Vertical
Side Bar tub protection. This is a big one. No other
bumper manufacturer on the market that I am aware of offers the
same level of protection for the tub as with the Runck Equipment
bumper. The vertical side posts protect the tub from rocks,
tree’s, and your own stupidity when it comes to doing body damage
to the rear corners. Trust me, I know all about backing up
into things when out in the great outdoors (aka., my own stupidity).
Along with the
side post protection is the protection to the rear quarter panel
on the Jeep. Many times, I've recommended steel diamond plate
to cover up beauty marks that have been caused by coming down on
a rock on the rear quarter panel. With the Runck setup, the
most-likely worst thing you'd have to do is break out the sand paper
and rattle can to touch up any damage now caused by the same rock.
As you can see in the picture below, the Runck setup extends under
the quarter panel to protect it from any foes looking for a little
sheet metal to munch on. Great protection for a very susceptible
body damage area.
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Construction
- The next thing I considered was the construction. When I
spoke to Ben Smith he assured me that this setup is rattle-free.
Coming from a former rattle-trap bumper, which about drove me crazy
from the noises it made, this was a big selling point for me.
Ben was absolutely correct. After the installation and driving around
town and down bumpy old gravel roads, I've not heard as much as
a peep out of the rear tire carrier. Runck has a specially designed
method of securing the swing-out arm, which is very strong and rattle-free.
Furthermore,
they went the extra mile to create a setup that locks the swing
arm firmly in place at both the shut position and at the 90° angle,
open position. This is important to me, because I can’t tell
you how many times I’ve let the rear tire carrier swing open and
then had the spare tire slam into the driver-side tail light.
Below is a shot of what the carrier looks like in the open position.
Here is a shot
of the locking lever that Runck incorporated into their setup.
By pulling the spring-tensioned rod, you release the locking mechanism
and can operate the carrier either in or out.
It's Serviceable
- Another great feature of this bumper is the fact that it is completely
serviceable. My old bumper had worn out from the weight and
abuse in the mud and the swing arm bolt had seized, causing the
tire carrier to fail. The Runck unit is serviceable by removing
the swing arm and greasing the shaft that the swing arm rides on.
Furthermore, you can keep a healthy amount of grease on the swing
arm screw-down assembly so that you are never stuck with a worn-out
or seized-up tire carrier.
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The
Little Things - Other features that sold me on the setup were
the little things. The fact that the license plate brackets
were already welded on, the 3rd brake light came standard
with the setup, and the ability to be able to switch your carrier
from 5 on 4.5” bolt pattern to 5 on 5.5” bolt pattern by using standard
wheel studs were all factors. My bolt pattern is 5 on 5.5”
because of my Ford 9” axle setup. I changed the bolt pattern on
the tire carrier from the 4.5” bolt circle to the 5.5” bolt circle
in under 5 minutes with a simple hammer and an air gun.
Photo of pre-drilled holes for 4.5” or 5.5” bolt
circle
Price
- Lastly, but not the least attractive at all about this rear tire
carrier, was the price. At $679.99 for the entire setup, it
was very attractive. Other manufacturers wanted in excess
of $800 for bumpers that were similar to this product, but did not
offer the same level of protection and strength.
PAGE
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Intro
& Overview
| All About It | Installation
& Overview
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