Vanamberg Enterprises Bumper Review

[AaronBND]

Overall the bumper is good quality, BUT After two weeks I called and canceled my order and told them I was going another direction because it was taking so long and they told me they were going to ship it the next day. It cost me $33 to ship it 100 miles south. Not one lick of directions or anything in the box. You have to drill a hole in your front belly pan at the perfect location for the lower bar to go through. This was a total hit and miss, so it looks like sh*t now. Overall pleased with the bumper , but not at all with the service or lack of install directions or anything.............. Won't buy from them again. That's too bad for them. This could of been a good review for others to see.

Aaron

 

[High Velocity]

First, $33 isn't bad, in my mind, to ship your bumper 100 miles. In Alberta, I've spent $20 to have a small gasket shipped 50 miles. As far as install directions, it should be pretty intuitive installing a bumper. Don't bitch at the manufacturer if it's beyond your abilities. Sounds like you should have hired someone to do it for you.


Done fishing. Let's go sledding !!

 

[Snodawg]

I'm surprised they didn't tell you about their 26 page mounting instruction book. They will email it to you if you ask. They didn't give it to me either or tell me about it. I luckily asked them about it before I installed it. Did you have problems getting the bolt holes to line up? I actually had to trim some of the inner, upper tabs so the outer bolts would go in and then I had to drill new holes for the inner bolts. As far as going through the belly pan, the directions helped but it still isn't perfect. I also had to go through the Polaris skid plate so I took a chunk of foam and placed it between the skid plate and the bellypan to fill in the gap from hole sawing through.

 

[mountainhorse]

Aaron... before you guys get into a back and forth... (I've been guilty of this just recently too ) ...

Please try to keep it level headed.

Thx. MH.






.

 

[AaronBND]

Sorry Eric. Didn't mean to offend you. I thought my original post was very levelheaded. It could have been much more detailed as indicated in post 3.

High Velocity - Not beyond my abilities, would've just been nice to have some install directions included in the box instead of guessing where exactly to have to cut the hole. I'm sure you would expect the same thing for your money......

Aaron

 

[M8fever]

First, $33 isn't bad, in my mind, to ship your bumper 100 miles. In Alberta, I've spent $20 to have a small gasket shipped 50 miles. As far as install directions, it should be pretty intuitive installing a bumper. Don't bitch at the manufacturer if it's beyond your abilities. Sounds like you should have hired someone to do it for you.


Done fishing. Let's go sledding !!

Lets get a round of applause for this guy.

 

[modsledr]

Hey guys, I spoke to Liz at VE and she asked that I comment on this thread (she said to apologize, but they don't actively watch any of the forums).

First, shipping costs what it does because of the size of the box. There's no way around that with the shape of the bumper.

Yes, the install instructions are long, with lots of pictures to help. That's why they don't include them in paper form with the bumper. AaronBND, she said to apologize that she forgot to mention the electronic version when you bought the bumper (I'm curious why you didn't just call or email VE when you received the bumper and saw no instructions?? Would have alleviated the whole issue).

As for the need to do a little grinding/drilling, they did have a run of bumpers go out that appeared to be off in the assembly jig...something that has been rectified.

Personally, I love this bumper. Do a search and you can see the review after the bumper was tree tested...lol!!

Cheers!!

 

[Snodawg]

i also talked to Liz today and suggested to her that maybe they should include a small note with the bumpers stating that directions can be emailed to them directly.

I can understand the difficulty with installing this bumper. Much different than other bumpers and yes you would have to do some guess work on where to properly drill the hole. You're dealing with a couple of wierd angles.

Here is a pic of the bumper before install and yes, the way they are made will be the reason for the big box and high shipping costs, but it also is the reason for them being so strong.

and after install:

 

[AaronBND]

First, shipping costs what it does because of the size of the box. There's no way around that with the shape of the bumper.

