ESP Stampede Bumper

I've never been a big fan of aluminum bumpers. Due to their inflexibility, compared to plastic bumpers, they tend to cause other parts to break. Even if the bumper bends during a hard crash, absorbing some of the impact, it requires you to bend it back to it's original position. Over time as an aluminum bumper is bent a few times it becomes very weak in the area where it bends and will eventually break.

Problems

As much as I would have liked this to not be the case with the ESP Bumper, it just didn't happen. There's no denying that the bumper looked nice mounted on a Stampede, but the durability just wasn't there. This could have been helped somewhat, by using a much higher grade of aluminum. Considering the fact the bumper's price is nearly $30, ESP could have improved this area and still been able to turn a profit. After paying that much for a bumper you would expect it to last more than the few weeks that it does.

If the weak aluminum wasn't enough of a problem, the screws that hold the bumper together need lock-tite applied to them straight out of the box. Otherwise soon after installing the bumper, you'll be digging through your pit box looking for a replacement screw. If ESP felt they couldn't have used a better grade of aluminum the least they could have done would be to ensure these screws stay put longer than a few runs.

Conclusion

If you're looking to build a Stampede for show, then this bumper looks sharp when it's installed. However if you plan on using the bumper to protect your Stampede while driving you are much better off looking elsewhere and saving your money. Not only will you be out of nearly $30, but soon after using it, you will be out a bumper as well.

Durability 2 Instructions 6 Looks 7 Quality 2 Value 1

Overall Score 3.6

Rants	Raves

Inflated Price For Materials Used Poor Materials Poor Workmanship

Looks Good

Source: ESP Hobby

Reviewed 08.27.2003