Front Bumper Flag

khyros

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Hey all,

So I'm planning on taking my Ranger to one of Michigan's offroad parks this spring. I don't have a ton of off road experience, but I keep finding myself in places where the road isn't really a road, especially on trips up to the upper pennisula. So I would like to build some of those skills up so I have some more confidence when I encounter those areas. For example, I came across a sign that said "if you don't have 4Lo, don't go"... I turned around because I was concerned that even with 4Lo, that means that I might get stuck, especially since I didn't know what I was doing. I figure an off road park will be a good place to get some confidence and grow some skills, so I can more accurately judge if I am capable of continuing or not. Yay for backstory.

Now, onto my community help request. The parks seem to all require a front bumper mounted flag. I can't really seem to figure out how to proceed with that. I don't want to drill into the actual bumper, so I thought that a good place to mount it would be onto the tow hook. The only tow hook-direct mount I'm coming across seems to be just two circular plates that sandwich the tow hook. It has bad reviews online, and seems to me that it wouldn't be that great anyways. Otherwise, it seems that you mount a bracket to the bolts that the tow hooks attach to. Except I was hoping for something a bit more temporary. Any bracket I put on, I'll have to take off in order to fit back into the garage, so I really was hoping against constantly removing the tow hook and retorquing it since it's a vehicle recovery point and everything.

Doing a google and forum search though, I'm not coming up with much of anything. I found a taco guy that made his own bracket to the tow hook mounts, and the Silver Lakes, Mi site that sells that same type of bracket (and flag, which seems to be the right flag to get since it screws the two pieces together instead of just friction fits them)... But obviously our Ranger community is going to have some better ideas that can help me out!
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Msfitoy

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I have two whips attached to my RTT rack at the rear...that's pretty typical mounting position...didn't know there's a front whip requirement...
 
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khyros

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I have two whips attached to my RTT rack at the rear...that's pretty typical mounting position...didn't know there's a front whip requirement...
I would love to be able to just attach it to the bed rack I have, that would be so much easier... And perhaps this is the type of thing that "letter of the law" vs. "in practice".


https://thinkdunes.com/dunes/faqs/
"There is only one type of flag required for the Dunes. All 4-wheel drive vehicles must display the flag mounted to front bumper at 10ft off the ground."

Though as I read the MI ORV handbook, the only reference I can find is: "Sand Dunes - Mount an antenna flag on your ORV so others can see you."


Though scrolling through the FB page, almost every flag I see is mounted to the front bumper, though most are jeeps with bullbars...
 

Msfitoy

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When we were at Corolla beach last year, we followed the tourist Hummers into the dunes...interestingly, there was no whip requirement...although I would want that since the path over the dunes are one lane and slowing down would get you stuck...it was hairy knuckles on the way out when we realized that we could be facing another truck coming at us over the blind dunes lol...
 

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I feel the pain on the front mounted flag! I offroad plenty in Michigan here as well, though mostly with my Jeep! While most places say that you should have a flag mounted to the front, most of the parks around Michigan don't really check that closely or measure either. I think it's most important at Silver Lake because of the dunes and the high speed nature. Most of the rest of the parks around Michigan are not nearly as strict. With that being said, I do have a few ideas on the matter.

First off, check out Appletree for some flag mounting options. That is where I got my flag mount for my Jeep and their prices are super reasonable! The most easily mounted for our stock tow hooks would probably be the sandwich type tow hook mount as it keeps everything horizontal, but I have never used one.

p_40814_01.jpg


Next option would be to use a u-bolt with a flat plate! I have used this method on my Jeep for years and just tightening the U-bolt down has never allowed the mount to come loose, and I have put some good pressure on the flag! Here's the bracket I am talking about and how it is mounted on my Jeep OEM tow hook.

p_42725_01.jpg


20160921_150129.jpg


20160921_150143.jpg


20160921_150123.jpg


As for either of those mounts, the biggest thing I don't like for the Ranger is that the tow hooks are so low, that a flat plate stick straight out hurts your approach angle and I would be worried about it digging in too much in the ground. Another idea I had is a play on the flat mount above and that would be to attached the mount on an angle to the tow hook (like a 30 degree angle) so that it is raising the flag up and putting a flat face down more like a skid plate, and then putting a flat bend on the end of the mount for the flag. Would be pretty simple to put together, just not sure how well the hold would be. Maybe I will test the hold a bit later with my mount I currently have. Please excuse my horrible paint drawing, but you can kind of see my idea in the picture below.

Untitled.png


Lastly you could get a hood/fender antenna mount such as those meant for a CB or other radio antenna and mount it on the fender. Would probably be strong enough and would be close enough to the front of the vehicle for most Michigan ORV parks in my opinion.

Ford_CB_Kit-4_e221e0e3-bd82-4592-8507-2919b9314013_1024x1024.jpg


I have been thinking about this and considering some options for a bit and these are my thoughts on it so far. Not sure if any of these help, but just my .02. Also, if you mount anything to the tow hook in the front, get a pool noodle or pipe insulation foam or something like that to wrap around the lower part of the trail flag so you don't smack the flag pole on the front of your Ranger!
 


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khyros

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Thanks for the thoughts. The approach angle is definitely something that I am concerned with (along with having to take it on/off) if I mount it to the tow hook, but that thought about bending it up is interesting, I might have to toy with that concept a bit. I also like the thought of mounting at the hood - that wouldn't affect the approach angle or require me to take the mount on/off... Now I have something else to dig into.

