Kimpex makes a decent tube front bumper. It looks different of course, and it makes it a lot harder to fit in a truck, but its solid and will clear out trees. I really like the AC front bumper myself. My brother in law has it, and for looks, its awesome. I had a kimpex on my 99, and of course the front end is different on those. The new Jeep Cherokee AC's might look funny with the dual tube thing.

 

I have to agree, for what its worth, the AC front guard does not look like it was not finished. It is kinda in rough form especially for the $$ it looks like a 3rd greader designed it! but it is very functional. However the rear one, looks good and functions great. It's sad that you have to buy one, they should come with a little more protection from the factory, but the dealerships need more of our money, 6800 is not enough I guess! Just my two cents!?!

 

Funny thing is, the old AC's had plenty of protection, but everyone said they were ugly and truck like. Said they need more modern styling, and then we get the Jeep Cherokee look and now they need protection. You can't win for losing. I personally don't see the problem unless its the headlights needing protection or something. And the AC bumper does that. What do you guys do anyway, just run them into trees and stuff? Hell, there are lots of aftermarket companies that make bumpers to uglify a quad, but they add a lot of protection.

 

Now that we're starting to see pictures of the new 2005's, and they look like Honda's, I'm curious what the new brush guards will look like. I'm still 'hemming and hawing' about whether to get guards for ours or not. It's not like I've got stacks of $100 bills lying around the house looking for somewhere to go [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

I personally like the look of the AC brushguard, and my 400 wears one. The only thing I don't like about it, is you can't get in behind it to clean the headlight lenses. You have to either unbolt the brushguard, or loosen off the headlight mounts, and turn 'em inward. Other than that, it's tough as nails, and has a good thick finish on it.

 

A dealer I stopped at had a 2005 brochure. The bumpers are more similar in design to the ones found on full size trucks and the ones found for the Polaris machines. They look very good. I just think the 04 models look like too much of an after thought without the finish detail that I prefer.

 

Thanks Bluethumb,you just made up my mind for me.Those headlights get dirty fast and then they are as useless as a white bean up a black cats **** for a light,I want something that will protect my lights but let me at them too.

 

I'm thinking about taking a grinder and cutting the spot welds off the screens, or putting some sort of hinge on them. I agree heyyou, the lights' aren't good,and when dirty, they're useless. I made a mount and put 2-55W halogens on there, that sit above the speedo. I know you can't do that, but if you have the MRP, it would be easy to build a mount for that, and just plug them into your accesory plug. I just wanted that bumper on it, as the whole front end was open to being hit and smashed. It happens quite a bit during the winter runs as you know, usually with the Honda guys and no friggen brakes[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

The deluxe bumper guard is kind of ugly but does work very well. My friend on his 700EFI ran into the front of me at about 30 mph. He did manage to slightly bend the guard but nothing else broke. We strapped the back of the atv to a tree and using a pulley and the warn winch pulled the guard back out straight. You would never know it happened.
The headlights on the ATV do stink but I have an easy fix. Go down to your local auto parts store and but some 889? bulbs. They are exactly the same but are 38watts instead of the stock 27 watters. I put all four in and didn't have to touch the fuse. Much brighter and I have used them a ton with no problems. I did have one burn out and replaced them all with extreme white PIAA bulbs. still 38 watts but extremely bright and looks like the blue headlights on expensive import cars.

Rich.

 

Any problem with heat from that bulb upgrade Wookie?? I thought it might overheat the lenses or something. I guess either you like the look or you don't, but each to his own. I think a lot of the problem is that they're aimed wrong, and there isn't that great of an adjustment on them. I might come up with my own creation soon, using a couple pairs of lights, some plexiglass, heat , imagination, and cursing. I'll keep you posted