After market bumper experience

[opps]

Ok,first off,Troy thanks for the pictures and heads up for the tail gate closeness.

Installed my ADD bumper,and overall,it took me just at 2 1/2 hours to install.

My biggest issue was the lip at the rear of the bumper will absolutely contact the tailgate when you lower it if you do not do something to correct it.
What I did was hold my dead blow against the lip,and hit it with my 5 pound hammer to fold it towards the bed of the truck,so it wasn’t standing straight up.

Everything else went smoothly,and fitment was act really good.
‘That lip on the top of the bumper should have been not been bent at a right angle,or they should have made that bend further back.

Overall,happy with the fit and look.Much more sturdy than the factory rear bumper.That is some flimsy stuff for sure..

Pics,outboard bumper ears..

Center piece,plate holder,and ADD bumper

A few of it installed

You did not install backup sensors nor a lock for the spare tire drop down if you were to add the time to extend and reroute the factory wiring harness, change the orientation of the outside sensors (not recommended by ADD installation instructions nor the the Ford), and not reinstalling the lock for the spare tire drop down then 2 1/2 hours sound reasonable. I had a commercial after market installer that had a history of installing ADD bumper and recommended by ADD and BumperOnly and the install took close to 5 hours and the lock for the drop down was never installed and I had to return to reconnect one of the sensors.

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[HenryMac]

Ok,first off,Troy thanks for the pictures and heads up for the tail gate closeness.

Installed my ADD bumper,and overall,it took me just at 2 1/2 hours to install.

My biggest issue was the lip at the rear of the bumper will absolutely contact the tailgate when you lower it if you do not do something to correct it.
What I did was hold my dead blow against the lip,and hit it with my 5 pound hammer to fold it towards the bed of the truck,so it wasn’t standing straight up.

Everything else went smoothly,and fitment was act really good.
‘That lip on the top of the bumper should have been not been bent at a right angle,or they should have made that bend further back.

Overall,happy with the fit and look.Much more sturdy than the factory rear bumper.That is some flimsy stuff for sure..

Pics,outboard bumper ears..

Center piece,plate holder,and ADD bumper

A few of it installed

That's a great looking bumper with all those compound curves.

@opps @treimche @y2krtaf Have you folks called ADD and told them of the issue?

 

[y2krtaf]

That's a great looking bumper with all those compound curves.

@opps @treimche @y2krtaf Have you folks called ADD and told them of the issue?

I’m happy with the look for sure,and since they are local,my plan is to swing by and show them in person.
I could care less about the spare tire hole cover/lock,since I have put a cable lock on my spare much like every other truck I’ve owned.

 

[y2krtaf]

You did not install backup sensors nor a lock for the spare tire drop down if you were to add the time to extend and reroute the factory wiring harness, change the orientation of the outside sensors (not recommended by ADD installation instructions nor the the Ford), and not reinstalling the lock for the spare tire drop down then 2 1/2 hours sound reasonable. I had a commercial after market installer that had a history of installing ADD bumper and recommended by ADD and BumperOnly and the install took close to 5 hours and the lock for the drop down was never installed and I had to return to reconnect one of the sensors.

Could have cared less about the lock/hole cover for the spare,as I’ve put a cable lock on the spare like every other truck I’ve owned.Maybe I’ll put a Wilkie button over the hole just because..
If mine had the sensors,I could see adding about another 30 minutes to the job.

To me,the biggest issue was the flange that needed folded back for tailgate clearance. Changing the angle solved that easily enough though.

 

[treimche]

Could have cared less about the lock/hole cover for the spare,as I’ve put a cable lock on the spare like every other truck I’ve owned.Maybe I’ll put a Wilkie button over the hole just because..
If mine had the sensors,I could see adding about another 30 minutes to the job.

To me,the biggest issue was the flange that needed folded back for tailgate clearance. Changing the angle solved that easily enough though.

Looks good! Bending the lip of the bumper forward crossed my mind also, but since I had my bumper painted prior to install, I didn't dare try bending it in fear of the paint cracking. Lucky for you, there were no backup sensors to deal with too.

