Ok. I've searched the forums, and I've read the bumper compare thread, but I haven't found a great explanation for why everyone puts a ~100 lb steel bumper on the front of their vehicle (in addition to a ~60 lb winch) when they're not rally racing or pushing through jungle.
I'm not saying this as a criticism, just trying to understand myself before making a bumper decision - I know I need/want a winch and front shackles, but I'm trying to figure out the best bumper option.
I drive in NorCal / Western US. I can't recall ever having to push through anything with my bumper (nor have I ever seen someone's bumper with damage indicating they did that.) And it seems like doing so would damage the powder coat on a $1300 bumper anyway. My vehicle is intended for DD plus overlanding and occasional solo offroad on medium-difficulty trails (hence the desire to add a winch for self-recovery in an pinch.) Because of where I live it's often a multi-hour drive to where I want to go offroad, so keeping highway performance solid is important to me.
Meanwhile, it seems like there's a number of disadvantages to the steel full bumpers - they're a bunch of weight right at one of the worst locations to add weight (the far ends of your vehicle) and they may require some cutting of your frame to fit.
I'm trying to decide between an Exp-One bumper (maybe alu) or one of these "hidden" mounts like the US Off Road.
It seems like a hidden mount 1.) saves me ~$600 vs a full bumper, 2.) maintains the original aerodynamics and styling and 3.) is something I can install in my city garage rather than paying someone to install at a more equipped shop.
Is the full front bumper a cosmetic mod, or a practical one? On a DD that isn't being rock crawled, am I going to get use out of a full front bumper?
Apologies if this is a repeat (I'll happily take a link) but I did try searching a bunch of different ways.
I'm not saying this as a criticism, just trying to understand myself before making a bumper decision - I know I need/want a winch and front shackles, but I'm trying to figure out the best bumper option.
I drive in NorCal / Western US. I can't recall ever having to push through anything with my bumper (nor have I ever seen someone's bumper with damage indicating they did that.) And it seems like doing so would damage the powder coat on a $1300 bumper anyway. My vehicle is intended for DD plus overlanding and occasional solo offroad on medium-difficulty trails (hence the desire to add a winch for self-recovery in an pinch.) Because of where I live it's often a multi-hour drive to where I want to go offroad, so keeping highway performance solid is important to me.
Meanwhile, it seems like there's a number of disadvantages to the steel full bumpers - they're a bunch of weight right at one of the worst locations to add weight (the far ends of your vehicle) and they may require some cutting of your frame to fit.
I'm trying to decide between an Exp-One bumper (maybe alu) or one of these "hidden" mounts like the US Off Road.
It seems like a hidden mount 1.) saves me ~$600 vs a full bumper, 2.) maintains the original aerodynamics and styling and 3.) is something I can install in my city garage rather than paying someone to install at a more equipped shop.
Is the full front bumper a cosmetic mod, or a practical one? On a DD that isn't being rock crawled, am I going to get use out of a full front bumper?
Apologies if this is a repeat (I'll happily take a link) but I did try searching a bunch of different ways.