TCM reader Harvey Keene emailed us last week with an intriguing content thread; front bumper guards (a.k.a. brush guards, grille guards, bull bars, etc.), and truck campers.
Harvey wrote, “Occasionally one of your articles includes a picture or so of a truck that has some sort of front bumper or front end guard. And that is what I’d like you to consider for coverage. Pictures in your recent article about Judy Tilley’s rig is what brought this to mind. Some of the pictures show her truck with a guard, some without.
A front guard has pros and cons. My personal interest is safety. A front guard can be incredibly valuable in certain emergency situations. They provide extra protection for the truck when unexpectedly encountering animals and vehicles. They can be used to give a push and can be hooked to a winch when stuck, someone else is stuck, or for work while camping.”
Well Harvey, living on the East Coast, we don’t see many vehicles with front bumper guards. While deer strikes are not unheard of, they are relatively rare. That said, we know many of our readers live in different parts of the country (and world), places where animal encounters are not as uncommon. We have even seen our fair share of bumper guards on truck camper rigs in Texas, Colorado, Montana, and western Canada.
We have also experienced a few near misses ourselves in our truck camper rig. Usually it’s deer eating grass on the side of the road at night that causes the concern. Then again, there was a certain buffalo in Yellowstone back in 2005 that darn near scared us to death.
Okay Harvey, you got us. Taking your lead, this week’s Question of the Week is, “Do you have a front bumper guard, bull bars, or some other kind of front road armor on your truck camper rig?”
If you do, tell us what make and model bumper guard you have, and if you’ve ever actually needed it. Although we’re not interested in seeing photos of road kill, we would like to see your bumper set-ups – with campers, of course.
Click here for reader responses and photos from this Question of the Week.