Frequently Asked Questions

We are in business as an American manufacturer who specializes in the metal fabrication of armor, storage, and vehicle accessories associated with general vehicle-based exploration. Our catalog is comprised entirely of products that we build right here in our own facility in Michigan, using domestically sourced materials and machinery whenever possible. There are supporting components of our products that are sourced overseas such as LED accessories and hardware components. If you come across a label on any component from us stating that it is made anywhere but the good ol’ US of A, rest assured that it is simply a supporting component on a larger product that was built by us, for you, here in our home state.

Our products are finished in powder coat

Our powder coat process starts with surface prep in fabrication where most surfaces are roughed up using mechanical sanders. The parts are then treated with a phosphate wash before an initial bake to remove all remaining surface contamination. The first step in the powder process is a zinc rich primer. This is designed to promote excellent adhesion to the base metal as well as to act as a sacrificial anode to inhibit corrosion. After the primer coat is baked on, we lay down a top coat of a durable sandtex black powder, then do a final bake of the parts. The coating materials and methods we choose for our products are designed to exceed a 6,000-hour salt spray under ASTM D 117-94 test methods.

Tube work is the hoop or tubing welded to the top of the bumper. It is designed to help protect front end components of your vehicle, for style, and it can be used as a place to mount lights and other accessories (mounts not included.) Each of our bumpers has a unique profile of tubing designed to look best with that bumper on your vehicle, but many times you will have the option of ordering the bumper with no tube at all.

For steel plate and bar we use A36, steel tubing is A500, aluminum is 5052 (unless specified.) We always look to buy USA made steel and aluminum, but we will use Canadian sourced products if there are any supply issues.

Fatigue strength is a material’s ability to withstand periodic loading cycles. If given enough time, small repetitive forces can cause “metal fatigue”, or weakening due to molecular micro-fractures that eventually lower the alloy’s strength. This value is useful to show the general endurance of a metal and how it holds up over time. 6061 aluminum does not have as high a fatigue strength as 5052 aluminum (96.5 MPa VS. 117 MPa, calculated using 500,000,000 deflections below the yield strength), which means 5052 aluminum can successfully withstand more cycles of deforming. This is yet another reason why 5052 aluminum is an excellent forming alloy, as it is more resilient to fatigue failure than 6061 aluminum.

Aluminum is right around half the weight of steel armor.

Please see this page for warranty and order policy information.

Arrangements for pickups need to be made by contacting us directly to place the order.

If it's a common small item there is a good chance it's in stock and ready to go. We try and keep as many bumpers on hand as we can in various build stages, so they can ship out quickly. You'll find we have some of the best order fulfillment times in the industry; expect most products to leave our facility in around 15-20 business days. However, lead times are subject to change due to our current volume of orders. Please feel free to contact us directly for current lead times.

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