F'n sweet! Almost makes me want a second gen.

I guess it is just me but I do not think the hoops look right in relation to the "V" from the front grill. I think that the front tube sides should be slanted in the same angle and direction as the grill "V"

At least it allowed me to decide not to go with the tube and hoops.

2 differences i can see:

1. the 05 version headlight hoops do not attach to the bumper at a 90 degree angle. The bars are nearly square to the bumper, but they do angle inward just a tad, which looks great. On the 00-01 version is see the 90 degrees as a necessity to not impair visibility of blinkers

2. The center hoop on the 05 version looks to follow the downward slant of the hood where on the older version it actually was slightly above the line of the hood

Can you verify these differences Jim?

The pics on page 3 look great. But is this what the final production bumper will look like? I'm just curious. I was wondering if the final production bumper will sit a little tighter against the headlights? Thanks.

From what I gather, that is the final bumper, at least looks wise.

Jim stated the gap is only about 3/4 to 1 inch which isn't bad. When I ordered mine I asked him about the gap. It's needed for when the bumper flexs it doesn't bust the lights.

After looking at it a bit more, I kind of agree. I wonder is there is a reason it's not. I'm not sure if the tube could be bent easily the way I am thinking.

Hmmm, funny how that angle went un-noticed before...but now that I'm looking at it...the crease of the bumper's line would just be continued, as that line already matches the grill's V lines...

He'd have to make the head light loops a bit shorter in from the center length, and broaden the top span to match the outer headlight rake margin, and have the central hoop be a big upside down pyramid, so the risers would match the grill lines...which then flow into the hood crease lines....

So, we'd end up with the headlight hoops being angled to have symetry with the central hoops, and, match the turn signal/headlight edge lines....

....and the central hoop would be broader on top, to span the crease to crease distance across the hood's leading edge...

Kind of a set of two triangles flanking a matching central inverted triangle...

I'm not sure how that would look aesthetically...

Any Photoshop pro's here who can paste up a version of what that would look like?

You lost me:)

I was thinking something like this.



Sorry, for the poor paintbrush job.

You lost me to TJ, something like this?

Pony, that's what I was thinking.

My 1.88 cents but I prefer Jim's original work. Nice photoshop Ponyboy.

i kinda have to agree here. the pivot point/joint is the only thing (and the first thing i might add!!!) i have scrapped as well. i am a little concerned about that.

the other question i have is, with the front wheels so exposed, what do you think will happen in the rain or when splashing through puddles. when i put a 3in lift on my superduty, it significantly changed the way water splashed out of the wheels wells. there was suddenly A LOT of water splashing out further in front of the truck. i can only assume because the front tires weren't as protected.

would this then result in the same issue???

how bad might this be moddified with the lift???

and i like the bumper, but it seems like, from the front view, the tires are a little.....exposed. with a lift (say the calmini 5 inch!) would this stance loook a little....well....lanky (for lack of a better term)..???

The exposed tires look no worse than the 00-04 bumpers I have seen, so I don't think that should be too much of a problem.

yeah but that pics not lifted!, that's more of what i was asking about.

Well, there are plenty of lifted 00-04 X's out there with aftermarket bumpers with good approch angles, so I think it would be safe. That is not to say that it won't spray more, but I don't think it would be a big problem.

The radius of the center hoop bend is way tighter than what is actually possible. Ive found that with tube woork, you just have to try it and see what it looks like. I lot of stuff that seems like it would look good doesnt and vise-versa.

This is what an overbent hoop looks like....chop this on there.

The radius on the 2" tube is tighter. The center hoop leans back more and the headlight guards also lean back some. The headligh guards leaning back give an illusion that they are bent less than 90deg.

You cant wrap something like a skid under the pivot bolt area bec the arms have to drop down there. It's a very beefy part. Are you guys damaging it or jusr dinging it up some? I'll take a look at it though.

Exposing the front tires is one of the major purposes of a bumper like this and what allows you to go places offroad you'd otherwise get hung up. It's not significantly different than many other bumpers for other trucks in this respect and I've never noticed a downside on the road.

I got to say, i like the orginal look. But for the peeps that want to see the v shape.

So from what your saying Jim, this is the most you can get it to bend?:

That doesnt look bad. I like this better though. To me it just has a mean pissed off bull-nose look.

Yeah Jim In my opinion, don't change it

While I like the original design best, I think the angled one looks nice too. You know... I think if you offered the right person a few extra bucks you could probably get it made with the V shape since they are custom made per order. Any idea who that person may be Jim?

I think that if you angle out the center risers, you also have to angle out the side risers to have symetry.

In retrospect, I think the original design is good, the suggested design blends TOO well, and is lost in the truck's lines....

The original design LOOKS like aggressive extra protection, the angled design is almost invisible.

And Hell Yeah! - I'd like my tires to be able to reach EVERYTHING, the more tire you can see, the better.

Just a thought...

so If you can't overbend the tubes in the center section to make the angle you want, why can't you put the bends in the side hoops, i.e. make the outer parts three-sided tubes that are c-shaped and then the center section would be more-or-less just a top piece that gets welded to the end hoops?

Did that make any sense?

That was the very first design I tried on the 00-04 Xterra Front Bumper. Everyone but one person who replied HATED it, so I changed it.