Aluminess Bumpers

[kmacafee]

My almost new Taco was totaled this morning in Minneapolis. I was sitting at a light and was rear ended by a Jeep Grand Cherokee traveling at what the officer estimated was 50 mph. Apparently, the driver and his crew had just held up a grocery store. Driver initially escaped on foot but was later captured. Both passengers were injured and taken into custody. Engine of jeep was pushed back into passenger compartment. I walked away with a little stiffness.

If any of you are in the market for bumpers and are concerned about the durability of aluminum vs steel, don't be. These are very stout bumpers that weigh half of similar steel products and don't corrode. The bumpers probably saved me from additional physical injury. The folks at Aluminess are great to work with and I will be ordering a replacement once I get a new vehicle.

Cheers

Kevin

 

[trump]

Wow! Glad to hear you're ok and happier to hear they caught the guy.

I will point out that this statement:

and don't corrode.

...is myth. Fact is, aluminum corrodes in salty-wet environments (read: salted winter roads.)

However, this accident gives big points for Aluminess's strength to weight.

 

[kmacafee]

I live and drive in Minnesota so the truck is exposed to lots of wet salty conditions. Two winters in -- bumpers show no evidence of corrosion at all. The same cannot be said for any of the steel fasteners underneath.

 

[nucktaco]

wow cant belive they total lossed that. we just fixed an 05 prerunner at our shop and the insurnace company had us replace from the firwall forward.

 

[Ryanmb21]

Glad you are ok, and evidence of a great product! Are you going to buy that truck back after the total? It may be good luck!

 

[trump]

I live and drive in Minnesota so the truck is exposed to lots of wet salty conditions. Two winters in -- bumpers show no evidence of corrosion at all. The same cannot be said for any of the steel fasteners underneath.

I'm not trying to say it's going to be awful, but aluminum will corrode if left untreated/protected. It's highly anodic and is susceptible to dissimilar metal corrosion with the presence of an electrolyte. Areas to watch would be around the frame and where it bolts up to the truck. Bottom line: don't leave them unpainted unless they're treated. It would suck to have a nice bumper with pit marks all over it or worse.

Wasn't trying to thread jack... Just help prevent a costly oversight. They're sweet bumpers and still in consideration for a replacement for my front bumper.

 

[killahaas@gmail.com]

it takes quite some time for aluminum to corrode if it is untreated it will last for a few years and than will start to show some what of a white film over it. but since this is powdercoated it will last many years. i was thinking about making an Aluminum bumper for my truck and TIG welding it all together. glad you are ok.

 

[trump]

since this is powdercoated it will last many years.

Agreed... same can be said of steel. Corrosion is my line of work.

 

[kmacafee]

"wow cant belive they total lossed that. we just fixed an 05 prerunner at our shop and the insurnace company had us replace from the firwall forward." I don't have a final decision from the insurance company yet but the collision guys crawled under it and the frame is twisted almost to the cab. Doors are hard to open and the front cowl looks twisted. It looks like most of the OME suspension survived.

As for corrosion, I know aluminum deteriorates in salty conditions -- I spent a lot of time sailing and working on boats in New Jersey. But if protected, it definitely lasts much longer than steel.

Im not terribly religious but did say a thank you to whomever runs the universe for looking out for me. Thanks for the kind words.

 

[4RunAmok]

I wonder if Aluminess anodizes their aluminum before it's powder coated...

Glad you're ok! The Aluminess shop is just a couple shops over from where I work, and I met them at the Toys for Tots event. Great people who care very much about their products.

 

[Aluminess]

Most importantly we are happy to hear that you are OK and only have material loss after the accident. Too many times the story goes the other way and the criminal gets away while the victim is left without justice. Hopefully the stiffness will pass soon and you will be back to building your next vehicle.

As for how we treat our products, everything is sandblasted by the powdercoater before the powdercoating is applied. This creates a surface that accepts the powder in a way that makes it very durable. It's hard to see in the pictures, but even after an accident like this there will not be any flaking or peeling of the powdercoat.

We do not anodize our bumpers because different alloys of aluminum will show different shades of the same color when it is anodized. The pipe on the bumper would be a different color than the welds which will be a different color than the structure of the bumper, etc even though it is dipped in the same tank all at the same time.

 

[4RunAmok]

I knew of the shades with regards to the welds, pipes and plates upon anodizing, but I was supposing it could be done before powder coating to eliminate corrosion. It sounds like it isn't necessary.

 

[Howard70]

"Straight" Corrosion versus "Galvanic" Corrosion

As several others have posted in this thread, my experience with aluminum and corrosive environments comes from maintaining an ocean going sailboat for many years.

Proper alloys of aluminum by themselves are much more resistant to saltwater corrosion than many alloys of steel. However, the bane of alumimum gear on ocean boats is the galvanic corrosion set up between aluminum and steel in the presence of saltwater. When aluminum is carelessly fastened to the hull of a vessel with stainless steel hardware it isn't unusual for the mounting holes in the aluminum to rapidly corrode.

The problem can be avoided by using a good isolating compound between the stainless steel fastener and the aluminum. While silcone is popular, we found it to be inferior to a product called Lanacote that we purchased from West Marine:

http://www.westmarine.com/buy/products/2318-lanocote-corrosion-inhibitor.html

If I was lucky enough to have an Aluminess Bumper attached to my Tacoma, I would use Lanacote one the mounting hardware and never give it another thought.

Howard L. Snell

 

[cam-shaft]

Bumper worked

Saving weight with bumpers is important because accessory weight adds up fast. If you know how to build good structure, that aluminum bumper will hang with the heavy steels. They are all stronger then the frame as you can tell from the OP's pics. Negative of aluminum would be softer material for a lot of dragging and sliding situations. Great choice for expo.

To help deal with corrosion make sure all pre-drilling is done before powder and make sure all holes are clearanced enough to compensate for thickness of powder, so powder does not wear off when bolt is installed.

If you are really concerned with corrosion you could use plastic shoulder washers for isolation and or some UHMW for isolation plates for mounting.



Cam-shaft.

 

[trump]

However, the bane of alumimum gear on ocean boats is the galvanic corrosion set up between aluminum and steel in the presence of saltwater. When aluminum is carelessly fastened to the hull of a vessel with stainless steel hardware it isn't unusual for the mounting holes in the aluminum to rapidly corrode.

Yup, this is known as dissimilar metal corrosion. Weakened metal around the attach point would not be good. Powdercoating in the method mentioned in the post before would be a great way of protecting it.