Scout II bumper advice

[Stephen Scroggins]

I was just wondering if anyone could lend me their opinion of the tire carrier bumpers from Anything Scout. I'm tired of having my spare taking up cargo space and (although I would rather not obscure the exterior lines of my Scout) have decided a spare carrier will be most functional.
I would prefer to purchase one from D&C but don't know if they're still offering them/offering them again (whatever).
I'm not fishing for horror stories of your dealings with Anything Scout, what would really help me out would be advice from people currently using Anything Scout tire carriers about the quality of the bumpers and their buying experience relating to the purchase of the bumpers. Or for someone from D&C to read this and sell me one of theirs (it's worth a try).
Thanks a bunch.

[ihscoutmatt]

Originally Posted by Stephen Scroggins

I was just wondering if anyone could lend me their opinion of the tire carrier bumpers from Anything Scout. I'm tired of having my spare taking up cargo space and (although I would rather not obscure the exterior lines of my Scout) have decided a spare carrier will be most functional.
I would prefer to purchase one from D&C but don't know if they're still offering them/offering them again (whatever).
I'm not fishing for horror stories of your dealings with Anything Scout, what would really help me out would be advice from people currently using Anything Scout tire carriers about the quality of the bumpers and their buying experience relating to the purchase of the bumpers. Or for someone from D&C to read this and sell me one of theirs (it's worth a try).
Thanks a bunch.

I don't have a rear bumper w/ tire carrier yet, I do have the workman front bumper from Anything Scout, I don't know if they still have it or not but the pic for the workman fronts used to be a pic of my Scout. I can say that Anything Scout bumpers are extremely high quality and Sean was great to deal with. I have also dealt with D and C, Damian's products are high quality as well, but in my experience it takes way longer then it should, some stuff the long wait is acceptable, stuff thats back ordered from the supplier, but other stuff takes forever too.

[Paul 3]

Stephen,
I've got both a rear tire carrier and a front workman bumper from Anything Scout. Couldn't be happier with the quality and Sean is real easy to work with. He can make changes to fit your specs as well (ie. hi-lift mount, D-rings or clevis, etc). My rear bumper has an extra mount so that I can carry two five gallon jerry cans, one on each side of the spare. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend these two bumpers. I attached a picture of each bumper. The rear is minus the jerry cans.

Paul

One other thing that may be a small and it may be common to most shops bumpers so maybe it's no big deal, but I did find that the two bearings used to support the swing arm are really common and can be found stocked in most parts stores if you need to replace them down the road. Easy parts availability is always a nice thing IMHO.

[Stephen Scroggins]

Thanks for the replies Matt & Paul, I appreciate it. I'm glad to hear your both pleased with your bumpers since more than likely one will be gracing my rig too.
Extra points for the photos Paul. They're a real help (and by the looks of them and your signature, you've got a great looking Scout too).
I may give Sean a call tomorrow and see if I can get rid of some of the room I have on one of my credit cards.

[Binder_OCD]

Originally Posted by Paul 3

I've got both a rear tire carrier and a front workman bumper from Anything Scout. Couldn't be happier with the quality and Sean is real easy to work with. He can make changes to fit your specs as well (ie. hi-lift mount, D-rings or clevis, etc). My rear bumper has an extra mount so that I can carry two five gallon jerry cans, one on each side of the spare. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend these two bumpers.

Paul,

Those bumpers really look nice on your Scout…

A couple of questions about your rear bumper, if you don't mind:

How is it mounted? Do you have any pics of the mounting set-up? (I’m looking for a good solution to avoid just attaching to the stock cross-member.)

Is that bumper compatible with the stock class III hitch, or must you get rid of the hitch to run that bumper?

Would the aftermarket 33gal fuel tank pose any problems with the fitment of that bumper?

What size tire/wheel can be mounted on that bumper? What are you running?

I’m annoying myself just writing these questions… but I really would like to know.

Thanks.

[Stephen Scroggins]

I was actually wondering what the tow rating of the bumper itself would be (2" receiver being present). Damian wrote in one of the D&C posts that his bumpers have frame tie-ins that would easily allow class III towing (although, for legal reasons, he had to promptly deny that there was any guarantee on the bumpers towing capacity).
The 33-gal tank question is a good one as well since that's an upgrade I've been considering too. I've heard pictures are worth a thousand words (that's a lotta words; let's see some pics).

