MSA's 2013 SEMA Project: Black Rhino > Front Bumper, Rear Bumper, and Other things you might not catch.

There are a few subtle changes on this vehicle that people don't notice.  I thought they deserved some pointing out.

FRONT BUMPER
If you notice the original rendering, the front bumper is WAY lower than OE.  It was designed that way.  The theme of the truck is a mini-semi truck.  In order to do so, we had to have a larger front bumper/air dam.  To do this we had to succeed in doing 2 things - keeping the factory lines and lowering it approximately 4 inches.  With our time constraints, our best option was to purchase another front bumper, weld, and mold it in.  When completely deflated, the front bumper with air dam sits about an inch off the ground.  Perfection.


REAR DUALLY FENDERS
As described in a previous blog, the rear fenders were rendered to be flush with the wheels.  But this was also our tow vehicle that would haul a 24' enclosed trailer with a drift car and tools.  So, we wanted 10ply tires to ensure the truck could handle the load.  Nitto, our sponsor, had 1 tire that would fit the bill - The Terra Grappler at LT315/50R24, which equates to a 36.54" total diameter and approximately 12.5" in width.  Most people walked by not realizing the massive width of the fender, but it came out to be about a 4 day job to make sure both sides not only matched, but the lines were right.

SUICIDE DOORS
Most people didn't play with these, and of course, we aren't complaining.  At shows, vehicles really aren't meant for the general public to just play and handle as they wish.  But, when one of us were present, we definitely want to show the 3 weeks of love put into this.  The doors open and close just like factory from the inside or the outside.  The gaps between the doors and the body are right.  The added metal reinforcement prevents them from sagging.

BAG SETUP
The rear setup is heavily reinforced.  We used 1/4" and 1/2" steel because we knew that there was a possibility of a gooseneck setup in the future.  So we set it up that way, and with our 3800lb bags, we should be able to haul just about anything.  The parallel bars and other items on the truck assists in that setup, keeping the rear more rigid than it was from the factory.

SWITCHES and RUNNING BOARDS
The switches and the running boards weren't offered for my truck's specific model.  They could have been upgraded, but weren't purchased that way.  The running boards are from a Lariat which were disassembled and painted.  This truck is an XLT model.  It also had the AUX OE Switch option that we purchased separately.  These run the Grille lights, additional fog lamps, and the rear bumper lights.

FENDERS
We actually molded the front fenders.  We wanted a more smooth look, and the front fenders seem out of place with the line in it.  Since we did that, we had to modify the Bushwacker Extend-A-Fenders up front to account for the body line elimination.

PAINT
It was a common misconception that we wrapped the truck.  There are several companies that had the brushed steel look in a wrap, so at a quick glance, a lot of people made that assumption.  But no.  We didn't want the truck to be merely wrapped.  That showed no technical skill.  We had to take it a step further and we actually "scratched" the truck to give it the brushed look.  We accomplished this with 180 grit sandpaper, and red and gray scotchbrite pads.  Total process took about 8 hours.