Let's talk Ranch Hand...

[250KR]

OK, I have a 2007 250 King Ranch 4X4. (Standard 3/4 ton springs front/rear.) I'm thinking about putting on the Legend series Ranch Hand replacement on the front, and the Cowboy on the rear. (The rear will need to be drilled for back-up sensors.) They will both be powder coated Ariz. Beige to match the truck. My concern is that the added weight on the front will make the truck "squat" some & I do not want that at all. (I think this unit is 260lbs., and the factory set-up is about 60-70lbs.) I'm also worrried about tire wear up front. I have the factory 20s with those nasty Goodyear RT/Ss. (I can't wait for Michelin to come out with the LTX M/S in my size...)

So, who has this set up, and what have you experienced? No other suggested brands are needed; if I'm doing this, it's Ranch Hand. I live in Texas, and putting on another brand is heresy in these parts...It's like picante sauce from NYC.

[Rodslinger]

I won't mention any other brand but I'm in Texas as well and the bad boy I've got on mine makes Ranch Hand look like plastic and is $100's cheaper because it's made locally in Texas.
As far as squatting it, check my garage. I've got that beast on it with a 12K winch mounted in it - no squat all all.

[250KR]

Rod, looks nice. Given what I can tell, your truck was bought at what used to be Texan Ford in front of Nottingham Country, and that rubber that was put down has the Katy prarie in the background. I live in San Antonio now, but grew up in Katy. 4 schools total in the district when we moved there, now 42...

Do you know how much your bumper replacement weighs?

[Ranch96]

I would look at frontier-gear.com
I ran their bumpers on 2 of my trucks and really liked them. They are all diamond plate and are a lot lighter than Ranchhand. I bought mine from Brown Dodge in Devine.

[Big Tone]

Originally Posted by Rodslinger

I won't mention any other brand but I'm in Texas as well and the bad boy I've got on mine makes Ranch Hand look like plastic and is $100's cheaper because it's made locally in Texas.
As far as squatting it, check my garage. I've got that beast on it with a 12K winch mounted in it - no squat all all.

I had a Tough Country on my 2000 PSD, also made in Texas, it was around 500 pounds, didnt make the old school leaf spring front end squat, and I hit a 8 point buck doing 75 on the Cherokee turnpike and it didnt even put a scrach on it!

[Rodslinger]

LOL! You hit the nail on the head - it's funny how all the guys on here who are either from Katy, or used to live here, can look at my burnout and tell where it was done.
Yeah I go out there quite a bit to "test and tune" - as you know it's the perfect place to try out new mods.

I'm honestly not sure the exact weight but I can look and see if I can find out. It is EXTREMELY heavy though but that was what I needed. We have a ranch 5 hours from here and I spend a lot of time on the back roads in the hill country to and from it. I need to know if (WHEN) a deer steps out in front of me at 80mph my rig will be able to hit it and not cause damage to my front end and that's what I got. I will tell you this though, I shopped for MONTHS before I settled on this one and I had a Ranch Hand right next to the one I bought and it was an easy choice for me. Ranch Hand makes REAL nice stuff but I needed hands down the best functionality and that's what I got. I don't think Ranch Hand makes one as heavy as the one that I bought so you'll be fine as far as the weight on the front end goes. Are you looking at mounting a winch as well?

[250KR]

No winch needed. The main reason I bought the truck is that I have a pretty large boat to tow. I live almost near Bulverde, and there are deer everywhere up here. I had one "glance" off of the side of the front fender of the Suburban I had before this truck. It happened at very low speeds, and it put a nice dent in the fender. I want protection. With the 20" wheels, mine actually looks a bit lower than most Ford 4X4s, though it's not; actually, I think it's about 1" higher. The wheels filling up the wheel wells give that illusion. At any rate, I want no squat... I also don't want to be perpetually fighting front tire wear. As I stated above, the Goodyear Wrangler ATS tire is very poor. I knew this when I bought the truck. I'll just have to wait until other manufaturers catch up, and start making tires for my 20" wheels... I do like them.

[Rodslinger]

You'll be fine then, trust me. You can get a very nice Ranch Hand with a good fit and look and squat won't be an issue. Mine is a monster because that's what I needed and if mine isn't squatting, especially with the addition of the big winch, you'll definitely be ok. Another thing to help ease your mind is mine sticks WAY out, as does the winch, therefore it's even more of stress on my front end and I've still no problems. Yet.

[EODguyJake]

Unless I'm mistaken, the Ranch Hand's brush guards are really thin, and chintzy...don't flame me if I'm wrong...what I saw (that was busted) may have been a knock-off. The actual bumper part as plenty stout, but the rest of it was crap. My train smasher was made by Diamond B, and they have since gone out of business. It weighs well over 250lbs, and I had it on my 250 and 350, and I didn't notice squatting. I didn't notice undue tire wear either, but I rotate my tires about every 5K.

[Ranch96]

You might have seen one of the Ranchhand knock offs out of Mexico. When looking for full replacements around here be careful. If it seems real cheap, your usually getting one shipped from Mexico. I have seen some from there that seem nice, but I have seen some that's welds broke when hitting a deer. Unless they have changed, T3 bumpers(used to be ruffstock) used to get their suff out of Mexico raw and powdercoat it here.