Freedom Chariot
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I have one and love it!
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Mystic
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Install finished late last week, just getting around to poasting now.
I think it looks really good - it changes the side aspect profile of the truck in a good way imo; a little longer and leaner.
Clear loss of ~1" in front due to weight.
Didn't need or want the light bar because I'm already running plenty of lights. I thought there was a knockout panel there if you didn't want it, but maybe my memory is hazy. Might have been my shop that did it, because they called me about it and I distinctly remember telling them to leave it. Whatever, not a huge deal.
Apparently the fog lights weren't packed inside like they should have been (I brought the skid over to the offroad shop still shrinkwrapped), but I hit up Rival and they shipped a set immediately without any fuss at all.
Immediately went and took the truck out on some easy trails (Orosco Ridge & Black Mountain) to get a feel for the changes. Negligible effect on handling from what I can tell. Approach angle seems like it should be slightly worse than previous, but I didn't scrape even on a couple obstacles I thought were very borderline.
Overall, I really like it. I think Rival did the best they could given how awkward it is to place a front winch on this truck.
Will report back further on clearance when I get the time to crawl some bigger rocks.
I think it looks really good - it changes the side aspect profile of the truck in a good way imo; a little longer and leaner.
Clear loss of ~1" in front due to weight.
Didn't need or want the light bar because I'm already running plenty of lights. I thought there was a knockout panel there if you didn't want it, but maybe my memory is hazy. Might have been my shop that did it, because they called me about it and I distinctly remember telling them to leave it. Whatever, not a huge deal.
Apparently the fog lights weren't packed inside like they should have been (I brought the skid over to the offroad shop still shrinkwrapped), but I hit up Rival and they shipped a set immediately without any fuss at all.
Immediately went and took the truck out on some easy trails (Orosco Ridge & Black Mountain) to get a feel for the changes. Negligible effect on handling from what I can tell. Approach angle seems like it should be slightly worse than previous, but I didn't scrape even on a couple obstacles I thought were very borderline.
Overall, I really like it. I think Rival did the best they could given how awkward it is to place a front winch on this truck.
Will report back further on clearance when I get the time to crawl some bigger rocks.
Bushmechanic
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One must remember to account for the extra mass. You're not just losing clearance.
The bumper and winch are mounted on a 2-3 foot (can't be bothered to measure) lever beyond the centerline of the front wheels and suspension; giving it significant mechanical advantage.
It's not that the springs and shocks won't hold more in the air, the problem is they can't control it as effectively. Higher spring rates in the front suspension are an appropriate answer.
I expect the shocks will perform well enough in one setting or another. They're pretty high quality and adjustable on the Raptor, at least.
It's important to reduce as much mass as possible as far forward as possible to compensate. It's too bad it would be astronomically unreasonable to move the battery to center mass on a Ranger, as that thing is huge.
I've seen a carbon fiber hood, however. I found it when I was looking for ways to shave weight off the front end for just this purpose.
Winch choice is going to be a big consideration when dealing with such narrow margins of capacity. I'd be aiming for something in the Warn 9.0RC weight class.
I'd love to know the weight of the factory bumper in relation to this model. The difference between them is nearly all you need to strive to eliminate.
The bumper and winch are mounted on a 2-3 foot (can't be bothered to measure) lever beyond the centerline of the front wheels and suspension; giving it significant mechanical advantage.
It's not that the springs and shocks won't hold more in the air, the problem is they can't control it as effectively. Higher spring rates in the front suspension are an appropriate answer.
I expect the shocks will perform well enough in one setting or another. They're pretty high quality and adjustable on the Raptor, at least.
It's important to reduce as much mass as possible as far forward as possible to compensate. It's too bad it would be astronomically unreasonable to move the battery to center mass on a Ranger, as that thing is huge.
I've seen a carbon fiber hood, however. I found it when I was looking for ways to shave weight off the front end for just this purpose.
Winch choice is going to be a big consideration when dealing with such narrow margins of capacity. I'd be aiming for something in the Warn 9.0RC weight class.
I'd love to know the weight of the factory bumper in relation to this model. The difference between them is nearly all you need to strive to eliminate.
nate.co
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Soon.... 
