Has anyone installed Fabtech's crash bars?

[Stangman570]

Doe's anyone have closeup pic's for Fabtech's front and rear crash bars installed? I've searched the forums and didn't find
much.

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[HoosierT]

I can hold them up for you if you want to see. I’ve had them in my garage for two months but I can’t install them because you’re supposed to retain the part of the factory bar that slides into the sleeve and I threw mine away. Had a WTB thread on here since then with no luck so they’re collecting dust.

 

[Stangman570]

I can hold them up for you if you want to see. I’ve had them in my garage for two months but I can’t install them because you’re supposed to retain the part of the factory bar that slides into the sleeve and I threw mine away. Had a WTB thread on here since then with no luck so they’re collecting dust.

Yes, pics would be great. I went fairly aggressive on my tire and wheel combo with 295/70/17's with -12's to get the look I wanted. However, had to sacrifice the stock bars. I just cut mine off even and left the remainders bolted in place. It's hard to gauge the angles of the fabtech bars on their website. Just need to see if these may clear what I have, or if I can just mod them to make it fit? I started to take the left over stock bars off, but glad I didn't. You may find some oem bars at salvage yards, I've seen a few wrecked Rangers popping up on the salvage websites.

 

[Fordguy]

Yes, pics would be great. I went fairly aggressive on my tire and wheel combo with 295/70/17's with -12's to get the look I wanted. However, had to sacrifice the stock bars. I just cut mine off even and left the remainders bolted in place. It's hard to gauge the angles of the fabtech bars on their website. Just need to see if these may clear what I have, or if I can just mod them to make it fit? I started to take the left over stock bars off, but glad I didn't. You may find some oem bars at salvage yards, I've seen a few wrecked Rangers popping up on the salvage websites.

I have them, I wanted to keep the truck as safe as possible. They add a ton of clearance.

 

[Daniel Scarbrough]

I have them still in the box. Haven't put them on yet since I got my lift.

 

[Stangman570]

I was hoping that someone had these installed already. Think I'm going to pull the trigger and get these on order. If I have to modify and reinforce to get a little extra clearance that will be fine. Currently I've removed the crash bars and the blocks behind the bars. I was able to save the felt liner and not hack it up. Just reposition to the inner mounting hole for the blocks with one of the mounting bolts and an over sized washer. I've had it off road multiple times now in some huge washouts and deep ruts and it hasn't budged. Had to do a little trimming on the bushwackers but everything other than that cleared at full compression and lock. Not bad for 295's that come in just over 33"s.

 

[HoosierT]

I'll sell mine to someone for 200+ shipping. A slight savings over MSRP. I threw my stock crash bars out so I have no internal support so they're still sitting in the box in my garage.

 

[ChopprJock]

Mine are being installed today (12 Sep). I will try and get some pics this evening or tomorrow and add them to this thread.

 

[sbacpo]

BDS has a set as well. I don't see them listed separately on their website but they are an $82 option on their lift kits.

I had them installed yesterday as part of my lift. I'll try to take pictures this evening.

 

[BaGMaN]

I'll sell mine to someone for 200+ shipping. A slight savings over MSRP. I threw my stock crash bars out so I have no internal support so they're still sitting in the box in my garage.

they are $200 and free shipping on amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QX7KT9...colid=D5NRA5FYY225&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

[HoosierT]

they are $200 and free shipping on amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QX7KT9...colid=D5NRA5FYY225&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Wow, had no idea they were available on Amazon, I had ordered directly from Fabtech right when they released.

 

[BaGMaN]

Wow, had no idea they were available on Amazon, I had ordered directly from Fabtech right when they released.

i don't think they were available there when you bought yours. i didn't see them there until one of the sponsors had them on sale for $200 maybe 2 weeks ago.

 

[Skeletor]

Just got them done a week ago, no rubbing with 2.5" RC level on 2WD. BFG KO2 265/70 17

 

[FL.ranger]

I can hold them up for you if you want to see. I’ve had them in my garage for two months but I can’t install them because you’re supposed to retain the part of the factory bar that slides into the sleeve and I threw mine away. Had a WTB thread on here since then with no luck so they’re collecting dust.

You wanna get rid of them? Ill take em’

 

[HenryMac]

I have them, I wanted to keep the truck as safe as possible. They add a ton of clearance.

When buying aftermarket parts you really need to be careful. You really have no idea their experience and engineering / testing unless you ask. And then they should supply some sort of certification documents to prove what they are saying.

I have been unable to find any crash bars that are as strong as the OEM set-up. But I wanted to give FabTech the benefit of proving the strength of their crash bars.

I contacted FabTech via email and asked:
"Did you do any actual destructive testing to verify the design is as strong or stronger than the factory design?"

Their reply:​

"Unfortunately we do not have any destructive testing of our intrusion beam kit. The bracketry is made of ¼” thick American steel and welded here in our manufacturing facility in Southern California. "​

I then asked:
"Any Finite Element Analysis that shows the replacement parts are "equal to" or "superior to" the factory OEM pieces? "

Their reply:​

"Unfortunately we do not have any info like what you are looking for. "​

When it comes to strength of a beam, the outer dimensions are the governing factor, much more so than the thickness. They are always pointing out that their crash bars are 1/4" thick... that's better than oem, but that in now way means it's stronger, due to the smaller beam size.

Caveat Emptor: Buyer Beware

For very little money FabTech could verify the strength of the bars by having an Engineer perform Finite Element Analysis of the stock configuration vs their bars.

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