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Post by SWMan on Sept 23, 2021 16:21:28 GMT -6
So I hit a deer last week with my F350, ruined grill/bumper/all radiator and coolers on front. Truck is down as it leaks coolant bad, adjusted to $9300 damage this morning. Insurance covers wildlife which we all pay for(not free) but biggest problem is my truck is down for who knows how long until parts come and repair is done.
Anyone put an aftermarket front bumper/grill guard on to protect the front of a pickup? Any tips or maybe negatives I'm not thinking about? Gonna be heavier and maybe a bit ugly, but should be good insurance against this happening again and losing my vehicle.
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Post by garyfunk on Sept 23, 2021 17:07:44 GMT -6
Sorry, can't help you with the bumper question but I just recently came across these, ha.   |
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Post by cptusa on Sept 23, 2021 17:50:55 GMT -6
Those pics say it all. Deer are fearless towatd any vehicle of value. You have a nice ride and they will run right in front of you or into the side of you.
The best deterrent is to not show fear. This is easily accomplished in my fleet of late 90's pickups. See a deer on the side of the road? Throttle and drive diectly at it, swerve toward it if needed. I have yet to hit a deer in a disposable truck.
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Post by northernfarmer on Sept 23, 2021 18:15:56 GMT -6
This is not an endorsement but Herd makes an aluminum bumper that I believe hinges down and you can see if they make a model for your particular year. Buckstop is another name in bumpers although I don't know if they make a hinge down model but have some steel and aluminum units and they outfit a fair amount of forestry and emergency vehicles or that is their claim and they are manufactured in Oregon. Beware that the price of some bumpers is insane. There are a variety of other brands out there as well. Herd happens to be in Winnipeg or at least headquartered there I believe.
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Post by Albertabuck on Sept 23, 2021 19:03:32 GMT -6
Trouble is most of the newer HD pickups with diesels under the hood are already too dam heavy for the front suspension. Its why ball joints and such never last as they should, they are not built for it. But then you take like my '85 GM K3500 with the monobeam Dana 60, that sucker holds up just fine with the 6.2 and a steel grill guard.
So I would becarful of what I hung on the front of a newer one. I have a steel gard much like whats on my GM that will fit my 96 F250, but I haven't put it on simply because I have to baby the front end as it is with the 7.3 carried around, and its only got 160 kms on it. Well into second set of joints and more, never mind front rubber.
Speaking of stroking deer, nailed one with my Expedition late spring just mile south of the yard here at about 40 mph, was surprised the air bags never went off, and even more surprising was there was no damage, few tufts of hair here and there, but no question my plastic truck is tougher than I thought lol think all the pics on my phone, maybe post one later.
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Post by cptusa on Sept 23, 2021 20:10:36 GMT -6
It takes a pretty significant collision to pop the air bags, most likely a deer impact would not trigger them. My good truck encountered a deer at 80 mph dead center years ago, took radiator stack out, never popped the bags.
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Post by Beerwiser on Sept 23, 2021 23:24:12 GMT -6
Those pics say it all. Deer are fearless towatd any vehicle of value. You have a nice ride and they will run right in front of you or into the side of you. Hmmmm, makes me wonder why they would bother with a ford???  I think they just hate fords and want them off the road.  |
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Post by kenmb on Sept 24, 2021 7:32:50 GMT -6
I have had a number of work trucks over the years. Would do about 40,000km a year on them plus all the km's a year riding in someone else truck to jobs. Only hit deer twice in my life in all those km travelled. Both times in a 2003 Dodge 1500. The first time pulling my trailer and sled, put a deer right between the headlights at highway speed. Aggressive maneuvers with trailer not good idea. Second one bounced off corner of truck on highway near job site. While coworkers talked of deer gaurds and such and transferring them to other trucks as the trucks got replaced, in the end it just wasn't that frequent of an occurrence.
One early winter night me and a co-worker were in my truck heading home from a job with the tandem enclosed trailer loaded to around 5500lbs behind my f150 when a moose crossed the road about 50ft ahead. A deer bumper wasn't going to factor much into that scenario. |
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daryl672
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Post by daryl672 on Sept 24, 2021 9:43:40 GMT -6
Must be F350 hunting season right now, I hit one last Friday night too. Lucky I had a crowbar in the box, was able to pry the bumper away from the tire and drive away.  |
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Post by kevlar on Sept 24, 2021 11:32:23 GMT -6
Fords hit more deer simply because they are so much quieter. All other makes squeak and rattle so much they scare away anything within a half a mile!
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Post by skfarmboy on Sept 24, 2021 12:01:26 GMT -6
 This is the bumper with winch on my 2014 F350. It may not look pretty but it is effective. |
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Post by kevlar on Sept 25, 2021 21:30:28 GMT -6
Here is my deer hitting history. First one I was 17, driving a 76 F150, deer hit the front corner then rolled down the side, ironic thing was I had been deer hunting for two weeks, never seen a single deer, I was driving home from dads cabin after the last day of deer season, wham!
1990 F150, hit a deer on the passenger side door, a few thousand damage through Autopac.
Same truck, right smack center of the grill, several thousand damage, still can't believe Autopac fixed it, by this time the truck was wore out.
Same truck, road covered in a couple inches of heavy wet snow, driving maybe 40 kph, come over a hill and see a deer standing at the bottom, a couple hundred yards away, honking and trying to stop, it stood there looking at me, hit it at about 5 kph, knocked the deer down on it's knees, it stood up and looked at me, them walked off. Got home, dog comes to greet me, walking past the front of my truck, he turns around and sniffs the bumper, then proceeds to lick the bumper.
Grossest deer I've hit was with a Freightliner hauling grain with a triaxle. Deer comes up along side me in the ditch then tries to cut in front of me, bumper sort of scoops it up and flings it around to the other side, all I could see was a huge mist of blood and guts spraying into the ditch. No damage to truck, the deer was a write off.
I think that's all of them?
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Post by Albertabuck on Sept 25, 2021 21:44:54 GMT -6
I don't even remember how many deer I took out with this one over the years, never broke as much as a light, needless to say, none ever survived.  |
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bob123
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Post by bob123 on Sept 25, 2021 22:27:56 GMT -6
Deer are like rats here, I average more then 1 a year
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daryl672
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Post by daryl672 on Sept 25, 2021 22:56:05 GMT -6
The one I hit last Friday was the first one ever in my 53 years... lots of close calls but never tagged one before. My lucky streak is over.
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I think they just hate fords and want them off the road. 