SubNuke
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I live in Houston and considering this. There’s a local shop that Rival recommends to do the work. So it’s a possibility. But I’m still on the fence. Been talking with the shop about getting the lights and a winch. Don’t need the light bar tho…I don’t think…or maybe I do. lol
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nate.co
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WESTRESCUE77
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The RIVAL website says "The housing can be set aside if lightbar is not needed." Might want to look into that. They also show some models without the light bar housing and with 2 large round fog lights...Install finished late last week, just getting around to poasting now.
I think it looks really good - it changes the side aspect profile of the truck in a good way imo; a little longer and leaner.
Clear loss of ~1" in front due to weight.
Didn't need or want the light bar because I'm already running plenty of lights. I thought there was a knockout panel there if you didn't want it, but maybe my memory is hazy. Might have been my shop that did it, because they called me about it and I distinctly remember telling them to leave it. Whatever, not a huge deal.
Apparently the fog lights weren't packed inside like they should have been (I brought the skid over to the offroad shop still shrinkwrapped), but I hit up Rival and they shipped a set immediately without any fuss at all.
Immediately went and took the truck out on some easy trails (Orosco Ridge & Black Mountain) to get a feel for the changes. Negligible effect on handling from what I can tell. Approach angle seems like it should be slightly worse than previous, but I didn't scrape even on a couple obstacles I thought were very borderline.
Overall, I really like it. I think Rival did the best they could given how awkward it is to place a front winch on this truck.
Will report back further on clearance when I get the time to crawl some bigger rocks.
Last edited:
nate.co
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Yeah it's this one: https://www.rival4x4usa.com/products/rigid-sr-series-pro-20-inch-sport-drive-combo-lightbar
If you don't want a light bar, all you do is not punch out the top of the bumper. It's in the install video. The front has cutouts for 3" square lights.
They have been great to deal with, the items that were in the same warehouse were just in the crated box and other bits shipped from wherever. Support has been really responsive over email.
Fawnbuster
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I like it, plus weight savings
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Fawnbuster
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Just curious is the aluminum bumper powder coated and if so does it match the oem bumper color?
nate.co
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It's powder coated black.
DesertBumAZ
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That price should include the wench and lights, GD thats pricey
Epsilon Phui
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Well, I finally finished my Rival bumper install.
It wound up being quite an ordeal. I think my truck must have been a one off with some crazy out of tolerance bumper mounts. The stock bumper looked fine though. It came off easily and as directed by the Rival video. It did have a couple of small alignment shims, not unusual in my experience with other vehicles.
First sign of trouble was when I had the winch plate installed and all torqued in place, I could not fit the winch into the plate no matter how hard I tried. I wound up loosening it all back up until it was just barely hanging by the bolts and then I still could not wedge it in. Removed it, set the winch in, then put it back up, and the control pack was hard up against the plastic frame of the active vent shutters with winch all the way forward on the plate, no where near the mounting holes!
Either this Ford is WAY off or the bumper is WAY off! I tired to get Rival to send me some design dimensions so I could measure and see if I got a manufacturing out of tolerance boo boo. It happens and I wasn't angry, I just wanted to know which was the issue, the truck or the bumper. A few emails back and forth with them, no dimensions. I had to get past their, "you must be screwing it up," to eventually, "something ain't right." They wound up sending me a control pack relocation kit. Not what I was hoping to have to do, but at least a path forward.
Found enough space for the relocation kit on top of the fuse box. Having to route four big cables is less ideal than routing one or two. If I want to use the cabled winch controller on the trail, I will have to open the hood to connect it. Now extra remote batteries are necessary for the recovery kit.
I moved on with the install, at this point I just wanted to get it done. When I had everything all aligned as best as possible and tightened up. Oh my goodness, the thing looked like it was crazy tilted upward! Take it all back off....
I ended up removing everything, shimming out the winch plate with two washers under the top bolt and one under the next one down to angle the plate downward. Of course by this point all of the nylock nuts had ben run on and off about four times, so blue Loctite for all hardware from this point on.
It still was not enough, so I removed the bumper end caps and drilled the holes out to allow the angle to be adjusted. I had to drill out both holes on the right side to get enough movement to turn it upward far enough. The left side only needed the end cap holes enlarged to get enough for alignment. This of course caused the underside to have funky angles, but I was able to bend the close out panels to fit. There was a super tight squeeze between the fairlead and the winch and the bolts supplied by the Warn were too short, while any hardware supplied by Rival was either too long or too short, so I had to purchase bolts of the correct length. There was only enough room for the nut on the inside, so the washer and lock washer are on the outside under the bolt head, it works but looks aren’t the best… oh well. I was not able to find metric stainless steel, so I still need to paint the bolt heads etc. to prevent rust. It is a good thing I opted not to install the light bar. I don't think I could have sneezed it in.
