I spent a good part of my late afternoon and evening sanding, priming, and repainting my bumper. Everytime I do this something happens and today was no exception. It was a beautiful day up until the point where I started putting the paint on. I got about 1/4 of it done and some clouds blew in and dumped rain on me. I had to try and block the rain until it blew over. Then, I started painting again and more clouds and rain came in. Ugh!!!

Anyhow, after a couple of hours of prepping, I finally got the paint on and it looks about 20 times better. It's not perfect, but when you're polishing a turd anything helps. I didn't do much on the top of the tire carrier because I have to get the tire support arm modified. I will properly repaint that area at that time. The rest of the bumper though has a new look. I think I even got rid of the big KMA paint run on the end of the tire swing arm! I sure sanded it enough for sure!

I just thought I'd let you all know I'm still working ont his POS!

:monkeypis on KMA.

Nice! I'm thinking of buying one and having it shipped to you for repainting. You might as well grind down all the KMA welds for me to! :alien:

Originally posted by ScottG
Nice! I'm thinking of buying one and having it shipped to you for repainting. You might as well grind down all the KMA welds for me to! :alien:

Yep, the repainting is nice but to make it a really decent bumper, we're all going to have to break them apart and weld them together again ... KMA should just sell their bumpers in a "put it together yourself" kit, like IKEA.

:hehe:

KMA = aftermarket supplier?

Originally posted by Philosopher


Yep, the repainting is nice but to make it a really decent bumper, we're all going to have to break them apart and weld them together again ... KMA should just sell their bumpers in a "put it together yourself" kit, like IKEA.

:hehe:

LOL. IKEA. :D I wish mine had come unwelded too.

Hey are you thinking of taking yours apart? I might redo the beams that attach to the frame. Just wondering what others are thinking.

Oh, and also did any of you guys ever have this toy when you were kids? It was a car assembly kit with plastic beams, body panels and everything. It came with a little drill that would spin these plastic nubs. The plastic nub would heat up and you actually welded together your car. Lots of fun. I was just thinking I did a better job welding with that kit at 7 years old than KMA.

Ikea...ROTFLMAO.
Nice one MT.

Oh, and KMA can KMA!!!

Originally posted by Philosopher


Yep, the repainting is nice but to make it a really decent bumper, we're all going to have to break them apart and weld them together again ... KMA should just sell their bumpers in a "put it together yourself" kit, like IKEA.

:hehe:

Yeah, but the pieces wouldn't fit right, kind of like a cheap model Kit!

Schlud,

I would like to have my beams redone too, but then I'd have to have the receiver straightened out and....

Someday maybe I'll have it rebuilt.


Scott,

Um, no thanks! :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Schludwiller


Hey are you thinking of taking yours apart? I might redo the beams that attach to the frame. Just wondering what others are thinking.


Eventually, I'm going to crack all the welds and have them redone - especially the frame inserts to the main piece and my receiver hitch. It's a goddamn shame but oh well. I learned my lesson.


Oh, and also did any of you guys ever have this toy when you were kids? It was a car assembly kit with plastic beams, body panels and everything. It came with a little drill that would spin these plastic nubs. The plastic nub would heat up and you actually welded together your car. Lots of fun. I was just thinking I did a better job welding with that kit at 7 years old than KMA.

Nope, but I'm sure you did!

Originally posted by i_rebel
KMA = aftermarket supplier?

http://www.kenmtn.com

BEWARE!!!

I CANNOT believe that they actually sell a winch-mount bumper. YIKES. I wouldn't be surprised when the thing comes flying off.
BTW - be sure to check out the "Web site of a satisfied customer [ click here ]" on the winch bumper page. Yeah, he's REALLY satisfied - that's why he says "I have repeatedly asked KMA to remove my page link from their site, but have had no action taken on their part." on his own site.

We should give the guy links to our bad experiences. Eventually KMA will pull it.

Also how about this:

THE KMA SUCKS WEBRING

Originally posted by Schludwiller
We should give the guy links to our bad experiences. Eventually KMA will pull it.

Also how about this:

THE KMA SUCKS WEBRING


Some of us in MAXC actually talked about that - registering www.kenmtnsucks.com so that when somone does a search on them, they will come up with their site and our site right under it. :)

heck we could easily place the site well enough in the search engines that it would come up before theirs would if you want to. if theirs is in there at all. we don't even need to register the domain. i don't want to spend any more money on them or anything to do with them.

I am all for the KMA sucks web ring or something like it. If every one of us put together a web page on a site somewhere detailing the pains and problems we have gone through and then linked them all, that would be great. nothing slanderous, just let our experiences speak for themselves. volumes, copious volumes!!!

how's this?