 

[y2krtaf]

Looks good! Bending the lip of the bumper forward crossed my mind also, but since I had my bumper painted prior to install, I didn't dare try bending it in fear of the paint cracking. Lucky for you, there were no backup sensors to deal with too.

I did lay tape on that lip,and that’s also why I used the rubber dead blow against the lip to then hit with the 5 pounder.Did not want to chip/scratch the finish.

Honestly I played hell trying to find a truck without all the fancy features,knowing most would be either a nuisance or expensive to fix or replace once damaged or failed...

 

[Fawnbuster]

I purchased a 2019 Ford Ranger XLT Off Road addition and 2 day later was rear-ended. Minor collision, but rear bumper and hitch damage. Thought it would a good idea to replace it with an after market bumper, (ADD Stealth Fighter) liking the appearance and being all heavy metal. I purchased it from "BumperOnly" who had good reviews, good price, military discount, and a 100% bolt on and fitment guarantee. It was delivered for installation 7 weeks later for installation. After delays and various attempts the body shop was not able to install, due to various fitment issues and not being 100% bolt. I had a Ford factory hitch and bumper installed and took the "fitment/bolt on" issues up with the manufacturer "ADD" and seller "BumperOnly" who didn't believe my issues and said if returned there would be a 20% restocking fee + shipping. They suggested I use an aaftermarketinstaller that they had used in the past. The new installer agreed to do the work and after some difficulty (modifying the wiring harness, having to change the back-up sensor orientation, which was not recommended by Ford or the ADD installation instructions, and a residual rub of the tailgate and the top of the bumper). The installation that ordinarily takes 2 hours took over 4 hours. I had to return the following week because one of the back-up sensors had become disconnected and they were never able to re-install the lock for the spare tire drop down due to fitment issues. Pictures of fitment problems problem available if anyone is interested. In general, an overall poor experience and don't recommend anyone doing this.

I have zero experience with the company you are talking about. But seeing how you got rear-ended, is there even a minute chance that some of the fitment is due to minor bends or minute out of adjustments on oem parts due to the ripple effect of the crash? Including the rear sensor, is the mounting tab tweaked?

 

[ProtonDecay]

Hello Fellow Ranger-philes,

Anyone have any experience with getting a rear hitch receiver tube mounted higher than stock? Truck (2021 on order) will come with stock tow package.

I have an overlanding trailer on order and want to maximize ground clearance.

I am thinking something like this:

Link: https://www.rpgoffroad.com/product/2019-up-ranger-raceline-rear-bumper/

Except wondering if it would make any sense to have them fab the receiver tube between the upper and lower bumper tubes - not sure that's really possible or smart from a capacity/stability standpoint, so seeing if anyone else has done something like this or has other suggestions.

Both truck and trailer will be on 285 33's, and the trailer is already designed with higher trailer coupler rails.

I know I could always put a raised ball mount into the receiver tube but my bubba-geometric-guessing says the bottom of the receiver tube will then be the breakover touchpoint, so gaining 1-2 inches at that point will be very helpful.

Thoughts, helpful suggestions, dire predictions?

 

[treimche]

Hello Fellow Ranger-philes,

Anyone have any experience with getting a rear hitch receiver tube mounted higher than stock? Truck (2021 on order) will come with stock tow package.

I have an overlanding trailer on order and want to maximize ground clearance.

I am thinking something like this:

Link: https://www.rpgoffroad.com/product/2019-up-ranger-raceline-rear-bumper/

Except wondering if it would make any sense to have them fab the receiver tube between the upper and lower bumper tubes - not sure that's really possible or smart from a capacity/stability standpoint, so seeing if anyone else has done something like this or has other suggestions.

Both truck and trailer will be on 285 33's, and the trailer is already designed with higher trailer coupler rails.

I know I could always put a raised ball mount into the receiver tube but my bubba-geometric-guessing says the bottom of the receiver tube will then be the breakover touchpoint, so gaining 1-2 inches at that point will be very helpful.

