amschind
New Member
- Joined
- February 2, 2016
- Messages
- 7
- Reaction score
- 1
- City, State
- Galveston, TX
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2002 4x4 EB V6
I have been looking into having a pair of custom bumpers made for my 2002 explorer. Every place that I have looked has said either "No" or "I have never done one, so I'd need to have the vehicle in my shop to try."
With regard to the FRONT bumper, it is superficially very similar to those from 1999-2011 Ford Rangers. That matters because tons of guys are making custom bumpers for those vehicles. I know that the 3rd gen Explorers are similar in many ways to the Rangers, though parts commonality wasn't yet a priority at Ford (Mulally really started that when he took over in 2006, so I wouldn't put it past Ford to build a wide variety of VERY similar parts for no real reason).
I want to know if a bumper built to fit a Ranger would bolt on to my Explorer. As I assume that nobody has tried this, I am curious if anyone can think of a cheap way to test it out. I thought of junkyard diving for a Ranger bumper and then trying it for fit, but finding one that isn't so mangled as to be useless AND costs significantly less than just buying the custom bumper that I want an trying that one may prove challenging.
Fearce Off Road Ranger Bumpers
As for the rear bumper, I am open to ideas on that, but it seems like it's going to be a challenge.
With regard to the FRONT bumper, it is superficially very similar to those from 1999-2011 Ford Rangers. That matters because tons of guys are making custom bumpers for those vehicles. I know that the 3rd gen Explorers are similar in many ways to the Rangers, though parts commonality wasn't yet a priority at Ford (Mulally really started that when he took over in 2006, so I wouldn't put it past Ford to build a wide variety of VERY similar parts for no real reason).
I want to know if a bumper built to fit a Ranger would bolt on to my Explorer. As I assume that nobody has tried this, I am curious if anyone can think of a cheap way to test it out. I thought of junkyard diving for a Ranger bumper and then trying it for fit, but finding one that isn't so mangled as to be useless AND costs significantly less than just buying the custom bumper that I want an trying that one may prove challenging.
Fearce Off Road Ranger Bumpers
As for the rear bumper, I am open to ideas on that, but it seems like it's going to be a challenge.