You know, I've thought about putting an anti-KMA page on my site. PRoblem is my site isn't very visible and doesn't get enough traffic for it to be helpful. I still might do it though and detail out everything that was wrong with my bumper. Actually, it may be easier to detail what WAS right! Oh wait...I can't think of anything! :angryfire

I definately think we should come up with a way to get the word out. I really don't think they should be building and selling anything. I think anyone here who has never even touched a welder (like myself) could have come up with a better built product in much less time. Morons!

I have been meaning to experiment with Hammerite, so yesterday I decided to try painting my sliders and KMA, since ECXC will be a good test of how well the paint holds up to rocks and such. I couldn't actually find any Hammerite locally so I ended up using Rustoleum Hammer-Finish spraypaint. I am very happy with it so far, an unexpected bonus is that the black finish is actually very dark grey, and matches the stock bumper pieces quite well in color and texture. If anyone else needs to repaint their bumper, I definitely endorse this paint!

http://www.4x4lo.com/mods/kma_repaint.jpg

My sliders also look kind of snazzy now (IMHO), because they match the body-side moldings. Hopefully this paint will live up to all the hype (supposed to be quite tough), I'll let you guys know.

Goth,
I love the mod you have done to your tail tipe. :licker:

Hmmm, Hammer Finish? I didn't know there was another type of Rustoleum. I used the regular Rustoleum Premium and it was great to work with and the color works nicely, although it's lighter than stock. I figured the Rustoleum was my best bet aside from removing the bumper and having it sandblasted and powdercoated. If it doesn't work out, I'll do that later, but right now it looks really good.

That looks great gothamist!
Now I just have to find another shop can make me a bumper
:(

Have fun at ECXC (I wish I could have been there).

well i was up at skid row on friday on my way to ECXC and got to see my bumper after coming back from the powder coaters, and WOW. it almost look professional!!!! all the rust is gone too :eek: i was impressed. Eric is still adding the gas tank mount and the 60" hi-lift mount to the swing away and then have that piece powder coated and i will have a damn solid bumper!! cost me more than what i wanted to spend, but i think i will finally have what I want, and there have been so many mods done to it, i can prety much say it is a custom Skid Row Automotive bumper, not a KMA bumper. :D i think all in all i will end up spending close to what i did on my ARB on the front.

What's the color code on your paint Gothamist?

And Synchro did you get the rail beams changed at Skid Row with your bumper?

what do you mean by rail beams? the bumper piece itself on mine was mostly untouched except for the swapping of sides of the tire carrier mounts. i am not sure what you mean though.

Schlud--the paint is "Premium Rust-Oleum Hammered" color code 7215--Black. (Even though it dries grey.) I got it at Home Depot.
This should be a link (http://www.rustoleum.com/category.asp?SubCatID=47&MainCatID=1) to the Rustoleum site w/ the different Hammered colors.

Synchro--I stopped by Eric's on my way home from ECXC, and damn!!! Your KMA looks to be finished about as well as the ARB is! Kind of a shame you're going to rip the finish off in the rocks and such...but it should hold up pretty well I guess.

unlike some people, i don't drag the ass end of my X on rocks. ;)

BTW, i made the waterfall trail without a scratch!!! Mr T spotted me through it perfectly. and damn it was fun. what a difference 9 more months of experience and a few simple mods makes. you should take that next time we go up there. good stuff. can't wait to see the video.

Originally posted by Synchro
what do you mean by rail beams? the bumper piece itself on mine was mostly untouched except for the swapping of sides of the tire carrier mounts. i am not sure what you mean though.

He's talking about the inserts that slide into the frame. Both of our bumpers have them attached so one is lower than the other, making the bumper sit about 1/4" lower on one side. My problem is that nothing is straight, so if I have one of the inserts moved, then I have to pretty much have the whole bumper rebuilt. Otherwise everything else will be crooked. Ah, the joys!

Yeah, what he said.

mine was not off kilter to begin with. i guess the day mine was built, kyle picked a good day to try and stop smoking crack. notice the word "try" as the folowing day he fell off the horse and i got a screwed up swing away arm, which is what i have been fixing.

i really think you guys need to get in touch with the consumer affair department in georgia, atlanta and the county down there. where i have little recourse cause i was there to have it built, you guys have tons of recourse. Especially since the damn things aren't welded well, are probably aren't safe to tow with, crooked and so on. if i were you guys i would not stand there and take it. likei said i have little recourse, you guys have tons!!!!!!! If you do not report him, he will continue to do it.

Douglas County Chamber of Commerce

http://www.douglascountygeorgia.com/