Help With a Brush Guard | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Help With a Brush Guard

SonLoc

New Member
Joined
January 7, 2014
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
City, State
Pittsiburgh, PA
Year, Model & Trim Level
1998 Ford Explorer
Hey everybody my first post, I'm 17 and got a explorer from my parents as my first car and I love it and i want to start building it to what I want. I am looking for a full brush guard to fit a 98 explorer sport, but I can't find one that will actually fit it. Does everyone modify theirs that websites say may fit? I've looked everywhere money isnt that big of a deal I just want a all black one. -Thanks!
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.











Aha, Welcome to the Forum. You remind me of someone.

Brush guards are somewhat hard to find. I've been looking for one for a while now and have had no luck. Your best bet is to buy a new one. Most online sites will have them.
 






I have the same question with one caveat, I want a "TRUE" Brush Guard/Push Bar, that will allow me to drive my Explorer through small trees (1"- 3" diameter) and high brush without damaging my headlights or my explorer if possible. All the race shops and off-road shops in So-Cal so far said that specially for Ford Explorers most guards will fold back into the vehicle if I drove it though items. I know my buddies Toyota 4Runner has one and we have no issues, off course he has a different frame, bumper, and a skid plate.
 






You may want to have a bumper custom built. A setup that replaces the stock bumper with a heavy gauge steel unit would be a good start and build from there with thick wall tubing. Most cosmetic brush guards are weak because they are only as strong as their mounts to the front bumper, which can bend and warp when put under heavy stress. Also these cheaper bolt-on brush guards are not built with the highest quality steel.

I attached a couple pictures, maybe you can see what I'm talking about. The one I have is fine for looks, and will hold up to brush, but I wouldn't trust it against anything larger than a 1" tree. It mounts using the bottom bumper bolts and two bolts drilled through the upper metal of the bumper. It's not very thick gauge steel, and the headlight guards are only as strong as the two "Grade ?" bolts that hold each of them to the uprights. Theoretically with a welder this whole setup could be reinforced, adding stronger tabs and welding the headlight grills to the uprights, and reinforcing the stock bumper, but at that point it might be better just to fab a whole new bumper from scratch.
 

Attachments

  • Copy of CIMG1844.jpg
    Copy of CIMG1844.jpg
    96.4 KB · Views: 143
  • CIMG1843.jpg
    CIMG1843.jpg
    63.5 KB · Views: 136












Back
Top