Aluminess Bumpers

Cacher123 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 23, 2006 1:56 am

Saw an ad for Aluminess bumpers. They looked really cool. Sent an email to the company to see if they had any KJ stuff. Got this back:

Quote:

Chris,

Sorry it took a while to get back to you. We primarily make aluminum bumpers for the big trucks and vans. A front bumper with all the features you see on the web site is $1,995. We have made bumpers for the Mercedes SUV and some other mid size trucks but it comes down to how much a customer is willing to spend. Aluminum is quite expensive compared to steel and more costly to weld. Our finish work is exceptional and takes extra time.

I have had a lot of response from that 4 wheeler photo/ ad. It was done by one of my customers. The smaller size of the liberty and the potential larger customer base would allow the bumper to be sold for $1,200. Do you think that would be acceptable to your group?

Thanks for your interest in our products

Dave Hoskins

Well, at least he acknowledges the "potential larger customer base" and doesn't discard KJs alltogether!

http://www.aluminess.com/graphics/F250_F350_excursion_bumper/P1010011_sm.jpg

Troysterr · **Posted:** Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:22 am

That would be incredible...I have to believe that it would be significantly lighter than a steel bumper...but too rich for my blood.

kickit_in4wheel · **Posted:** Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:26 am

Well, I love the look, but how much lighter would it be than the ARB? Yeah it's aluminum but they probably are still no light-weight. Remember, aluminum's strength to weight ratio is greater than steel, but aluinum of equal thickness is not stronger, so it would be pretty thick and therefore heavy anyways. It's out of my price range but I don't want to bash it because it would probably be a real nice piece, just too pricey for most, since the arb and the rock lizard are both less $. If it cost $700 I'd get serious about it.

Rick

Eddo · **Joined:** Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:01 pm **Posts:** 1214

It looks interesting. Not so sure about the aluminum. I know aluminum can be structurally quite strong (forget that stupid diff) if you use the correct alloy and design it well. However aluminum is always a rather soft metal and I'm not sure how well it would do get bashed against rocks. Structurally it might be just as strong, but if you start hammer it into to rock you have problems with a panel getting dented and gouged. Anyways, probably too expensive for me.

JJsTJ · **Posted:** Thu Feb 23, 2006 8:39 am

Way too rich for my blood. You could buy both front and rear RL's for that price. I will say it is a cool style of bumper though and I hope they Do make them for the KJ.

SavageUrge · **Posted:** Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:03 pm

Very cool idea - the weight savings are an attractive selling point, however are these bumbers airbag compatible as the ARB's are? If you're going to spend that much on one of these bumpers, they better be as safe as the ARB Bull Bar.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Mon Feb 27, 2006 6:51 pm

SavageUrge wrote:

Very cool idea - the weight savings are an attractive selling point, however are these bumbers airbag compatible as the ARB's are? If you're going to spend that much on one of these bumpers, they better be as safe as the ARB Bull Bar.

The bumper on the libby has nothing to do with the air bag. How fast you stop is what makes the air bag pop out.

ManicMechanicJoe · **Posted:** Tue Feb 28, 2006 12:17 am

i have yet to see an airbag sensor mounted to a bumper...

white04kj · **Posted:** Tue Feb 28, 2006 12:39 am

They look pretty cool, but they stick out awefully far, which means the approach angle is gonna be worse than that of an ARB or RL bumper. Plus, the price of the aluminum vs. steel bumper kinda sucks, along with what everyone else was saying about the softness of the aluminum. Probably far too costly to sell well, but still pretty cool.

I do really like the idea of the locking storage compartment though. It probably wouldn't be able to hold much, but with the limited amount of cubby space and the like on the KJ, it would be cool to see the design incorporated into a steel bumper (hint hint RL). :wink:

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