Body Colored Front Bumper

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gwilburn

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Trying to decide whether I want the body colored bumpers or not... I love the looks, but where I live they spread lots of salt and anti-skid (rocks) on the interstate.

Question: Are the body colored front bumpers just painted steel? Or do they have a "plastic" covering?
 

CanuckRam1313

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Here's my 19' I bought new and she now has 132,000km's on her and I drive it all year long in every kind of road condition and weather.

When I bought her, I had the headlights and fog lights filmed with a clear 3M protector film, and they are still perfectly clear with no drying or yellowing.

I also put a 9" wide strip of the 3M clear protectant film across the upper front roof line with the material tucked into the upper windshield lip and extending back on the roof. This has saved my roof from damage and premature rusting from deep impacts from road debris.

Now, to your real question...lol
My front end is a bit peppered, and where big impacts have occurred from road debris at highway speeds it has chipped and dented the front plastic bumper cover.

I regularly use the factory touch up kit and clean up the front end.

What I should have done is also have my entire front clip covered with the same 3M clear protector film and I wouldn't have any chips and damage.

Regardless, the front end still looks great and is in very good condition for being a mostly highway driver.
 

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TotallyHucked

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Some trucks have painted steel bumpers and some got the bumper "cover" like the Sports come with. They will pepper over time, but you can get 3M PPF (paint protection film) installed to help prolong the damage
 

Jim BB

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My truck is 2019 Front bumper is plastic and rear is steel ! I live in the salt belt and I drive it all rear round but wash it every week and dry it inc door jam's no rust and touch up any paint chips
 

stevenP

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As somebody who has had both, chrome and now painted. The paint is kinda fragile. Rock chips and heaven forbid you have contact with anything.... it will show on your painted bumper.
 

brian42

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Sold mine with 81K miles and no issues with the front bumper. I probably had a little pitting but you would only notice it if you ran your hand over it.

I prefer the look of color-matched so always go that route and have not had any real issues over the years (that weren't self-inflicted).
 
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gwilburn

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Sold mine with 81K miles and no issues with the front bumper. I probably had a little pitting but you would only notice it if you ran your hand over it.

I prefer the look of color-matched so always go that route and have not had any real issues over the years (that weren't self-inflicted).
It all depends on where you live... I talked to a neighbor that has a 2022 Limited Longhorn... he's never getting painted bumpers again, and he buys new every year or two.

Where I live they spread more salt and anti-skid (per lane mile) than anywhere in entire US (Sadly, I have the statistics to back that up). The anti-skid is 1/4" rock slivers that can slice tires (yes, my state is really that stupid).

I'm ever so close to ordering a 2023 Limited in Billet Silver with chrome. My 2014 bumpers have zero blemishes.. I just liked the look of Granite Crystal with the matched bumpers. But I'm thinking it may be too dark for me anyway.

BTW - I have a son-in-law stationed in San Diego right now. Thanks for your service.
 
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gwilburn

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I appreciate the sentiment.

I went billet silver and loved the color...
You did a great job capturing that color in your picture. I tried to take pics of some on the lot, but the pictures looked nothing like the actual color. Even the dealer's pics on the website looked blah.

Just emailed the dealer to make the order. 2023 Ram Limited 4x4 in Billet Silver... 3.92 gears, anti-spin rear, 33 gal tank, chrome trailer tow mirrors, and brake controller. Almost impossible to find that on a dealer lot.
I tow a 28' x 8.5' enclosed aluminum trailer, so the mirrors and brake controller are a must. Loaded it's around 6000 lbs. I don't know how the 3.21 would have performed on long trips.
My current setup.
 

