Moose bumpers and fuel economy

I do better than having no protection at all..Ali Arc is about the second best the best one is up there in Minnesota not too far from Fargo-Moorhead area.. it's a small company is starts with a K that makes them..I can't quite remember because I've driven a company truck for almost 9 years now again sold my last three trucks back in 10.
but moose movers, Bambi bashers, deer destroyers, cow plows pretty much do what they're designed to do..

 

Problem with those bumpers is weight..All the trucks I’ve ever driven were always pushing 12k lbs..adding another 500lbs wouldn’t work.

Although I sure wish I had one when I hit a cow at 65 mph a couple years back.

If you’re looking check out Raney’s

Here is a link to their site..

Raneys Truck Parts - Chrome Semi Truck Parts & Accessories

 

If you have good tires like Michelin 16ply, your load limit on a steer axle is around 14k lbs, so no problem with weight.

 

If your steer axle is rated for 12,500 lbs or 13,200 lbs, then even if you have the 16 ply tires which are rated at 7,100 lbs each (I think) so 14,200 lbs total, your weakest link is the steer axle rating.

 

I would think big fleet insurance will cover for road kill damage. Back when I was at a big fleet, they would tell us in class to accelerate and run over the animal. Attempting to avoid it could be more costly if an accident is caused. They are a self-insured fleet.

 

I’ve thought about herd bumpers, but I only view them as necessary if you constantly run in areas with lots of animals, especially big ones. I do OTR, and after 6 years I have only hit one small deer at about 30 MPH and there was no damage. If you do OTR, but still want one, you should get a small herd bumper like the ones Prime uses. That should protect against most deers, but probably not an elk or a moose.

 

Yep, don’t try to swerve for a deer, dog, duck, drunk, or #######. Well, maybe not the latter two because we have a duty to avoid harm to other persons if possible. Straight ahead is the key. Same with a blown front tire, you want physics on your side. That is, you want the momentum of your gross weight to keep you tracking forward. Accelerate and steer straight ahead until you can slow down firmly under control.

 

I think the acceleration part is so the animal is more likely to go under the truck. A rapid acceleration is supposed to raise the front bumper a bit.

 

That makes sense too, although I can’t see a truck raising up much at highway speeds. Now, my high school buddy Jimmy’s 428 Mustang would raise the front bumper 2 or 3 feet when you jammed it unless it lost traction with both rear tires and did a massive two tire burnout. Back in the 70’s we had real muscle cars.

 

The Swamp Donkeys we have up here are too big to go under. Seen them go up a hood and almost into the cab.