F550 Lt Rescue Front Bumper (aftermarket)

Newest addition to our fire department was a 2004 F-550 (chassis put under a rescue body we had on another truck).

We've been talking about our possibilities for a winch as that didn't get budgeted into the original build. Would also like to throw some 'fightin iron' on the front to protect it from deer (maybe 500 miles on the truck and it's already had one deer encounter)

I've done some looking but I just can't come up with much for options. Wondering what the truck builders out there are using, if the use/fabricate something we could get ahold of.

Looking for a setup that'll accept a winch (enclosed)
Full brush guard.
Enough area to mount our wig-wag flashers (probalby 8" square) that are now mounted on the grille it's self.



already looked at:
~UTE Ltd. http://www.uteltd.com/pages/bullbar.htm (have a guy locally offering us his off of a tow rig he's selling - Looking to compare our options to this one)

~BuckStop Truckware http://www.buckstop.biz/

~Warn

That's about all I've come up with for aftermarket, hence the reason I'm looking for possibilities from a truck fabricator..see what they use.

Do you definitely want the winch permanently mounted on the front bumper? We have an F-550 with a receiver mount winch on the front, which can also be moved to the rear. We didn't do it, but of course you have the option to mount it on the sides of the rig as well with the appropriate hardware.

Our brush guard type unit isn't nearly as beefy as the units you provided links to, and the receiver mount winch isn't recessed. I'm not saying our way is better, but it allows some flexibility for winching ops...

Just throwing ideas...

These guys have a lot of units built on F-series rigs. You could see if they've got something shown on rigs that would serve your needs better.

Alexis

Our F-550 is on their deliveries area as well, but we didn't do what you're looking for.

I'll also qualify my posting of the link with the statement that I'm not pushing Alexis, but I think they build a good rig. However, our next two rigs were ordered from someone else... They do have a nice site with lots of shots of their deliveries in PDF format, so its a good place for ideas.

Before I give you any more suggestions, I will advise you to be leery of mounting anything in the area of the front bumper if your truck is equiped with Air Bags. You may want to check with your local FOrd Dealer and any Truck Accessory upfitters before you tackle this one.

You may decide that a Bull bar & a front reciver for a removable winch would be a better option.

All that being said. . .
Check out the Heavy Duty Bumper / Mount from Warn - It's an all in one system (and it looks monsterous!!).
http://www.warn.com/truck/index.shtml

Also see the various offerings from Ramsey
http://www.ramsey.com

A second option would be to use a seperate Winch Mount & Bull Bar - if you choose that route - take a look at the 3000 Step Grill Guards from Rhino.
http://www.gorhino.com/front-guards.html

The EMS Agency I used to be with has a Ramsey Bumper / Winch combo on the Rescue (crash) truck ('97 F-Super) and the Rhino 3000 on the response unit & newest Ambulance ('02 F-350).

My current EMS Agency runs the Rhino units as well ('01 F-350 & '04 F-450 I think).

My current FD had a combo bull bar & winch mount on the brush truck but I can't remember who it's made by. THe truck is a early 90's F-250HD but I'm nor sure of the exact year b/c we bought it used.

Pix. of the '97, '02', Brush Unit, and Tahoe are available here:
http://n2dfire.tripod.com/stationbio.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by N2DFire

You may decide that a Bull bar & a front reciver for a removable winch would be a better option.

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That's what we did.

go ARB, the Aussies know there bumpers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DennisTheMenace

go ARB, the Aussies know there bumpers

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I think they call them Roo Bars. :)

the use of the term Roo bar in Australia reflects the fact that "roos" account for over 60% of animal collisions in Australia

Thanks for all the opinions...

As far as a reciever mounted winch.. it has been considered. That was actually the original plan, but we're swaying back and forth between that and what I've been looking for now. I'm not sure how well a winch would stay protected hanging on the front of the truck like that as we don't have room to store it in the box, a deffinite plus of having an enclosed winch.

It's something we'll have to continue to talk about.


Did get out today and do some talking to some truck equpiment suppliers and got some information on the Ramsey winch/bull bar combo. Was reccomended a few other places to check online, along with possibly having one custom built (kind of the idea behind looking at what truck manufacturers use, if they build them in-house or use a marketed peice)



I'll have to continue to browse though all the links posted and get together some information to present to the department.


Thanks again!

-Justin

We purchased two bumpers and winches from http://www.stealthoffroad.com/monster.htm

They are really heavy duty bumpers that were very easy to install. We put one on an E350 rescue truck and one on a 1 ton Dodge 4 X 4. They are not cheap, but you get what you pay for! This company will also work with you on design and options, both of our bumpers were custom built for our applications. Both have MileMarker 12,000 lb winches.

Here is an example of Ramsey's bumpers, as N2DFire mentioned. A little key unlocks the front cover that holds the license plate. Once the plate is removed the roller-fairlead is exposed along with the quick connect for the remote.

Just thought I would throw this in for ideas.
This is our 2002 F-550 light rescue. Winch is mounted up behind the OEM bumper.

http://photos.imageevent.com/k1500ch.../9IM002459.JPG

http://photos.imageevent.com/k1500ch.../9IM002460.JPG

http://photos.imageevent.com/k1500ch.../9IM002462.JPG

Again, thanks for all the input.

Been a busy week so unfortunately I haven't had much time to do a whole lot of digging.

After talking to another one of our crew members last weekend (who had been part of the initial talks on this subject with our chief), I should probably add to our "requirements" that it be a full replacement bumper. I think a lot of that has to do with the deer encounter. I would venture to say we cover close to 250 square miles of rural area with a large deer population, and as our primary unit, we can't risk a deer causing severe damage that leaves us on the side of the road.

However, with all of the options you guys (and gals?) have offered up, I'll have to sit down and do some more talking with the chief.



http://www.buckstop.biz/Images/fleet...rg_Fire1_l.jpg
Looks awfully nice doesn't it?
(My ~current~ reccomendation to the department)