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oe542bob

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I swore I would never get painted bumpers again. Had a ‘15 Sport with the plastic front which faired pretty well against stone chips. My ‘16 (Pearl White) had numerous stone chips, but my ‘18 1/2 Ton in that Steel Metallic(?) was by far the worst. I must have had 75-100 stone chips on it.
Then I found a 2018 2500 Cummins in Bright White. Had that about 3 years and that had very few chips. Maybe because it was a little higher than the 1/2 tons.
When I ordered my ‘22 Longhorn I went again with a painted bumper because of the front end appearance. Have over 4,000 miles now and already noticed some stone chips. ( Shame on me )
 

Dean2

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They use a ton of rock on the roads here. Every painted bumper is rusted to heck in two or three years. My hunting partner put a whole new one on his 2 year old 1500 Ram already. I buy Chrome, partly becuase I am an old guy and love chrome as that was what all the upmarket models had back in the day, but also becuase they don't rock chip. Painted steel bad idea, completely plastic better, Chrome best for our road conditions.
 

brian42

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You'll love the 33-gallon tank, just not at the gas station. It was nice to go a whole week without filling up but it was painful at the height of gas prices (91 Octane in San Diego got to $6+/gallon at one point during the pandemic) when I had to swipe 3 times to fill the tank.

The 3.21 is rated for around 8K lbs towing and the transmission effectively has one more low gear for the 3.92 gear set and one more high (OD) gear for the 3.21 gear set. The 3.92 should feel stronger off the line, especially in Tow/Haul mode.
 

regal81455

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Timely!

Yesterday I finally got around to wrapping my front chrome bumper to color match. So glad I did! The mirrors, door handles, & rear bumper are next! :)

Used Orafol 970RA in Bright Silver Metallic - basically a perfect match to factory paint finish.

-640639276552701779.jpg20230612_065400 (1).jpg
 

blackbetty14

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I have chrome but I bought painted off eBay for like $600 and will be putting it on. I also live in the rust belt and they out alot of salt rocks down. I found a place called ecoological which is a plastic cover that you paint and stick on. I grabbed it for alittle under $200 but haven’t decided to paint and install as I still need to swap the colored bumper on. The plastic looks and feels thick so I would say some
Decent size rocks wouldn’t do much to it and you would never have to worry about rust or getting a new bumper. Pretty sure it installs right over and takes like 10min.

 

Ratman6161

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Some trucks have painted steel bumpers and some got the bumper "cover" like the Sports come with. They will pepper over time, but you can get 3M PPF (paint protection film) installed to help prolong the damage
This is what I did with my 2500 night edition (painted + protective film). Seems to work well but I bought the truck at the end of January so I've only been through half of a Minnesota winter with it. Still looks like new. Now that we are in the summer bug season, I'm finding that it seems quite a bit easier to clean bugs off of the protective film than it is on the same spot on my other vehicals.
 

KeithP

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Currently driving a Delmonico Red “22” Laramie with painted bumpers. 14k on the clock and it’s an asphalt queen. 3rd truck this color. Love the color but won’t ever have the painted bumpers again. White primer underneath red paint shows every little nick. Nothing but chrome for me going forward.

Edit: I know I need to change my profile. It’s still got my 19 on it. But, I’m getting old and lazier by the day so……
 

IGotABigHorn

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Honestly the painted bumper hold up better than chrome, as long as you take care of it. Every time I had chrome bumpers they even start to pit and rust. i constantly clean my **** and it never mattered with chrome. Here in new York the salt is brutal.
 

Southern Ram

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I have a 2019 big horn (new style) with the sport package in white and it’s held up well so far. I do have a few small tiny little rock chips but you can’t tell unless you get really close to the front bumper. I did get some touch up paint just in case I get a scratch anywhere on the painted parts.
 

TotallyHucked

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You did a great job capturing that color in your picture. I tried to take pics of some on the lot, but the pictures looked nothing like the actual color. Even the dealer's pics on the website looked blah.

Just emailed the dealer to make the order. 2023 Ram Limited 4x4 in Billet Silver... 3.92 gears, anti-spin rear, 33 gal tank, chrome trailer tow mirrors, and brake controller. Almost impossible to find that on a dealer lot.
I tow a 28' x 8.5' enclosed aluminum trailer, so the mirrors and brake controller are a must. Loaded it's around 6000 lbs. I don't know how the 3.21 would have performed on long trips.
My current setup.
You'll like the 3.92s, I do in my '17. I usually average 17.5-18mpg unloaded and I certainly appreciate the extra towing capacity. You may want to invest in some helper bags though, I plan to on mine. I hooked up our 28' box trailer at work just to move it around the building and it squatted my truck all the way to the stops unloaded, which is ~5k unloaded
 

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