2010 bumper upgade

[Lambert454]

I have a 2007 M8 and I put the new 2010 bumper and tail light assembly on. It looked petty sweet all polished up and light weight. Went out yesterday for the first ride of the season and the snow was bottomless. So eventually I got stuck and the first pull up on that shinny new bumper and the whole thing ripped in half in my hands. My guess is that its built out of recycled soda cans. Has this happened to anyone else?

Lambert

 

[aksnopro]

ya

i installed the same setup with steel rivets it made my tunnel STOUT and i dont woulda trusted it to hang my sled from!!! you use aluminum rivits? or not put enough in?

heres some pics

 

[aksnopro]

pic

picture of upgraded tunnel

 

[Lambert454]

I used grade 8 steel bolts, No rivets. The bolts didn't brake the bumper itself sheered in half about 8in from the bend, in between the bolts that were holding it on.

 

[aksnopro]

wow

wow really! damn id be pissed, bring it back into the dealer!! i was impressed with mine, you might have just got a faulty bumper.. sucks bro!

 

[Lambert454]

Took it back to the dealler today and asked if they would warranty
it and they pretty much said no way. So I guess ill build my own...
The factories are being pressured so much to be the lightest their parts are just falling apart. I would rather be able to trust my sled in the back country, than be able to climb that extra 10 feet.

Lambert

 

[Burn Down]

I have the same tail kit on my 07'. Cat offers a m series hitch package that has a steel bumper instead of a aluminum one. Might weigh a couple more pounds but it is tough.

 

[constructionLake]

Just to recap:
You bought a new updated bumper to accomplish a lightweight mod. You drilled 30 rivets out, and installed with 8 grade 8 bolts (this takes the lightweight out of the equation)
You then bent the bumper/tunnel because it was installed wrong, (there's 30 rivets in it for a reason) and marched it down to the AC dealer for warranty.
AC says no warranty, and you think that the AC bumper is a cheap piece of soda cans.

Now your engineering and building your own rear bumper?

 

[Lambert454]

No no you have it all wrong. I installed it using all the stock 2010 bumper holes. Its not ment to be light at all. I dont care about that. The tunnel did not bend or budge, the bumper itself ripped in-half. I new the dealer was not going to replace it I just thought id see what they'd say. My grief is that the bumper was to light. I grabbed ahold of it and tugged and the aluminum just tore in half. All the rivets that I took out where replaced with stronger rivets with backing washers. I know how to fab metal trust me.

Lambert

 

[bgreen776]

I bent mine the first time I put a snobungie on it, but it took a serious yank to do it. My BDX bumper did the same thing but lasted way longer. I ended up building my own out of 1" 6063 Aluminum Pipe. Very stout.

 

[ripsass]

I just towed a dead sled (with rider on it) out of the mountains, and through a gnarly, tight wooded trail for 7-8 miles with mine. Took enough hard yanks to snap three straps/ropes during the process.

Bumper still looks like brand new. Solid.

 

[wastedeep]

i have the same sled
i did the 2009 install of the bumper
have had no isues with it at all
pull and tow about anything that i need to
i used bulkhead rivots to install bumper
i also replaces the rolled edges and installed the gussets
when u say that it broke the bumper off
did it break thru the first rivot hole (bolt)
did it break thru one of the factory drilled hole

 

[Offroad Engineering]

I think a picture would go a long ways here....

But the long and short is that if it was installed PROPERLY odds are pretty slim you're a big enough guy to cause a material failure. But you used a bunch of grade 8 bolts which indicates a lot.... Why buy a hardened steel bolt to go into an aluminum extrusion?

 

[madsigntist]

Post some pics.
Until we all can see what happened and how you "installed" it, I think we're all thinking it was more you than the bumper.
I did the 09 conversion on mine this fall and is bomb-proof.

 

[Cascade Crud]

No kidding, My 09 M8 has a bend in the middle of the bumper from the snow flap and trees hiting it plus I bent the whole back half of the tunnel down 6" last year when I backfliped it 30+feet off the top of a razorback, but yanked the bumper back straight and is just fine. It's either a bad install or a defective bumper. Cats are known for being a wee bit heavy but STOUT!

 

[bgreen776]

Here is a picture of my stock bumper that is already bent, and the bumper I am working on to replace it. There are things that should be light, and others that shouldn't. A bumper should be tough. Cat could have made it much tougher if they had tied it in with a third point under the tail light like they did on the old sleds.