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Aftermarket rear bumper... Failed welds?

J

Jreng87

Free Member
I'm gonna start by not naming the company, if you know or figure it out, great, but I don't want to bash a company for what may or may not be a simple mistake...

Aftermarket rear bumper. Get stuck today and have to stand up vertical and then put it on its side from there. Get back down and my buddy sees the bumper bent/broke. Granted I know things are bulletproof and stuff does break, but the snow was deep and I don't really feel like it should have caused this damage.

To me it looks like the welds failed. The handle essentially came clean out of the side supports. It was caused by the bend in the excess surrounding the grab bar for sure, but to me and in my experiences the weld should still have held. It's a very clean failure in my opinion. Pics attached... Let me know your thoughts...
]

IMG_0227.jpg IMG_0229.jpg IMG_0230.jpg
 
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Being a fabricator with 30 plus years experience and I am considered an Aluminum Guru Locally. Here are my observations;

The joint design is close to correct, but the bumper tube is too long, at the most it should only go 1/2 way thru the side plate to allow for a good fillet weld.

The welding was done too cold and they probably added the filler before the parent metal was fluid and ready for it. Resulting in a cold unfused build up that structurally is no better than a bead of caulking.

Seeing as they are rookies at welding they were afraid of putting a nice fillet weld on the inside. They should have welded both sides in my opinion, to truly make it bullet proof. But they also need more practice / experience to learn the metal and what it takes to make a quality weld.

When I'm teaching others to TIG / GTAW weld aluminum here is my advise; clean it well! Even new aluminum. A stainless wire brush or scotch bright and acetone are your friend, this is due to the natural oxide that forms on the aluminum which requires three times the heat needed to melt the aluminum, just to break thru it. Do Not add any filler until the aluminum looks like a puddle of mercury on both parts to be joined, only then should the filler be placed into that puddle of mercury looking aluminum. As you gain comfortably with aluminum you can actually wait and let it keyhole out a little bit before adding the filler to maximize penetration and tie-in.


I hope you did not pay much for it. Most of Skins products are garbage for the reasons stated above. People still claim their stuff is made in the US but IMO no self respecting American Fabricator would admit to making that crap.
 
Jreng87 said:
I'm gonna start by not naming the company, if you know or figure it out, great, but I don't want to bash a company for what may or may not be a simple mistake...

Aftermarket rear bumper. Get stuck today and have to stand up vertical and then put it on its side from there. Get back down and my buddy sees the bumper bent/broke. Granted I know things are bulletproof and stuff does break, but the snow was deep and I don't really feel like it should have caused this damage.

To me it looks like the welds failed. The handle essentially came clean out of the side supports. It was caused by the bend in the excess surrounding the grab bar for sure, but to me and in my experiences the weld should still have held. It's a very clean failure in my opinion. Pics attached... Let me know your thoughts...
]
Click to expand...

After looking at the pictures you sent, the welds failed like they were supposed to. We have tested our design thoroughly and we are happy with its strength. We strive to find a happy medium between too weak and too strong, it was not designed to be torn apart like that. We have towed dead sleds with these bumpers for miles without problems. Tried tearing them apart with fixed objects and used "SNOBUNJI'S" on them to un-stick sleds. Regardless of how deep the snow was, the end of the bumper was drug over a rock or log of some sort to cause it to tear. The weld couldn't have just failed randomly there. We will warranty it for you but will require you to send that one back to us and we'll send you a new one back, we'll even weld for the inside for you if that will make it right for you.
 
I'm gunna stick up for B&M here...

There has been no significant fresh snow in CO (the location in your profile) in about a month now, yet you say the snow was deep?

The end of the bumper in the picture clearly has what looks to be mud/soil on the tip of the bumper meaning when you pogo sticked it to get it unstuck you dug down to dirt/rock/tree and the motion of you rocking the sled back and forth to unstick it tore the crap out of the bumper.

I know this because I had a buddy of mine do the same thing and when they are straight up and down in a hole of wet concrete (i.e. spring snow) it puts a TON of stress on the rear bumper;)

Either way though, sounds like B&M has stood behind his product by offering to warranty for you...stand up response really!!!!
 
I'd like to thank Bryan at B&M Fab for his quick response to my email sent! The issue is going to be resolved quickly. From what I gather in email they are a company that stands behind their product and making customers happy. They have a customer for life now!
 
trackvs2wheels said:
There has been no significant fresh snow in CO (the location in your profile) in about a month now, yet you say the snow was deep?
Click to expand...

"Fresh" snow has nothing to do with the depth of snow... I ride 4-5 days a week, approaching 1600 miles for the season in areas like wolf creek, rabbit ears, spring, creek, Vail pass, red and white, the flat tops, and various other locations around the state. I know where the snow is and the areas in these spots to go even when there hasn't been an abundance of "fresh" snow. So yes, like I said, the snow was deep, and yes the snow was soft.
 
i like that B&M responded and will make good on their product, even if potentially just to keep a customer. It's hard to know the full situations, but a good response goes a lot further (when it's possible) than a blame game.

the snow comment is interesting though. It has been a warm month, but there is still plenty of snow out there, this isn't november. Our snowpack is still above average. Not to say there aren't low spots, or anything. Heck the Monarch area had 15" just a couple days ago.

Maybe I am just being optimistic...
 
B&M, thanks for your response. I can see the hits this bumper took. Its clear that you guys make very nice products. Its even better to see that you guys are true sled heads and are concerned over your reputation which is getting better by the day in my book. I don't even have any of your products on my sled, Ive been by your shop and seen the quality work you guys do and wanted to buy bumpers at that time but you were out. Im glad to see that supply and demand for you is good, but its more important that you guys are stand up guys and care about your reputation & products! Thanks
 
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I see a bumper that was twisted on some rocks. I didn't call out Polaris when I bent my bumper hitting a tree.
 
skibreeze said:
I see a bumper that was twisted on some rocks. I didn't call out Polaris when I bent my bumper hitting a tree.
Click to expand...

I didnt call out anybody, I simply asked for opinions as I've never really seen welds pull like that.

Like their email to me said "**** happens" and I agree. **** happens on both sides, but we are working together and communicating to solve any issue. Top notch service in my book.
 
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No matter how you present it, posting it up is doing exactly that. You asked for opinions, this is mine.
 
Couple pics for you guys. All our welds are put together with this same quality. We take pride in the fact that we build and assemble everything in house ourselves. ( other than powder coating... that's a deal for another day) Like I stated above we don't weld the inside because we don't feel it's needed for one and the bumper has proven to us over and over that it is not needed. ( I personally rear ended one of these bumpers going faster than I'm going to admit here and the bumper survived and saved the tunnel from a complete total out) We strive to survive in our small business by doing what it takes to keep a customer happy, if that means we go the extra step and weld the inside on these then that's what we will do.

uploadfromtaptalk1456444555000.jpg

uploadfromtaptalk1456444542458.jpg
 
My apologies to B&M

I need to apologize to the Folks at B&M as well, I did not realize it was your bumper and I know you guys can weld. If you have chosen to make it a weak point on purpose to protect the rest of the sled (read; crumple zone) then who am I to argue with you.

I personally will not powder coat aluminum, Heat treated alloy or not but that is just my opinion and preference.

B&M please do not take my first post wrong, It was well intentioned; to be informational for those that have little to no fab experience, and to help those trying to learn.
 
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