Think I may have posted this a time or three before but... My bumper was intended more for decorative purposes than actual utility but when I was rear-ended Labor Day weekend of 2010 the little bumper actually deflected the impact enough that damage to the TD was more cosmetic than actual. Appears it deflected most of the impact downward to the trailer chassis rather than impacting the body of the TD. I was able to continue my trip & use the galley as normal. Upon return home & after the insurance settlement I did all the repair myself & even tho if you look closely underneath you can still see signs of the damage, the chassis is square to the coupler, it tows normally, & there is no external damage apparent.
My bumper is simply 2 pieces of 7/8" square steel tubing spot welded parallel to each other & covered with a re-purposed late 80's Chevy diamond tread tailgate protector that I 'folded' around the steel tubing. Used a couple of 1 x 1/2" steep bars to bolt it to the TD chassis so after the rear ender I was able to just replace the bars & re-mount after chassis repair. The impact was severe enough that tho there was only moderate damage to the TD itself, the chassis apparently transmitted enough force to the hitch that my factory receiver was bent downward slightly which necessitated replacement of the receiver...
We've never had any problem with the bumper intruding into our work space at the galley so apparently I got the mounting distance right (at least for us
). After the experience with the rear end collision I think my bumper did make a difference & was worth the effort.
After the rear end collision
After repairs
Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 7:28 pm
Danny