American Expedition Vehicles (AEV) has a reputation for building OE-level quality aftermarket components. They started in the Jeep market, but have since expanded to the Ram truck line and the Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison. You can buy an AEV-equipped Jeep, Ram, or Bison right off the showroom floor. AEV also offers many of their excellent components individually though as well, including the HD rear bumper that I installed on my 2014 Ram 3500. This American-made bumper fits 2010 and newer Ram HD trucks (2500 and 3500). AEV also offers front bumpers for these trucks, but there are two different models for 2010-2018 trucks and the newer styling on the 2019+ trucks.

The HD rear bumper is modular and shipped in several boxes. This process lowers shipping costs and allows you to replaced a single damaged component instead of the entire bumper, but the trade off is a more involved installation. It took us two days with two people working on the bumper and filming the installation process, so don’t think you are going to slap your new bumper on in an hour or two. The end results are worth it though, for the distinctive looks, improved ground clearance, and huge frame-mounted recovery points. The bumper also has provisions for 3-inch LED cubes, Bradd Davidson wired up a pair of Baja Designs Squadrons to our factory reverse lights and the results are blindingly bright.

The most time-consuming part of the installation was modifying the harness for the parking sensors. The harness is reused, along with the factory receiver hitch and trailer wiring. We had Samco Fabrication add brackets for our Northstar camper and Marq Powerdercoating in Reno color-matched the corner tubes to the trim rings on our AEV Salta HD wheels. The rear bumper, along with the Salta wheels and AEV front bumper, give our Ram improved off-road performance and a great look that is best described as mature. The parts are better than stock but retain a look that compliments the Ram rather than screaming for attention.