Experience with Extreme Terrain / OR Fab

slightlyobsessed

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Hey all!

Looking for some help with a recent purchase from Extreme Terrain. My wife and I wanted support US manufacturing and decided to purchase US made bumpers for our LJ project. I originally purchased a Poison Spyder Rockbrawler from Extreme Terrain because after two phone calls with them they swore they had them in inventory (website had conflicting info). Well, turns out they didn't have them in inventory and it would be November before it was shipped. Not being a naturally patient person I cancelled the order and looked for another option. I came across the OR Fab winch bumper with stinger which was billed as hand-crafted in the USA and had great reviews. This is what I received today:


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As indicated clearly on the box, this bumper was manufactured by DV8 in China, but has the correct ORF-83662 part number that matches the OR Fab bumper. This is clearly a knock-off and every bit of this bumpers screams it. The welds are ugly, the winch plate is not 1/4" as advertised, and there is no 1/2" thick mounting plates. Has anyone heard that OR Fab is outsourcing their manufacturing? OR Fab's own website say these bumpers are hand-crafted in the USA. I'm hoping that Extreme Terrain will make this right. I will not accept a product advertised as made in the USA when this clearly comes from China.
 
That's unfortunate. Dv8 bought the rights to OrFab when they went out of business. I'm guessing ET hasn't updated their website. Hopefully they will make it right.
 
Damn, when did OR Fab go out of business? Their website is still active. These the descriptions from both OR Fab site and Extreme Terrain:

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I couldn't remember when they closed and had to look it up. The original company closed in 2016. Their website does indeed say made in the USA. Seems pretty obvious that DV8 is being purposefully deceptive.
 
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I couldn't remember when they closed and had to look it up. The original company closed in 2016. Their website does indeed say made in the USA. Seems pretty obvious that DV8 is being purposefully deceptive.
China? Deceptive? NAAAAAA. You must be wrong!. :ROFLMAO:
 
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Having dealt with DV8 and their products in the business world, I stay far away from them.
I totally expect a full refund and paid return shipping. Any representatives from Extreme Terrain here? Got no response from my e-mail request aside from an auto e-mail saying their e-mail support analysts would be quick to respond. Guess I’ll have to find time to call during business hours. Not having the best experience with them so far.
 
Well I must say I’m quite impressed with ET customer service. They were just as shocked as I was and immediately put in an order for FedEx to come pick it up and issued a full refund. They also escalated this to the web team to update the item details to remove hand-crafted in the US.

Now back to searching for a US made front bumper with a reasonable lead time 🦄

Can anyone recommend a stubby or mid width winch bumper with shackle tabs rated for towing?
 
Glad ET took care of you!
Pretty much any bumper with the shackles welded front and back will stand up to flat towing. I'm not sure there are a lot of manufactures that will take the liability of claiming they are tow rated. Smittybuilt actually does. If their welds can hold up that probably means a good welded bumper will be more than adequate. I took a different route and removed my heavy front bumper and installed the Currie tow mounts. I cut my OEM front bumper down and it now weighs 7lbs. If you really don't need the bumper to take heavy hits it might be worth consideration.
 
Hey all!

Looking for some help with a recent purchase from Extreme Terrain. My wife and I wanted support US manufacturing and decided to purchase US made bumpers for our LJ project. I originally purchased a Poison Spyder Rockbrawler from Extreme Terrain because after two phone calls with them they swore they had them in inventory (website had conflicting info). Well, turns out they didn't have them in inventory and it would be November before it was shipped. Not being a naturally patient person I cancelled the order and looked for another option. I came across the OR Fab winch bumper with stinger which was billed as hand-crafted in the USA and had great reviews. This is what I received today:


View attachment 276513View attachment 276514View attachment 276516

As indicated clearly on the box, this bumper was manufactured by DV8 in China, but has the correct ORF-83662 part number that matches the OR Fab bumper. This is clearly a knock-off and every bit of this bumpers screams it. The welds are ugly, the winch plate is not 1/4" as advertised, and there is no 1/2" thick mounting plates. Has anyone heard that OR Fab is outsourcing their manufacturing? OR Fab's own website say these bumpers are hand-crafted in the USA. I'm hoping that Extreme Terrain will make this right. I will not accept a product advertised as made in the USA when this clearly comes from China.

I went with morryde over Orfab due to their product being made in china.

I think I read on their site... that they are a USA owned company..but not made in usa.

I looked on their site again.... cannot find that phrasing anymore.

