YOUR AD HERE »

Mr. Truck

Kent Sundling
Denver, Colo.
Dave Sundling (son of Mr. Truck)

Driving where the deer and antelope play can be a dangerous playground at 70 mph. One of the scariest stretches of road that I tow on is I-70, where it winds through the Rocky Mountains. Wildlife of the large kind hang by the road (to the joy of tourists), but deer roaming across the road at night can put your family at peril. I’ve seen the damage deer do to trucks. Bambi can total a bumper, but a full-grown deer, big horn sheep, antelope or Black Angus can put your rig out of business.

We’d all like to swerve and miss the deer but that can be deadly. Sudden movements to the side can create energy that you may not be able to control at highway speeds. As they say, an ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure. So I found a “deer deflector” ” a replacement front bumper and grill guard, since the object is to keep animal parts out of the radiator, water pump etc. I just happened to find it in Hyannis Nebraska at Cow Country Sales and Service.

They call them “Sandhills Body Guard.” This is a replacement bumper, grill guard and built in 2-inch receiver. Now I can plow snow forwards. I received a snow plow last winter, but it didn’t have an attachment, it plugged into a receiver hitch. So I plowed snow backwards all last winter.



The Body Guard bumper is 3/16-inch steel with three different angles. The grill and headlight guard is 1-1/4 square, 14-gauge tubing. There are holes for fog lights and tow hooks, even a lower brace for standing on and admiring your engine. Expanded metal covers the grill and below the headlights. Then the whole piece is covered with a coating similar to sprayed on bedliners. My bumper weighed in at 186 pounds, quite different than the flimsy factory bumper. Two half-inch bolts hold the Body Guard to the truck frame.

New From ENKAY Rock Tamer Mudflaps



They are bold and sexy! I consider them the best built mudflaps I’ve found. I still love the old model and they are bullet proof. I’ve had them in sagebrush off-road and the only thing that hurt them was the spray arm in a car wash. All I did was bend the rod back and on the road I go.

The new model has a polished aluminum yoke ” the old model was brass. The new model has heavy wall aluminum tubing instead of steel rod, and is still adjustable in and out and up and down. This is so good for my truck reviews, which range from a tall H2 to a Nissan Frontier. I review new trailers too, so protecting the trailer from interstate gravel keeps the trailers coming.

Any mudflaps can protect your trailers from mud ” that’s a slow speed problem. But the damage comes from the little rocks and gravel that are on the roads from wind and snowplows. Those little rocks get propelled when you’re going 70 mph-plus. The old Rock Tamers had a 2-pound weight embedded in the bottom of the rubber flap. This kept the mudflaps from sailing at higher speeds, which is where the protection is needed. The new model is a thick rubber flap with vertical ribs which keep the mudflaps pointing down at 70 mph-plus. Now they are better looking, a bold tough look with a sculptured chrome plated aluminum yoke and big horizontal tubes holding the thick rubber flaps with a stainless steel Rock Tamer plate at the bottom.

These are the most heavy duty, adjustable mudflaps I’ve found, and I look hard. They won’t sail down the road, but stay in place and now they look like a bling-bling accessory that makes your truck look cooler.

Thanks to Cow Country Sales and Service 877-450-2356 and ENKAY Rock Tamer Mudflaps 800-545-1894.

Kent Sundling (alias “Mr. Truck”) spent 20 years wearing out pickup trucks as only a farmer could. With over 1 million miles pulling trailers, Mr. Truck has a unique collection of truck and farm stories that will educate and entertain. Mr.Truck gave up his bib overalls and John Deeres in his quest to save the farm and moved to the big city to sell trucks. After selling trucks for 10 years, this farmer now writes for eight magazines and owns over two dozen Web sites, helping folks find the “Right Truck.” If you have a question for Mr. Truck, you may contact him at his Web site, http://www.mrtruck.net.


[placeholder]