Full Grille Guard, Pre-Runner or No Guard: Which Front Bumper Do You Need?

Updated October 2026. Prices come from our live listings, weights from the manufacturers' own spec pages.

Pick your front bumper by what is most likely to hit it. Deer and cattle on 2-lane roads call for a full grille guard. Brush and trails call for a pre-runner hoop. Town, towing and job sites need no guard at all.

One shopper wrote to us: "Just some protection is all I'm after, I'm not a rancher." Fair enough, but the deer doesn't care what you do for a living. It runs out at dawn and hits whatever is in front of it. And from the bumper line down, all 3 are the same thing: a steel bumper bolted to your frame. What changes is the guard on top.

It Comes Down to Where the Hit Lands

All 3 put steel across the bumper line, so a low hit lands on steel no matter which guard you pick. An owner on HDRams, a forum for heavy-duty Ram owners, put it plainly: when a small deer mostly hits the bumper, "the truck will probably just need a bath."

The guard only matters for what lands higher. Match it to your roads.

Deer country and open range: the full grille guard. A volunteer firefighter wrote to us after he hit a deer on the way to a house fire. It damaged his truck's grille and bumper. The full guard puts steel in front of the grille and both headlights, not just the bumper line. State Farm says animal hits come "especially in the fall when deer are more active" and tells drivers: "Be especially alert from dusk to dawn." If you drive those roads at those hours, the full guard covers the most. Our deer guide covers the rest of the plan.

Brush and trails: the pre-runner hoop. It's a single steel bar over the middle of the grille, so branches meet steel before they reach the grille. It carries less steel up front: on Ranch Hand's Legend, the hoop version is 72 lb lighter than the full guard. Both headlights stay exposed, so it's the trail pick, not the deer pick. Some hoops, like Steelcraft's Fortis HP, come with light tabs. Our pre-runner guide has the rest.

Town, towing and job sites: no guard. Those bumps come at bumper height: a trailer tongue, a loading dock, a post, another bumper in the lot. A steel bumper with no guard takes them and leaves the grille in plain view. On a 2017-2022 F250 or F350, Steelcraft's no-guard Fortis is $1,149, versus $1,599 for its full-guard HD Replacement.

Your Camera and Sensors: Read the Listing

Sometimes the guard matters here. For the Fab Fours Black Steel bumper on the 2017-2022 F250 and F350, our listings say the relocation bracket for adaptive cruise control won't work with the full-guard version. So check the exact version you pick. Here is how:

Our sensor guide goes truck by truck.

What the Full Guard Costs You

From $90 to $560, depending on the line. On Fab Fours Black Steel, the full guard adds $90 over the no-guard version. On Ranch Hand's Legend it adds $560 over the Legend Bullnose, its hoop version. That money buys steel in front of the grille and both headlights.

Weight takes more thought. On the Legend, the full guard adds 72 lb over the Bullnose. But how it's built matters too:

This Midnight is built from 7-gauge sheet steel instead of the Legend's pipe and diamond plate, and it still carries a full guard. So if your front springs worry you, look for a lighter design before you give up the guard. Our weight guide shows what these pounds do on a truck.

Find It on Our Shelf

Our customers pick the full grille guard most, by a wide margin, on half-tons and heavy-duty trucks alike. Yet most of those bumpers don't say "guard" in the name. So start with the photo. Steel around the headlights means a full guard. A single bar over the middle means a hoop. Nothing above the bumper means no guard. The names help too:

The name on the listing	Its guard
Ranch Hand Legend Front Bumper, Summit, Sport	Full grille guard
Ranch Hand Legend Bullnose, Summit Bullnose	Pre-runner hoop
Steelcraft HD Replacement, Elevation	Full grille guard
Steelcraft Elevation Bullnose, HD Bullnose	Pre-runner hoop
Steelcraft Fortis, part number ending in HP or HPW	Pre-runner hoop a low one
Steelcraft Fortis, other part numbers	No guard
Warn Ascent with Baja Grille Guard or Baja Bar	Pre-runner hoop
Westin HDX Bandit	Full grille guard
Westin Pro-Series, Pro-Mod	No guard

Ranch Hand and Steelcraft don't put pre-runner in their names. In their names, Bullnose means the hoop. Fab Fours and Hammerhead mostly spell the guard out, with words like Full Guard, Pre-Runner or No Guard. Hammerhead calls its no-guard version Low Profile.

Quick Answers

Can I add the guard later?
Usually not. Ranch Hand, Steelcraft and Fab Fours sell each version as its own part number, and Ranch Hand's Legend is welded in one piece. With those 3 brands, pick once and pick for your roads.

Why not bolt a grille guard onto my factory bumper?
Because the factory bumper stays under it. With a bolt-on guard, a low hit still lands on the factory bumper, and the federal bumper standard, 49 CFR Part 581, covers passenger cars, not pickups, so your truck's factory bumper never had to pass it. A steel front bumper with a full grille guard puts steel at both heights.

Is a full grille guard too heavy for a half-ton?
It depends on how it's built. Ranch Hand's Summit for the 2021-2023 F150 weighs 166 lb, per Ranch Hand's specs, and it replaces the factory bumper. Weights vary a lot by truck and series, so ask us for the manufacturer's weight for yours. Our weight guide shows what the pounds do on the springs.

Shop by Truck

We carry all 3 choices across Ranch Hand, Steelcraft, Fab Fours, Hammerhead, Warn and Westin. Pick your truck. Its page shows every steel bumper we carry for it, so check each photo against the key above.

F250 / F350 Ram 2500 / 3500 Silverado 2500 / 3500 Sierra 2500 / 3500 F150 Ram 1500 Silverado 1500 Sierra 1500 Tundra Tacoma

Torn between a hoop and a full guard? Tell us your truck and the roads you drive. We answer fitment questions every business day, and we'll point you to the bumpers that fit it.