Yes, the install instructions are long, with lots of pictures to help. That's why they don't include them in paper form with the bumper. AaronBND, she said to apologize that she forgot to mention the electronic version when you bought the bumper (I'm curious why you didn't just call or email VE when you received the bumper and saw no instructions?? Would have alleviated the whole issue).

As for the need to do a little grinding/drilling, they did have a run of bumpers go out that appeared to be off in the assembly jig...something that has been rectified.

Thanks for the post. I am not in any way trying to start a bash thread or piss anybody off. I just wanted to share what my experience was with a company I spent $232 with. I can live with the shipping charges, fair enough, but I personally wasn't very happy with the customer service and the lack of any kind of install instructions. I don't feel like I should have to call a company I just spent $232 with and ask for install instructions. Especially when I am installing it in the evening after work and they are closed. I am very competent with doing my own installs, but without drilling a hole the size of Texas and having a big gap all around the tube, you would need to know precisely where to drill it. IF you guys have experience installing one, you would understand with the funky angle of the down tube. If not, you really have no need to even comment. As far as the grinding and drilling having to take place for install, isn't this what a "Jig" is for in the first place? Again, it's just an honest review.........That's all......

Aaron

 

[AaronBND]

BTW......nice sled Snodawg!

 

[Snodawg]

Thanks for the post. I am not in any way trying to start a bash thread or piss anybody off. I just wanted to share what my experience was with a company I spent $232 with. I can live with the shipping charges, fair enough, but I personally wasn't very happy with the customer service and the lack of any kind of install instructions. I don't feel like I should have to call a company I just spent $232 with and ask for install instructions. Especially when I am installing it in the evening after work and they are closed. I am very competent with doing my own installs, but without drilling a hole the size of Texas and having a big gap all around the tube, you would need to know precisely where to drill it. IF you guys have experience installing one, you would understand with the funky angle of the down tube. If not, you really have no need to even comment. As far as the grinding and drilling having to take place for install, isn't this what a "Jig" is for in the first place? Again, it's just an honest review.........That's all......

Aaron

Well said, Aaron. I am a mechanic/welder/fabricator by trade and I had several hours of my wife listening to my cuss words while she helped me install this bumper. Bless her heart. I think I got one of the bumpers that were off like Modsledr stated above. Glad to here they got the problem rectified. I will try to get a close up picture of the lower hole after I got done with it. Overall, I am very pleased with this bumper and hopefully won't have to test it out. The way they are designed and attached, upper and lower, to the sled makes them FAR SUPERIOR to the stock bumper, (funky two piece bolt together lower support that will just fold when you breath on it and tabs on top that can break off).


As far as shipping, that's out of Liz's control. Blame UPS or Nobama.

I would recommend this bumper to anyone, just make sure you have Liz email the instructions to you.

 

[Snodawg]

Here are the detailed pics of the final install:

Extra strong mounting points

Inside view of lower mount (note piece of foam between belly pan and skid plate to fill in the gap of the hole)

Outside view of lower mount and skid plate

 

[AKSNOWRIDER]

the wife did your install didnt she? just admit it snodawg....


sleds looking sweet by the way....oh..and wheres that driveshaft dealymajig we talked about? figured it would already be installed.......

 

[Snodawg]

the wife did your install didnt she? just admit it snodawg....


sleds looking sweet by the way....oh..and wheres that driveshaft dealymajig we talked about? figured it would already be installed.......

Thanks, Mike!
Don't need it...mine's an 11, not a 13.
I taught her everything she knows (when it comes to wrenchin') She's turnin' out to be a hellava mechanic, lol

 

[CoyoteGirl]

I've now installed and/or helped install several of these. The only thing I needed instructions for was the hole in the belly pan. Other than that I felt pretty confident making happen what needed to happen. But that part, cutting belly pan, without directions would be nerve wracking for sure!

THIS is GORGEOUS!!!!! \/

and after install:

 

[Macattack]

But that part, cutting belly pan, without directions would be nerve wracking for sure!

NAH! easy peasy ...