Free?...news to me. Haven't you heard the ago old saying? “Nothing is free in this world.”It's also free.
Free?...news to me. Haven't you heard the ago old saying? “Nothing is free in this world.”It's also free.
This should probably be in the "politics" section, but whatever. Cancelled my Facebook years ago, have never looked back.Not to go to far off topic but Facebook is turning into AOL.
If you remember you had to log into aol before you could see the internet. Can you imagine if Facebook starts buying ISP's
You could show them how awesome this forum is..with the intention of selling them on it. Hire Chris to build your Jeep club a web page...organize/coordinate some kind of money raising event to help fund it. What do I know...Try to stay off FB also but have the same issues. Local Jeep club pretty much only uses FB, on for some Navy groups, gun groups, and a charity foundation.
Let me translate that for you into what I heard.
I'm not very well versed in the history of companies and products, nor do I wish to be. As a result of that indifference I am not aware that Currie Enterprises used to have a local US high quality sheetmetal and fabrication shop make their rear bumper and tire carrier. Smittybilt purchased one, sent it to China and had it run through the copy machine and brought back to the US offroad market for 1/3 the price of the Currie version. The result of that was two-fold. It looked like the Currie in appearance only and was terrible quality. The other part is it effectively put Currie out of the armor and bumper business.
As for your "what isn't made in China" justification, really?
Yea, if you have the skills/tools to fix it if it breaks and if it's not going to cause major issues if it breaks, then I'd say that the purchase still makes sense if it saved you some $$$ to go with SB over something else.Damn I recently bought one of their rear bumpers and tire carrier - got delivered today. I'm a decent hobbyists mig welder, and so would normally have built my own, but lately too short on time. Well, I guess if it is lacking in some area, I can modify with extra bracing.
I'm not the tiniest bit angry about stuff being made in China. What bothers me is the blatant copy, the mentality the allows and causes it to happen, and the folks who don't give a shit as long as it looks close enough and the price is cheap. That is why we have the problem, folks don't give a single rat turd about the why or the how as long as it is cheap.I agree that is unfortunate and I understand why people are angry about everything being made China. I have been a commercial product designer most of my career but everything I have designed is no longer made in the US. Now all of the stuff I design is for the military or government so it is made here. I don’t like this situation but it is the way it is.
As for me buying the cheapest stuff, I have Curie control arms, OME springs, a Tom Woods driveshaft, a Barnes skid plate, a Banks turbo and a few other things you might not consider to be junk. But I still like the Smittybilt bumpers. As for what Tworley says, that must be an earlier design. The current XRC has a pivot that slides into a hole in the bumper, is bolted from above and reinforced from below. It is not surface mounted. And as I said, mine does not squeak or rattle. The only complaint I have is that when the tire carrier is adjusted so the latch lines up with just the tire on it, it sags slightly when I add a bunch of other stuff like Rotopax jugs. I took care of that problem by gluing Teflon sliders on the bumper and carrier (like I have seen on other carriers) to properly align the latch regardless of weight.
I'm not the tiniest bit angry about stuff being made in China. What bothers me is the blatant copy, the mentality the allows and causes it to happen, and the folks who don't give a shit as long as it looks close enough and the price is cheap. That is why we have the problem, folks don't give a single rat turd about the why or the how as long as it is cheap.
When is the last time you heard anyone brag about paying full price for something?I call this the WalMart economy.
I extracted myself from FB's political quagmire years ago. I'm just in a couple Jeep, offroad, and veterans groups.
What's a Facebook?I love Facebook. I have several Facebook Groups that I administer (jeeps, motorcycles, photography, travel, family). there is no crazy stuff in my groups. I find it easy to ignore the political stuff on my news feed except when i want to say something (who EVER changed their mind because of Facebook?). I fell in to Facebook because it is so easy to post while you are on the road. It's also free. I don't care about their business plan unless they want to take my guns. Search engines are not what they used to be. Mostl search engines are driven by advertising and want to be exclusive. You see similar behavior in a LOT of forums now. Many forums will not allow a post that refers you to another site. Many forums are corporate sponsored. Facebook crazies are easily blocked or ignored.
FYI, I don't imagine the Dirtworx bumpers are all that much heavier than the SB. If I remember right, the two bumpers shipped together in one box weighed around 90 lbs. Mine didn't have any extras, like a tire carrier, so I figured I could just about split the weight between the two. I did not weigh them individually when they were off, though...Does anyone know if this is the solid bumper version or the tubular version? Or if it matters?
I'm personally collecting a tubular SB SRC front and rear bumper set (paid $100 used on here for the rear. Picking it up today.) for nothing more than wreck damage control. If I get hit I want the cheap bumpers to suffer. Not my Jeeps sheet metal. I guess if it rattles I'll have it welded or something.
But for $100 it was within my budget - normally it's around $400+. If it sucks. I'm sure I can get my $100 out of it. The front runs $200 new. And both stick out quite a ways. In a minor fender bender I hope to just replace the cheap bumpers. Not costly sheet metal replacement and/or bodywork.
I'll upgrade to Dirtworx eventually. Just not in the cards right now. To many other things to get done on the Jeep. And I want to add a HD lift before I start adding to much heavy stuff. (Assuming the Dirtworx is alot heavier than this tubular one.)
I don't rock climb or anything of the like. So I'm not using them to pull anyone out or anything. So I guess you could say they are for looks and damage control only. The reason I bought my Jeep was cost of ownership. Just about everything can be repaired cheaply. And these bumpers are part of that philosophy for me. The rear bumper is tow rated to 5000lbs. The other cheap bumpers are not. So this was a slight step above what I was going to use. Again just to protect my Jeep in a fender bender. Nothing more.
Hoping the few positive reviews lend themselves to my future experience. Otherwise I'll just be selling them. I don't think I'll have a problem with the front bumper. But if the rear tire carrier sucks. And I can't get it fixed. I'll sell it too and replace it.
Some stuff for my Jeep is by once, cry once. But other stuff I can deal with a cheaper version. If I was rock climbing or doing heavy offroad stuff. These bumpers wouldn't even be on my radar. But for bumper protection only I think they fit the bill for my application. When your on a budget sometimes cheaper parts are ok. And with these only being used for sheet metal protection. It wouldn't make sense to buy an expensive set. If I get in a wreck. I only have $300 worth of bumpers to replace. Now if I paid full price I'd be more likely to wait and just get Dirtworx.
EDIT - Just had the rear SRC dropped off at my house. It's pretty sturdy. So I'm pretty happy with it. But I don't have a spare mounted on it yet either. So we'll see. It's definitely going to need some tie ins if I ever decide to tow with it.
Well said .Now whenever I peruse Craigslist, I cannot help but lose some interest in a rig when I see either of those two products on the vehicle. If it's one or two items, then perhaps I continue to look it over without passing judgement on it or the individual who built it. However, if I see the thing is laden down with their products, and the individual is quite proud of his creation, then I can't help but feel that the "builder" would have benefited immensely from the information contained within this forum. God knows the forum members have helped me spend my money, but at least it's been on some quality stuff, and not something I'm going to regret once it finally leaves the garage.
FYI, I don't imagine the Dirtworx bumpers are all that much heavier than the SB. If I remember right, the two bumpers shipped together in one box weighed around 90 lbs. Mine didn't have any extras, like a tire carrier, so I figured I could just about split the weight between the two. I did not weigh them individually when they were off, though...