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ROAD ARMOR MOUNTING AND INSTALL INFO FOR A 2001 DODGE RAM

I have recently purchased a Road Armor Bumper and decided to share my 2 cents about it. It is one of the best looking and functional units I found for a full size Rig. It has all the holes to mount up to a 15000lb winch but requires two additional holes drilled for a WARN M12000 or M15000. Many of the aftermarket JEEP bumpers have had recovery points for a long time but Trail Ready/Road Armor has finally added ones for us full size guys. The entire unit is laser cut by computer and welded by hand then grinded. It is then powder (3-4mm) coated and ready for shipping. All the pieces are 3/16" steel except for the 1/4" winch tray and it is trussed and gusseted. The total weight was 295lbs for the bumper and 135lbs for my winch. I decided to go down and pick up my bumper to save on shipping, as there is a $250 USD Crate fee plus shipping.

The install is relatively simply. For my Dodge you have to first remove the stock bumper and throw it in the garbage or sell it to try to get some of your money back. In my case throw in the scrap metal bin. Just remember to save the stock mounting bolts you will need them as they are needed later. Then there are two brackets that come with your new bumper. They are 3/16 think and trussed for extra strength. These brackets in their design box the end of your frame and provide a flush mounting surface for the bumper itself. There are instructions that say the outside holes on the bumper must be 37" apart but just make sure to not tighten down all the bolts yet when mounting the new brackets.

The last step is to lift the bumper onto a floor jack, the taller your rig is bigger you will have to go for your floor jack. I had to use a 10T floor jack. Before you go any further make sure the bolts and their retainers are secured to the mounting brackets. I would also take this time to mount and clearance lights that you would like to use if any (brackets are included in the installation kit). Center the bumper on the floor jack with a piece of rubber or like me a mud flap I have been meaning to add forever under the bumper to prevent scratches. Now this is when your friend comes into play and makes sure that your both still sober or your headlights will be gone. As you jack up the bumper, it will start to roll back, be ready for a slight tilt, and then manhandle it into place. Once it is in place, you will have to center it on the truck and make sure there is a 1/8" gap or better on both the passenger side and the driver side below the headlights. If you don*t have the gap you will damage your fenders like I did and had to re-set the gap. Once you have the proper gap tighten all the frame bolts first. Check the gap again and if still where you want it then do the outside bolts on the bumper first one side at a time and the same for the inside bolts, one side at a time. Now your bumper is mounted.

The next step now is to mount the winch and wire your lights if you have any. I think you all know how to wire in lights so I am only going to say how to mount the winch. Remove the ratchet strap and pull the winch onto the tray. Then follow the instructions with your winch. For my M12000 it mounts to the face so I had to drill two extra holes to mount it. Put all the bolts in hand tight and then tighten the fairlead bolts first to ensure I good seat with the face of the winch. Next the rear base bolts you will need an wobble extension or a good universal joint to get these bolts as they are hidden within the etched ROAD ARMOR name plate in the front of the integral skid plate. Once you have all your bolts torqued down then run the wires for your winch and then your done and ready to play.

AFTER PLAYING

I have had the bumper now for over a month and I have used it on all kinds of terrain. I find that all the added weight on the front end helps for some hill climbs but can really limit on others. It limits you because it reduces the approach angle but it added the winch so you can normal plow over whatever is in the way and only take a few scratches in the skid plate. But by hitting the skid plate you know your going to knock your hitch off whatever your skid plate dragged on. The skid plate also acts as a good pre-warning for rocks or deep ruts as for me it hits the center of deep rut before the axle does.

In mud the added weight up front doesn’t help with open diffs. It just pushes it into the mud, which for 35’s is no help at all. With larger tires (40’s or better) I don*t think it would matter. Also once the front end is sunk the skid plate could act as a shovel when trying to get out the way you went it. It is this reason that I want to try and remove some of the skid plate or re-angle it. It would also be nice to get rid of some of the weight. I am also thinking of trying the MASTER PULL winch Cable to remove some additional weight and safety when winching.

Winching is when this bumper truly shines. The 1" thick tabs that are in strait line to your frame when needed for a 2 to 1 pull they perform excellently. I have destroyed other bumpers doing the same but this bumper just eats up all the pulling. The winch is also well protected from damage and theft. I had a nasty off side pull that I thought for sure would flex either the bumper or frame causing the bumper to hit my fenders or headlights but there was nothing. Pulling your friends out or getting pulled from the front now is really easy for hook up.

The powder coated finish. After playing on the rocks and smashing the bumper off rocks a few time there is only scratches in the finish. I actually slipped off a rock wall (23” I measured) when I wanted to get a picture and the whole weight of the truck bounced off the rock and the base of the skid plate took the hit. There was only a dent in the base of the skid plate but the whole bumper shifted on the frame bolts. It took less than ten mins to loosen the bolts let it settle to normal position and now there was only a small dent that only the well-trained eye could see. There are chips in the powder coat from normal driving (rock chips) that has made me borrow my buddies spray gun to coat it with the spray in box liner.

There are a lot of bumpers out there for our rigs but there was only one real choice for a bumper for my truck and that was Road Armor. Expensive as hell but it does everything a bumper should be able to do. Holds a winch and take a hit without any real damage. This was the only one that I could find that did it all and still looks good.

AFTER 7 MONTHS OF USE AND A BIT OF WINTER

I am cursing myself for not having the bumper sprayed with Spray in box liner like I wanted too. Here is the result of powder coating. I contacted Trail Ready and they don't seem to want to fix the finish. They might if I sent it to them at my own expense and then ship it back here at my own costs. I will not longer give any good comments about the Road Armor / Trail Ready bumpers. I love mine but not the finish.

I WILL BE ADDING PICTURES AS SOON AS I HAVE ACCESS TO MY COMPUTER AGAIN IN THE FOLLOWING MONTHS

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