Barnes 4WD Front Stubby Bumper

zachpeakee

zachpeakee

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Is anyone running the Barnes 4WD Stubby Front Bumper?
Any significant Pro's/Con's to it?

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Price-Tag is $515, but they also sell the "weld it yourself" kit for only $200.
As an ex-fabricator, the price is right, and it'd be a fun way to save some coin.


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Just wanting to see if anyone running it has any real-world/off-road insight on it before I pull the trigger.
 
It looks like a lot of other stubby bumpers, for better or worse.

Since you can weld, the diy kit would be a good starting point for you to improve on the design by copying a few key details from Savvy.

First is to extend the winch deck back to capture the sway bar mounting holes on the frame. This will total 10 bolts attaching the bumper to the frame and will create a very large reenforcing gusset.

Then add a raised lip to the lower horizontal face to brace against the front frame crossmember tube. Doing so will keep the bottom of the bumper from deforming upwards when you use the bumper to push the front end up onto the rocks.

Finally, make sure the fairlead mount is back enough to place the hawse fairlead a bit behind the leading face of the bumper. This will help protect the fairlead and winch rope from the rocks.
 
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I imagine it's steel and $515 seems outrageous but $200 for the kit might be better.

What I'm not sure about is any bumper with the company logo stamped out. Yes it's just a small part of the bumper but I wouldn't be surprised if became a dent from the first thing I bumped into.

Now thinking about it, if i was welding it together myself I'd just add some extra metal behind that area, or more likely some extra metal in front of the stamped logo and another extra piece on the other side to match it because they ain't paying for advertising and neither am I.
 
macleanflood said:
Wasn't someone just posting about how that top bar interfered with the Safety Thimble?

-Mac
Click to expand...

In the Wizard Recovery Gear rope thread. The solution was to use a fairlead mount that positioned the WRG hawse and thimble carrier lower to the winch deck.
 
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I have the Barnes bumper. Paid less than the 500 they want now, but I like it a lot. Well made..mounted a warn winch on it no problem. Seems solid and doesn’t interfere with anything.
 
JEEPCJTJ said:
I imagine it's steel and $515 seems outrageous but $200 for the kit might be better.

What I'm not sure about is any bumper with the company logo stamped out. Yes it's just a small part of the bumper but I wouldn't be surprised if became a dent from the first thing I bumped into.

Now thinking about it, if i was welding it together myself I'd just add some extra metal behind that area, or more likely some extra metal in front of the stamped logo and another extra piece on the other side to match it because they ain't paying for advertising and neither am I.
Click to expand...

I cut out the Motobilt logo on mine and welded in a patch. Both for the reasons of durability you stated adds because I want as few advertising logos on my Jeep as possible.

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I have their rear bumper and turned the B into an S, because that's my last initial. 🤣 It's also a lot less noticeable if you paint the bumper black.

All in all it looks like a decent bumper, though I might leave the hoop off if it interfered with vertical mounting of a safety thimble.
 
jjvw said:
I cut out the Motobilt logo on mine and welded in a patch. Both for the reasons of durability you stated adds because I want as few advertising logos on my Jeep as possible.

View attachment 494225

View attachment 494226
Click to expand...

Another vote for the Motobilt stubby.. Looks very much like the Barnes.
I really don't care about the logo so didn't make any effort to eliminate it. Same logo is on my fuel tank skid and the Seven Slot logo on my rear bumper.
 
jjvw said:
Since you can weld, the diy kit would be a good starting point for you to improve on the design by copying a few key details from Savvy.
Click to expand...

My reasoning for this post exactly.
If anyone has any insight, such as yours, that could improve the design.

use the kit as a "base" and make adjustments on it.
 
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jjvw said:
It looks like a lot of other stubby bumpers, for better or worse.

Since you can weld, the diy kit would be a good starting point for you to improve on the design by copying a few key details from Savvy.

First is to extend the winch deck back to capture the sway bar mounting holes on the frame. This will total 10 bolts attaching the bumper to the frame and will create a very large reenforcing gusset.

Then add a raised lip to the lower horizontal face to brace against the front frame crossmember tube. Doing so will keep the bottom of the bumper from deforming upwards when you use the bumper to push the front end up onto the rocks.

Finally, make sure the fairlead mount is back enough to place the hawse fairlead a bit behind the leading face of the bumper. This will help protect the fairlead and winch rope from the rocks.
Click to expand...

Quality reply. Glad I don’t have you blocked. 😉
 
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I have the bumper in question and I like it. Doesn't interfere with the winch and I was recently in a accident and it held up just fine. I also didn't pay what they want for it now.
 
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