What an ordeal! It would have been a pretty easy job if the dimensions were right but this wound up taking over two weeks start to finish.
At this point, I don't think the Rival product is at fault, but I can't imagine how the stock bumper looked right with the mount points that far off. Oh well, bumper installed, winch works. Let's go get it stuck in a mudhole!
(Pic is before holes enlarged in the endcaps and bumper, but after shimming of plate)
It wound up being quite an ordeal. I think my truck must have been a one off with some crazy out of tolerance bumper mounts. The stock bumper looked fine though. It came off easily and as directed by the Rival video. It did have a couple of small alignment shims, not unusual in my experience with other vehicles.
First sign of trouble was when I had the winch plate installed and all torqued in place, I could not fit the winch into the plate no matter how hard I tried. I wound up loosening it all back up until it was just barely hanging by the bolts and then I still could not wedge it in. Removed it, set the winch in, then put it back up, and the control pack was hard up against the plastic frame of the active vent shutters with winch all the way forward on the plate, no where near the mounting holes!
Either this Ford is WAY off or the bumper is WAY off! I tired to get Rival to send me some design dimensions so I could measure and see if I got a manufacturing out of tolerance boo boo. It happens and I wasn't angry, I just wanted to know which was the issue, the truck or the bumper. A few emails back and forth with them, no dimensions. I had to get past their, "you must be screwing it up," to eventually, "something ain't right." They wound up sending me a control pack relocation kit. Not what I was hoping to have to do, but at least a path forward.
Found enough space for the relocation kit on top of the fuse box. Having to route four big cables is less ideal than routing one or two. If I want to use the cabled winch controller on the trail, I will have to open the hood to connect it. Now extra remote batteries are necessary for the recovery kit.
I moved on with the install, at this point I just wanted to get it done. When I had everything all aligned as best as possible and tightened up. Oh my goodness, the thing looked like it was crazy tilted upward! Take it all back off....
I ended up removing everything, shimming out the winch plate with two washers under the top bolt and one under the next one down to angle the plate downward. Of course by this point all of the nylock nuts had ben run on and off about four times, so blue Loctite for all hardware from this point on.
It still was not enough, so I removed the bumper end caps and drilled the holes out to allow the angle to be adjusted. I had to drill out both holes on the right side to get enough movement to turn it upward far enough. The left side only needed the end cap holes enlarged to get enough for alignment. This of course caused the underside to have funky angles, but I was able to bend the close out panels to fit. There was a super tight squeeze between the fairlead and the winch and the bolts supplied by the Warn were too short, while any hardware supplied by Rival was either too long or too short, so I had to purchase bolts of the correct length. There was only enough room for the nut on the inside, so the washer and lock washer are on the outside under the bolt head, it works but looks aren’t the best… oh well. I was not able to find metric stainless steel, so I still need to paint the bolt heads etc. to prevent rust. It is a good thing I opted not to install the light bar. I don't think I could have sneezed it in.
What an ordeal! It would have been a pretty easy job if the dimensions were right but this wound up taking over two weeks start to finish.
At this point, I don't think the Rival product is at fault, but I can't imagine how the stock bumper looked right with the mount points that far off. Oh well, bumper installed, winch works. Let's go get it stuck in a mudhole!
(Pic is before holes enlarged in the endcaps and bumper, but after shimming of plate)
nate.co
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Ooof, good times
I had a similar experience with getting the winch to fit and getting the bumper aligned. Fiddled with the winch for a while and then at some point it just fell into the mounting bracket correctly. Spacing is super tight.
Rotating the bumper forward was also an issue for me, but I was able to use a jack to nudge it into compliance.
https://www.ranger6g.com/forum/thre...ers-and-tie-rods-goat-spacers-35-tires.25357/
I had a similar experience with getting the winch to fit and getting the bumper aligned. Fiddled with the winch for a while and then at some point it just fell into the mounting bracket correctly. Spacing is super tight.
Rotating the bumper forward was also an issue for me, but I was able to use a jack to nudge it into compliance.
https://www.ranger6g.com/forum/thre...ers-and-tie-rods-goat-spacers-35-tires.25357/
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