When putting a heavy duty truck together, it's nice to add a bumper that goes along with the theme of the truck-something that could really take a beating and move a herd of wild horses, should you happen to come around a corner and find them in your path. Not that we'd want you to take out a pack of wild horses, but if it's them or you, we're pretty sure you'd opt for your own survival.
That's why we love adding Fab Fours (F4) bumpers to lots of HD trucks that we build. The bumpers adhere to the bodylines well, and the fitment of the bumper is impeccable.
That being said, you are obviously adding a considerable amount of weight to the front end, so we don't suggest bolting this onto the front of your fiberglassed prerunner. But what an excellent addition for your tow rig!
We got a chance to get up close and personal with one of Fab Fours' newest offerings: this winch bumper for 2008-up HD GMCs.
It went on as well as all Fab Fours bumpers do, and gave us a good front buffer zone to what lies in front of this truck.
 We received the Fab Fours...  We received the Fab Fours bumpers, bare of any bolt-ons and on a pallet. Since this truck will be used for some rescue and recovery occasionally, we opted for putting in a T-Max 12,500-pound winch. The bumper will accommodate up to a 16,500-pound rated winch, but we felt the 12,500-pounder was adequate. |  It was a shiny, brand new...  It was a shiny, brand new 3500HD, and we couldn't wait to start ripping factory pieces off of it. Sometimes guys can get a little squeamish doing this to a brand new truck, but we look at it as an honor. |  Besides removing a bunch of...  Besides removing a bunch of clips and bolts,...... |
 .....you'll also have to remove...  .....you'll also have to remove the factory radiator valance to gain access to some holes. |  Man, there is a lot of stuff...  Man, there is a lot of stuff behind the bumpers of new trucks these days! Just look at all this stuff. A proper looking tube bumper would never cover up everything back there like a plate steel bumper would. Luckily, this F4 bumper is exactly that-a heavy-duty plate steel bumper that contours to the bodylines. |  F4 includes two pairs of lights...  F4 includes two pairs of lights that integrate into holes in the bumper. They use Hella 90mm fog lamps and 60mm turn signals that fit perfectly onto the bumper..... |
 .....F4 also includes the...  .....F4 also includes the wiring harnesses and connectors needed to splice into the factory wiring. |  T-Max's EW-12500 is a 12,500-pound...  T-Max's EW-12500 is a 12,500-pound rated winch. It uses a 6.6hp motor and has 94 feet of galvanized aircraft cable on it. It should be able to suck the truck (or some other stuck truck) out of one heck of a mudhole should it get buried. |  Installing the T-Max winch...  Installing the T-Max winch into the Fab Fours bumper was easy-just four anchor bolts that hold it in place, though the F4 bumper does offer the two extra anchor holes that are required with some larger winches. Like we said: adding the winch was the easy part.... |
 The hard part is getting the...  The hard part is getting the winch and bumper package up onto the truck. We've done this before, using a couple buddies, and they are still cursing us about that install to this day.This time around, we got smart and did it in a shop with a forklift that could heave the bumper into place. |  Be very careful when getting...  Be very careful when getting the bumper onto the truck and then trying to bolt it into place. We suggest using your least valuable friend to crawl under and tighten up the bolts that hold the bumper on. Man, we hate to even think about what would happen if this bumper dropped on someone's legs. | |