Help, need new UCP!

[tomp]

I just crawled underneath & found my UCP smashed up against my exhaust. Not a pretty sight...

Need good quality aftermart UCP with decent bang for the buck. Any suggestions? I already looked at the H2O stuff but it's kind of pricey

[Alan06SUT]

the other brand out there is the rubber duck brand. I havent used it though, so I dont know how good or bad it is.

[H2Finally]

I have the older rubber duck (without the 'wings'). Solid stuff, but will still bend. Nature of the truck, & rocky terrain here in SoCal. Easy enough to "unbend", put it upside down over some 4x4, drive on it a few times until it's straight. Bitch to take on & off alone though..

[tomp]

Not willing to spend the money they are asking for these things, so here is what I did:

-Took large sledge hammer and beat it until it is straight again. Started thinking..."Hmmm some angle iron welded on the bottom sure would help for next time". Then I remembered, "I don't have a welder"!

-Brain stormed for a second and thought, "Hey, I wonder if those long pieces of rebar I have in the shed would fit inside the tubes? I knew I had two different sizes to try. Grabbed 3 pieces of 3/4" and it fit snug! Hammered them in all the way until they reached the factory bend in the UCP tubes. Now all I have to do is cut the excess off with my die grinder.

Personally, I think this is an awesome mod and something anyone that takes thiers offroad should do before they end up bending theirs! 3/4" rebar is very strong and am willing to bet this makes the factory UCP as strong is not stronger than the hollow aftermarket UCP that's out there.

You might be thinking you don't need to do this if you don't rock climb or wheel hard, but these rocks I went over were not even visible due to high grass!