I have gotten a couple emails and phone calls about the material we use to build our bumpers as well as being told what other vendors are saying about our bumpers. I figured I would lay it out here.
There are many choices when it comes to buying parts for your Raptor. We build things a certain way and that is how we do it. We don't cut corners. We build for function, form, strength and we hold our fit & finish in a very high regard. These standards were set over 13 years ago when we opened our doors and we have no plans on lowering them to meet a price point or a set volume. When you own a SDHQ product you can be damn proud of it. That being said....
We chose to use USA sourced 4130 Chrome Moly for our bumpers. There are thousands of different arguments regarding material and welding uses. Here are our main points in why we use it. 4130 tubing is still stronger and remains stronger even after welding when not heat treated. This strength helps not only with the overall strength of the bumper, but also helps with dents in the tubing itself. We use a seamless 4130 so there is no place for the tube to split. Another advantage in using 4130 is a savings in weight. You are able to run a thinner wall tube and maintain the same strength when compared to ms or dom.
As far as heat treat goes.. We do not heat treat our bumpers. Heat treating an entire part or chassis can actually cause brittleness which will cause the tube to break instead of bend.
Now on to the point that people would rather have their bumper bend rather than their frame. If you hit the front end hard enough to damage your bumper you most-likely are going to do damage to your frame horns. The frame horns are designed to take the impact and are engineered to be an easy and actually pretty common job.
So what it comes down to is... Could we save you a couple bucks by making our bumper out of mild steel? Yes we can, in fact probably a couple hundred. Will we? No. We want to build and sell you the best product we can and a product that maintains our standards. If saving a couple hundred bucks on a bumper is the deciding factor on what bumper goes on your $50,000 Raptor then ours might not be the one to go with. I'm not saying that a couple hundred isn't a lot on money.. but in the scope of what you have spent on the Raptor and will spend on other parts.. ours is a value for what you are actually getting... 4130, Completely Tig welded, Radius Bent w/ Mandrel bends to actually flow with the contour of your Raptor...
Here are 2 articles that go over the differences in 4130 vs mild steel in cages/chassis and also types of welding and filler rod used in welding 4130 material. It might be helpful to some
Heat Treated 4130
Welding 4130
There are many choices when it comes to buying parts for your Raptor. We build things a certain way and that is how we do it. We don't cut corners. We build for function, form, strength and we hold our fit & finish in a very high regard. These standards were set over 13 years ago when we opened our doors and we have no plans on lowering them to meet a price point or a set volume. When you own a SDHQ product you can be damn proud of it. That being said....
We chose to use USA sourced 4130 Chrome Moly for our bumpers. There are thousands of different arguments regarding material and welding uses. Here are our main points in why we use it. 4130 tubing is still stronger and remains stronger even after welding when not heat treated. This strength helps not only with the overall strength of the bumper, but also helps with dents in the tubing itself. We use a seamless 4130 so there is no place for the tube to split. Another advantage in using 4130 is a savings in weight. You are able to run a thinner wall tube and maintain the same strength when compared to ms or dom.
As far as heat treat goes.. We do not heat treat our bumpers. Heat treating an entire part or chassis can actually cause brittleness which will cause the tube to break instead of bend.
Now on to the point that people would rather have their bumper bend rather than their frame. If you hit the front end hard enough to damage your bumper you most-likely are going to do damage to your frame horns. The frame horns are designed to take the impact and are engineered to be an easy and actually pretty common job.
So what it comes down to is... Could we save you a couple bucks by making our bumper out of mild steel? Yes we can, in fact probably a couple hundred. Will we? No. We want to build and sell you the best product we can and a product that maintains our standards. If saving a couple hundred bucks on a bumper is the deciding factor on what bumper goes on your $50,000 Raptor then ours might not be the one to go with. I'm not saying that a couple hundred isn't a lot on money.. but in the scope of what you have spent on the Raptor and will spend on other parts.. ours is a value for what you are actually getting... 4130, Completely Tig welded, Radius Bent w/ Mandrel bends to actually flow with the contour of your Raptor...
Here are 2 articles that go over the differences in 4130 vs mild steel in cages/chassis and also types of welding and filler rod used in welding 4130 material. It might be helpful to some
Heat Treated 4130
Welding 4130