Def uncool.
 
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Well I must say I’m quite impressed with ET customer service. They were just as shocked as I was and immediately put in an order for FedEx to come pick it up and issued a full refund. They also escalated this to the web team to update the item details to remove hand-crafted in the US.

Now back to searching for a US made front bumper with a reasonable lead time 🦄

Can anyone recommend a stubby or mid width winch bumper with shackle tabs rated for towing?
there might be some good info for you here https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/will-this-d-ring-bumper-work-for-flat-towing.30519/page-2
 
Rock Hard 4x4 sells a number of different bumpers that are rated for flat towing and for up to a 12,000 lbs winch. Many of them offer separate mounting points for Reese, Blue Ox, and Roadmaster flat tow bars. Almost all of them should have the standard 1" thick recovery padeyes drilled for a standard 3/4" bow shackle.

They also offer hitch receivers on some bumpers, and I believe you can custom order just about any front bumper with a hitch receiver.

Made in the US.

Here's an example:
https://www.rockhard4x4.com/product_p/rh-4001-c46.htm
Example with additional mounting points for tow bar plus hitch receiver:
https://www.rockhard4x4.com/product_p/rh-4011.htm
 
Thanks for all the great suggestions! Looks like the RockHard 4x4 Patriot stubby is exactly what I’m looking for. Would be nice if the winch hoop was welded vs bolt on but I can overlook that. Forum member discount available?
 
I haven't dealt with them, but if you're looking for something basic, ARES has a couple options. It also looks like they can add a hoop for you, if wanted.

https://aresfabrication.com/shop/front-winch-evolution-bumper-wrangler/
Sleek and stylish new Evolution front bumper for the CJ YJ TJ Wrangler. Made from 3/16 laser cut cold rolled pickled in oil steel. CNC press broke into shape for an exact fit. 42″ wide. Come with CNC machined d-ring mounts for mounting your shackles. Will accept a winch sandwich plate, available from our store. Also can have custom DOM tubing added to this bumper for an extra charge. Contact us for details. Matching rear bumper available. In stock and ready to ship. Free shipping to the lower 48 states. Otherwise contact us for a shipping quote.


https://aresfabrication.com/shop/stubby-front-nostalgia-bumper-with-hoop-wrangler/
A simple solution for a hard core life style. We start with a 3/16 plate of pickled in oil, cold rolled steel. Then we send it to the laser where it is CNC laser cut into a perfect shape. From thereis (it) gets handed off to the press brake station. Here it is CNC formed into basic elements before it hits our welding table. Once it’s there it is assembled on our custom jigs with CNC machined 1″ thick d-ring mounts. Those will never let you down. To top it all off we add a 1.75″x.120″ wall tube, bent on our nc controlled hydraulic tube bender. We sacrifice nothing to make our products. Everything made here uses top of the line manufacturing technologies and AWS certified welders to bring you a superior product. Proudly made in Illinois. Fits all CJ, YJ and TJ Jeep models, but you must specify which model you have for proper fitment. Comes in bare steel to reduce shipping cost. No product would be complete without the hardware to mount it. We include hardware. Free shipping to lower 48 states. 1 to 2 week build time only applies if they are not in stock. Winch mount sold separately.
 
Rock Hard is awesome - call them and tell them what you want and they'll modify to meet your needs. Timing may be an issue - it was about 4 weeks to get mine IIRC
 
those are good welds for a 9yr old, give the kid a break he hasn't slept in 3dys and his shoes are full of piss.

ya, i'd return that crap.
 
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Well I must say I’m quite impressed with ET customer service. They were just as shocked as I was and immediately put in an order for FedEx to come pick it up and issued a full refund. They also escalated this to the web team to update the item details to remove hand-crafted in the US.

Now back to searching for a US made front bumper with a reasonable lead time 🦄

Can anyone recommend a stubby or mid width winch bumper with shackle tabs rated for towing?
Look into Dirtworx. Made in USA, he’ll modify what you see on the web to get it just like you like, reasonable price
 
Wow, demand is high everywhere. Rockhard and Shrockworks lead time on the order of 3 months and Ares has unofficially discontinued the stubby TJ bumper (not stocked but will fabricate on order). I did see LOD just introduced the Destroyer to replace their Signature series. Not much on specs on the website but I called and they indicated 7 ga steel (3/16”) and stated their shackle tabs can handle flat towing. All that and they are currently only 3-4 weeks out on orders. Anyone out there with LOD bumpers happy with theirs?