21.5 pounds of bumper...... GONE!

[steensn]

I was just thinking about what people were doing to replace their bumper with that would keep them legal. You got a truck there, but my little Aspire is already only a motorcycle with a possibly unsafe airbag.

I see that you plan on doing a tube bumper, but what makes it "safe" or "legal." I know there is a 3 mph bumper law, but if you tube it up to replace a heavy stock bumper, how do you quantify the new bumper as legal?

[i_am_socket]

Buddy of mine had the rear bumper rust off of his pickup and replaced it with a wooden board. Seemed to satisfy Jersey law well enough.

[cfg83]

Red -

Originally Posted by Red

Tube it

And then put spongy tube insulation around it to make it "person-friendly" at 0.00000001 MPH.

CarloSW2

[dremd]

Plenty of aftermarket bumpers on trucks around here anyways, you could put something (anything) if it becomes an issue, otherwise, leave it as is. Worry abous saftey up front.

Only safety on rear bumper I'd be concerned with would be fuel tank location, I'd look under and see what affect the lack of bumper would have.

Don't let forum Nay Sayers make you put it back on, only do that if you can find a real reason.

[zjrog]

Utah requires safety inspections. Need a rear bumper. From the safety guidelines, a bumper needs to be 4.5 inches tall, extend beyond the sides of the bodywork and be able to transfer energy to the frame of the vehicle. By these guidelines, ALL modern vehicles should fail. Most "bumpers" are actually under the plastic bodywork, and are designed NOT to transfer energy... Apparently for trucks, any aftermarket bumper that attaches to the frame, is 4.5" or taller and provides side to side coverage, would be OK. Just my dime's worth.

And, how is a truck without a bumper death? For ages trucks were sold without bumpers. The bed provided a reasonable crumple zone of sorts. And besides, trucks today usually have the tank tucked up in the frame about the middle of the truck. Some can be had with the tank in the back, but those are usually auxiliary tanks.

[kevlar]

Originally Posted by steensn

I see that you plan on doing a tube bumper, but what makes it "safe" or "legal." I know there is a 3 mph bumper law, but if you tube it up to replace a heavy stock bumper, how do you quantify the new bumper as legal?

A pipe bumper to me, if someone runs into it, or a cop sees it and I don't get a ticket or die...that's legal enough for me!

[kevlar]

BTW, After driving it to work today, I experienced a very large increase in handling and it looks to be sipping slower. I think the skirts were "shooting" air into the bumper palms.... It just felt better.

[Johnny Mullet]

Originally Posted by zjrog

Utah requires safety inspections. Need a rear bumper. From the safety guidelines, a bumper needs to be 4.5 inches tall, extend beyond the sides of the bodywork and be able to transfer energy to the frame of the vehicle.

Pennsylvania has a similar regulation about bumpers, but trucks with roll pans seem to be exempt from this according to some techs.

kevlar lives in Indiana, so he is good to go

[DifferentPointofView]

I live about 2 miles from the indiana border, and I must say, I envy your laid back automotive laws

[Ryland]

I thought that most states didn't require trucks to have rear bumpers, I'm pretty sure they are an option here, after all, it's a truck! the ride hight can vary so much depending on how it's loaded, or the type of bed it has could prevent it from having a bumper at all, now if a truck was used as a passenger vehicle then I could see having bumpers, but they are a utility vehicle so they have looser safety standards in other areas as well.