[Paul 3]

Originally Posted by Binder_OCD

Paul,

Those bumpers really look nice on your Scout…

A couple of questions about your rear bumper, if you don't mind:

How is it mounted? Do you have any pics of the mounting set-up? (I’m looking for a good solution to avoid just attaching to the stock cross-member.)

Is that bumper compatible with the stock class III hitch, or must you get rid of the hitch to run that bumper?

Would the aftermarket 33gal fuel tank pose any problems with the fitment of that bumper?

What size tire/wheel can be mounted on that bumper? What are you running?

I’m annoying myself just writing these questions… but I really would like to know.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Stephen Scroggins

I was actually wondering what the tow rating of the bumper itself would be (2" receiver being present). Damian wrote in one of the D&C posts that his bumpers have frame tie-ins that would easily allow class III towing (although, for legal reasons, he had to promptly deny that there was any guarantee on the bumpers towing capacity).
The 33-gal tank question is a good one as well since that's an upgrade I've been considering too. I've heard pictures are worth a thousand words (that's a lotta words; let's see some pics).

Steve & OCD,
ok I snapped a couple more photos this evening to post up here. I'll try to get a couple more during the day light if you need more.

For the mounting. You'll see a photo showing the four bolts for each of the two bumper 'legs' that attach to the frame crossmember. In two of the pics you can see that on top of each leg is welded a 2 x 13 x 3/8 steel tie in that can either be welded to the frame or drilled in order to use the stock bumper bolt location, which is what I did...until I feel I need to go as far as welding it to the frame. After I bolted it on I mounted the tire, opened the swing arm 90 degrees for leverage and put my weight on it pulling it up and down just to see how sturdy it was...not that I'd ever expect that worst case kind of leverage on the bumper. Well the bumper didn't budge instead the Scout did, so I didn't feel the need to go as far as welding. I suppose if one really felt the need you could add another tie in to the bottom of each 'leg'.

The bumper mounts pretty much the same way as the stock bumper did so I cannot see that it would interfere with the 33 gal. tank (I've kicked the idea of adding one of those myself). In fact I dropped the stock tank a few days after mounting the bumper in order to run a return line for my TBI install and the bumper presented no problems or interference.

I can't speak with much authority on the hitch rating as I don't expect to do any heavy towing. I had Sean put the receiver in only in the event I've got to move a small trailer. I would guess that if you can mount a class III hitch under a stock bumper than you could do the same under this one. I'd defer you to Sean though for a real answer on that.

My bumper was built for a 35' tire, I don't know what the max recommended tire size would be. I asked Sean to put a provision to attach a second 5 gallon fuel can and told him that I would be running 35's. I have no plans to run anything larger than that on this Scout and told him that so he snugged up the jerry can mounts to fit the 35's so they wouldn't be too noticable when the cans aren't attached. I usually don't put them on unless I'm heading out on a road trip. In the last two pictures you can see how the jerry can supports are incorporated and how they were made so that I could bolt on the actual carrier when I needed to. Again Sean was super easy to work and had no issues with making the bumper to my specs. I know he can put a hi-lift mount on his bumpers as well though I chose not to have it put on as mine stays locked in the back.

Hope this helps.

Paul

[castlesf]

I have the 33 gallon tank on my scout and an anything scout bumper (tire carrier), there is no issue with the tank. One thing to keep in mind is that you might have to replace the original body bushings if there is too much sag, the tail gate will hit the bumper. This is easy fix with the new bushings though. Go with the bumpers they are great. I have dealt with Sean a lot and he is a stand guy.

[Stephen Scroggins]

Paul, thanks for all the help (especially the photos). I'm constantly impressed by how far out of their way the members here are willing to go to lend someone a hand of pass on info.

[Brandonium]

I ordered a workman front (no hoop or winch plate, just clevis mounts) and a workman rear (clevis mounts, rear hitch and a custom plug in the bumper) about 5 weeks ago from Sean and he has been very pleasant to work with. He sets the expectation up front on the time it takes to make it, ship, etc. He'll also call you before he paints them to make sure it's what you wanted and will also let you add to it or take away before the bumper is finalized. I look forward to receiving mine, hopefully this week!

Brandon