I plan on playing around here more local at the new Holly Oaks ORV park, but am definitely intrigued to go up to Silver Lake, so whatever I come up with, I want to make sure it works at both. Though perhaps the easiest solution would be to just deal with Silver Lake front mount if/when I need to, and just put the flag in the back until such a time since that's so much easier.
 

WxNerd2015

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Thanks for the thoughts. The approach angle is definitely something that I am concerned with (along with having to take it on/off) if I mount it to the tow hook, but that thought about bending it up is interesting, I might have to toy with that concept a bit. I also like the thought of mounting at the hood - that wouldn't affect the approach angle or require me to take the mount on/off... Now I have something else to dig into.

I plan on playing around here more local at the new Holly Oaks ORV park, but am definitely intrigued to go up to Silver Lake, so whatever I come up with, I want to make sure it works at both. Though perhaps the easiest solution would be to just deal with Silver Lake front mount if/when I need to, and just put the flag in the back until such a time since that's so much easier.
I haven't made it out to Holly Oaks myself yet, but one of the parks I enjoy going to the most is Rocks & Valleys just north of Clare! It's a bit of a drive, but it's usually a lot less crowded than a lot of the other parks, you don't have to worry about atvs and dirt bikes there as it is just for side by sides and full sized 4x4s, and the trails are super fun there! Lots of "up north" like trails through the trees and stuff like that! Might want to check that one out too! And it is doable to drive there, enjoy, and drive home in the same day!

Also, if you wanted to try some more off-roading and work on your skills a bit, St. Helen's area has a bunch of DNR trails that are great to drive around on and you don't have to worry about any flag there! Plus, they are a good amount of challenging, but not hard by far, and they are also trafficked a good bit, so if you do get yourself in a situation, more than likely, someone will be coming by to help you! Though I always advocate going out with at least one other vehicle!
 

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Hey all,

So I'm planning on taking my Ranger to one of Michigan's offroad parks this spring. I don't have a ton of off road experience, but I keep finding myself in places where the road isn't really a road, especially on trips up to the upper pennisula. So I would like to build some of those skills up so I have some more confidence when I encounter those areas. For example, I came across a sign that said "if you don't have 4Lo, don't go"... I turned around because I was concerned that even with 4Lo, that means that I might get stuck, especially since I didn't know what I was doing. I figure an off road park will be a good place to get some confidence and grow some skills, so I can more accurately judge if I am capable of continuing or not. Yay for backstory.

Now, onto my community help request. The parks seem to all require a front bumper mounted flag. I can't really seem to figure out how to proceed with that. I don't want to drill into the actual bumper, so I thought that a good place to mount it would be onto the tow hook. The only tow hook-direct mount I'm coming across seems to be just two circular plates that sandwich the tow hook. It has bad reviews online, and seems to me that it wouldn't be that great anyways. Otherwise, it seems that you mount a bracket to the bolts that the tow hooks attach to. Except I was hoping for something a bit more temporary. Any bracket I put on, I'll have to take off in order to fit back into the garage, so I really was hoping against constantly removing the tow hook and retorquing it since it's a vehicle recovery point and everything.

Doing a google and forum search though, I'm not coming up with much of anything. I found a taco guy that made his own bracket to the tow hook mounts, and the Silver Lakes, Mi site that sells that same type of bracket (and flag, which seems to be the right flag to get since it screws the two pieces together instead of just friction fits them)... But obviously our Ranger community is going to have some better ideas that can help me out!
Silverback Offroad and Duneland over on the west coast of Michigan at Silver Lake have many different kinds of mounting options you can look at. Since they're in Michigan they're DNR compliant.
 

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I would love to be able to just attach it to the bed rack I have, that would be so much easier... And perhaps this is the type of thing that "letter of the law" vs. "in practice".


https://thinkdunes.com/dunes/faqs/
"There is only one type of flag required for the Dunes. All 4-wheel drive vehicles must display the flag mounted to front bumper at 10ft off the ground."

Though as I read the MI ORV handbook, the only reference I can find is: "Sand Dunes - Mount an antenna flag on your ORV so others can see you."


Though scrolling through the FB page, almost every flag I see is mounted to the front bumper, though most are jeeps with bullbars...
What's the purpose of the flag? Other than. If you are stuck just over a hill so you don't get blasted, but then there's that sunk in quicksand over the roof line, the only thing they'd see is that awful roof antenna Ford gave us to snag in the garage...?
 

port43

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What's the purpose of the flag? Other than. If you are stuck just over a hill so you don't get blasted, but then there's that sunk in quicksand over the roof line, the only thing they'd see is that awful roof antenna Ford gave us to snag in the garage...?
If you are running dunes you are usually going balls out and it gives you the opportunity to at least see if you are on a collision course with someone who may not be visible.
 

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If you are running dunes you are usually going balls out ...
As an aside, that's an impossibility for the married guys...just say'n ;);)
 

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Here in Pennsylvania, we have several off road areas to run. The only requirement we have that I am aware of is a lighted whip on vehicle on rear OR a chase light. I run a Beatto 5’ lighted whip running amber color. Although it has dozens of colors. No different if you were running a ATV, UTV etc. Mine is a quick disconnect with remote.
 

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you're doing it wrong?
You probably haven't had it happen...yet!! But, it'll be just like a newborn baby's belly button - turns black and falls offo_O
 

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You probably haven't had it happen...yet!! But, it'll be just like a newborn baby's belly button - turns black and falls offo_O
Now I have no idea what you're doing, but I'm positive it's wrong
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