Mudrat Bumpers?

General talk about the Subaru Baja.

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davecoon13
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Mudrat Bumpers?

Post by davecoon13 »

I was thinking of putting a Winch on the front of my Baja. From what I found in the Yahoo! Groups Subaru Baja group, Mudratmay have a solution.

Has anyone used this? Seeing as how I am on the opposite coast how hard is this to install? Could a bodyshop install it? Will it invalidate the SOA Warranty?
SPPIII
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Mudrat Bumper...

Post by SPPIII »

Its a great bumper! My Baja is actually the one with the black bumper on thier website. Only issue I notice with Warn winch that is installed is there is no remote. I have to reach my arm between the front portion to turn the side of winch for the direction of the winch operation. I would definately go the Mudrat route, but spend alittle more on a winch to get one with a remote.

The bumper is definately heavy and the skid plate has to be removed to do the oil changes and any under the car work. I have taken the bumper off to take a look at the winch... two people can get the bumper on and off with no problem...

As for the warrenty, dealership hasnt said anything to me yet.
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davecoon13
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Re: Mudrat Bumper...

Post by davecoon13 »

SPPIII wrote:Its a great bumper! My Baja is actually the one with the black bumper on thier website.
How do the Fog Lamps fit into the bumper design?
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Post by SPPIII »

On either side of the grill on the bumper, there is actually a little mount plate. I have taken those lights off after replacing them enough times by either debris hitting them or people stealing them off.

Only issue with the placement of the lights, is the type of mount on the actual light assembly. Hella and PIAA lights will fit as long as there is no extra stuff back from the mount point of the light. Hella's Comet 500's fit fine

http://www.hella.co.nz/?t=9&pcid=197&sc ... &View=Full
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Mudrat modifications

Post by SPPIII »

Subaru on skid plate
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bulwnkl
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Post by bulwnkl »

Cool!

How do you like those tires on the Baja, SPPIII? Falken Ziex 512s, aren't they? I have some of those on a Neon and they're great. How are they off-road on a Baja? What size are they?
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Post by SPPIII »

Falken Ziex ZE512 225/60 R16s. Great on the asphalt! I have been pretty impressed with them in the rain... definitely better the the TOYO that were on there. EXTREMELY grippy tire. Taking left and right hand turns harder and not losing control is definitely a positive. And the Arizona heat, 117 for the high today, it is a great summer tire.

As for off-road, in comparison to the Toyo Open Country 225/70 R16s, low speed wasn't much of a difference. Rocky terrain worked as good as the Toyos. As for the occasional speeding down the trail and turning, I got a lot of sliding. I enjoy the sliding as it feels a lot like my old Suby powered dune buggy, just AWD now. Toyos had the increased height, but grinded my wheel well.
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Post by bulwnkl »

The 225/70s were grinders, eh? For some reason I had thought a person could get 235/70 (or was it 235/65?) tires under there, but perhaps that was with a lift...

Anyway, my folks have had the ZE512s on a Suzuki they use for work in the Valley of the Sun and they've been very good to them, though like me they thought the tires got somewhat louder on pavement as they wore.

How was your fuel economy with the bigger tires, and where did they rub, exactly?
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Tire Rub-age...

Post by SPPIII »

My Mistake the Toyos were 235/70R16... bigger in both directions.

The tires fit fine for normal driving, however, the grinding took place 1/2 turn before hitting the extreme. Every right turn! even it you crawl through the turn.

Location
Image

This is the well portion on the driver side; same on the passenger side. Grinding was never in the front on either side... MudRat Bumper moved that area of plastic shroud.
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Post by brujah »

Were you running the 235/70R16's with the stock suspension, or did/do you have a lift kit installed?

I want to upgrade from my stock craptenzas to a larger/grippier tire before winter time, and was thinking of going with that size...
2005 turbo - WRX intercooler, Samco hoses, GFB bov, 3" Helix catless downpipe, 2.5" SS CatBackEx, front and rear skidplates(for rocks and logs), Westin safari bar, lots of Hella 500's
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Post by Atomis »

I would hold off on an order on the mudrat bumper for now.......
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Post by bulwnkl »

Atomis wrote:I would hold off on an order on the mudrat bumper for now.......
On account of why?
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Post by Atomis »

Before I go into this any further, Is anyone else here pending an order?
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Post by Emsanon »

I think the mudrat bumper would be an interesting change. I'll have to look into that as a part of my modifications. :wink:
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Post by Atomis »

I am waiting to hear back from him........I havent been able to get in contact with him for about a month now..........I just dont want to see anyone get hurt......I really hope my instincts are off but im playing the waiting game now.
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