Bores Mfg Bumper Guides: Please help!

[outlier]

Hey guys,

I've gotten to thinking about how useful bumper guides would be on my '02 XLT, particularly as the hood curves and I can't see where the passenger side leaves off in tight parking situations, especially at night, etc. Also, my garage is a bit of a tight fit and they'd definitely help in that regard too.

If you check their site, www.boresmfg.com , you can see that they list bumper guides for up to and including the '98 Explorer, but nothing after that.

http://www.boresmfg.com/pickupguides.php

I called Bores today and spoke to a very nice woman who faxed me a "Custom Bumper Guide Order Sheet." This has various dimensions to fill in and they will manufacture a bumper guide to your specifications. Of course, custom guides are non-returnable, so it'd be important to get it right, first time, obviously.

One of the things we discussed is the possibility of Bores listing a circa '02 bumper guide on the site once we get the dimensions hammered out.

Here are my questions:

1. Does the '02 XLT front fender/body style mirror or conform to any Ford pickup already listed on their site?

2. How similar/different are the front fenders of the '02 as compared to the '98?

3. Could a '98 bumper guide possibly work as is?

4. What is the circumference and/or radius of the wheel well? I can certainly measure it, but someone may already know.

Looking at the trim around the wheel well, I can see that it bolts to a plastic well with two Phillips head screws. I am thinking that these two screw holes could possibly be used to attach the clamps for the bumper guide.

I am also thinking that I will not wire these up as per the Bores website instructions so that they blink with the turn signals. That's a nice effect, but really not needed, and if I use any other color than amber, could be illegal. Definitely can't have flashing blue around here.

Please help me out with this. Any info, advice, random thoughts, anything is more than welcome.

Many thanks,

John

 

[outlier]

No one can help? Not even with question No. 1?

 

[Bill Kemp]

Seems like you would have to have both veh.s to measure.
You will probably have to go to a dealers used car lot with your tape measure, dig. camera, paper & pencil.
I dont believe this subject has been researched before. At least not here.

 

[outlier]

Yeah, I figured as much — that I'd have to go find a '98 Explorer to measure and compare.

Looking at some of the photos on the Bores site, I'm thinking that this model might be good or could be adapted:

http://www.boresmfg.com/pics/20080417123634700545.jpg

The important thing to consider is that the '02 XLT has trim that flares out and away from the fender. Therefore, a bumper guide would need a compound curve to negotiate the flare and yet fit tightly. Seems like they've accomplished that with the above.

Perhaps I could get Bores to build a pair with that curve, but with a custom length so that it would be an appropriate length for an Explorer.

Perhaps the lack of interest here might reflect a belief that they'd be silly or overkill — like I think I'm some wannabe big rig trucker or something... That said, I used to have a pair on a truck some years ago, and they were useful.

What's interesting to me is that they seem to be more popular as an add-on in some regions more than others. I'd long noticed that they seem somewhat popular on pickups, SUVs and even snub-nosed passenger vans in southwestern PA, but nearly nonexistent in the South.

Getting back to the Explorer, I was hoping if someone could tell me if the '02 XLT front portion of the vehicle closely resembles any Ford pickups listed on the Bores site. You know what I mean: Many auto manufacturers will have a pickup body style very similar to an SUV and vice-versa... I know someone whose family owns a Ford dealership, so I'm thinking of calling her. I'm sure she'd be able to point me in the right direction.

Anyway, thanks for chiming in. I'll keep you all up-to-date on what I find out if any of you think you'd be interested.

 

[Bill Kemp]

Good luck but I dont think you will find the info you seek by letting " your fingers do the walking."(old YellowPages ad).

 

[outlier]

Not 100% sure what you mean here...

Basically, I just want to know if the Ex XLT front body style is also consistent with a particular Ford pickup model. Follow me?