Thoughts, helpful suggestions, dire predictions?

Unless they are going to completely redesign the rear bumper to integrate the hitch receiver, you may be out of luck. The rear bumper bolts to the hitch receiver which is bolted to the rear frame of the Ranger. The bumper itself is not structural at all, it is purely cosmetic. Sure the aftermarket rear bumpers are thicker/stronger/etc. vs the stock bumper, but nowhere near strong enough for a hitch. Pic attached shows the factory tow package hitch with the rear bumper completely removed.

 

[ProtonDecay]

Unless they are going to completely redesign the rear bumper to integrate the hitch receiver, you may be out of luck. The rear bumper bolts to the hitch receiver which is bolted to the rear frame of the Ranger. The bumper itself is not structural at all, it is purely cosmetic. Sure the aftermarket rear bumpers are thicker/stronger/etc. vs the stock bumper, but nowhere near strong enough for a hitch. Pic attached shows the factory tow package hitch with the rear bumper completely removed.

Thank you for this picture - worth at least a thousand words. Prolly cost prohibitive to ask them to re-engineer something to work, and I am unwilling to trust something that my welder buddy could help me make.

I did reach out to ICON - they said they have a rear spring kit coming out for the Ranger in the next month or so, several leaf springs, at least one removable/reversible to adjust for load. I had already planned on using - will see if I can balance hitch-height v. ride quality with that and the stock tow hitch. Cheers

 

[treimche]

Thank you for this picture - worth at least a thousand words. Prolly cost prohibitive to ask them to re-engineer something to work, and I am unwilling to trust something that my welder buddy could help me make.

I did reach out to ICON - they said they have a rear spring kit coming out for the Ranger in the next month or so, several leaf springs, at least one removable/reversible to adjust for load. I had already planned on using - will see if I can balance hitch-height v. ride quality with that and the stock tow hitch. Cheers

You're welcome for the pic, I figured it might help let you see how it is designed from Ford. One thing for you to consider though, maybe call and talk to RPG about their rear bumper. In the description from the link you shared it does say in there "integrated trailer hitch" so maybe their design is completely different. It could be worth a shot, especially if their bumper is designed to also be the hitch, then maybe you could have them put the receiver between the tubes so it is higher.

 

[JP11]

And..... those welds look cold.. very little penetration of the filler metal into the base metal.

was looking at this as well lol..

 

[bka0721]

Here is the problem, there was a rear bumper in this thread that really looks like one I woiuld like to see on my 2020 Ford Ranger XLT. It appears the manufacturer is less than responsive for what might be a small segment of after market product for a Ford product. That concerns me. So, I asked a MAJOR 4X4 performance installation company that has been around for decades in the Denver area what they thought. It is a pass for them, due to the comments of previous purchases of the ADD Stealth Bumper. My correspondence is below;


Subject: ADD Rear Off Road Bumper

Hi John.

I had mentioned a bumper that I liked for a possible upcoming installation, on my 2020 Ford Ranger. The following link will go into more detail with the fitment issues encountered.

Let me know what you and your team think of this bumper.

Ford Ranger ADD Stealth Fighter Rear Off-Road Bumper (With Backup Sensors)
This is the forum I was mentioning that had some posters that had fitment issues with installing this bumper.
After market bumper experience | 2019+ Ford Ranger and Raptor Forum (5th Generation) - Ranger5G.com


Thanks
bryan



Hey Bryan,

I don't know that we have installed an ADD rear bumper, but after reading the forum, I don't know that the ADD bumper is way to go. What are your thoughts on running the ARB bumper?


Thank You,

John

 

[HoosierT]

Shrockworks is currently working on their rear bumper. Should be out any day now. It does integrate the hitch receiver so the stock receiver gets removed. Moves it up quite a bit for better departure angle. License plate sits on a hinge so it flips up a bit for receiver access. I’ll try to get a cad picture from them to show.

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