensure the fit is great.
I received an email reply that same Friday evening from Kye that he was getting his truck the following Friday.
Now, here is where I get annoyed, I sent him a follow-up on April 7th, seven days later hoping for an update. And another one on April 9th, after no reply. And what I got back from Kye was this, my emails are included for fairness.
However bumper didn't actually ship out until the 17th of April, and I received it the day before we left for Moab on April 26th. Overall though, I suppose 8 business days isn't terrible for freight. But TheDirtRoad had his bumper shipped on April 21 and received his at his door, the same day I picked mine up.
I don't think Kye thought out in advance the shipping process. Kye chose a transport company that doesn't service the area he was shipping the bumper too. They sent the bumper to El Paso, Texas, then handed it off to another company Estes. Estes operates near where the bumper was shipped from. I lost tracking for a few days as the bumper didn't move before it finally arrived in Boise at their distribution center. Which I had to pick up myself. Also, it was in a crate, which was a bit unexpected.
I will cut him some slack though being an early customer and having received the bumper.
Kye is new to this, and this is a new business venture. It's obvious the business end wasn't thoroughly thought through. I was told by the other parties that purchased a bumper, that the bumper was actually cut and welded by someone other than Kye. And that he might have just been doing the finish work... I don't know.
This would seem to jive a lot with Kye's initial decision to tell us he wasn't going to sell anymore and complaints about not making any money off the bumpers. I think this is just growing pains, and if Kye can figure out the shipping and build process he can find the profit. But if he's paying everyone else, well....
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Now as for the bumper itself, the finish work, needs A LOT work. It was welded and then the welds were ground down, but there are a lot of noticeable scratches in the metal that will have to be reworked. That being said, it was GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME. I already put a dozen +++ dings and scratches in the bumper while in Moab over the past 10 days.
The other problem I have is that the back side of the bumper was not welded. With what I want to do with this bumper, a couple good hits and you could get cracks in the welds and have a plate separate. Not good. I'd recommend and hope that he starts having the back side of the bumper welded as well as the front. That should increase the strength of the bumper.
As for DESIGN, this bumper is EXCELLENT. THIS IS A REALLY GOOD LOOKING BUMPER. This is a truly great design. I have ZERO complaints and tons of PRAISE for the design and the ease of installation. Kye didn't provide instructions in time for my install, he did send an email. But it was so easy, I had it installed before he could reply to me. It's really self-explanatory. And very secure.
The bumper works as intended as a high clearance bumper. It will take you some time to learn the new approach of your truck. I have smacked mine a bunch. With your factory bumper, you're usually afraid to get up on things. So there is a learning curve since now you have a skid and high clearance in learning where the front of the bumper is when approaching.
Another nice touch is the full wrap-around protection the skid offers. The bumper wraps down and around the back. Really, very nice design overall.
One area that could use improvement is maybe to weld supports on the back side of the lower plate. I managed to put a good size dent in the bumper already.
Overall I have no complaints about design or functionality. Really, this could be the best aftermarket high clearance Power Wagon specific bumper. All that really needs to be improved here is business end process stuff. And for Kye to maybe, deliver on his promises with regards to lead time.
Now for the photos:
So as far as finishing the bumper, I'm going to get the back side welded. Then I'm going to get it blasted and powder coated.