I purchased their 887 wheels, which are specifically made for the GM Twins, a few months ago and have been happy with them. DV8 appears at first glance to cater only to Jeeps. They make a ton of cool bumpers, swingouts and other off-road gear for Jeeps but what I missed was while looking through the site the first time was their offerings for trucks. They happen to make a nice looking rear bumper and steel front bumper winch mount and skid plate for the Canyon. The skid and rear bumper will also work on the Colorado.

DV8 Off-Road

I did some research on other forums for reviews and opinions on the DV8 products and everyone seems generally pleased with the quality so I called them up for more info. I spoke to one of the co-founders who happens to own a very nice Canyon. They started the company in 2013 with a big focus on Jeeps but have sinced started to diversify to include full-size trucks and now the Twins. Cole noticed the lack of aftermarket options for his Canyon when he bought it and started having parts designed for it.

Co-founder, Cole McGrath's Canyon all decked out in DV8 metalwork.

I really liked the vibe I got from Cole as well as interactions I've had with the company on Instagram so I decided to give their bumpers a shot. I am not ready to go all out with a full front bumper so the "stealth" style bumpers with winch cradle work better for my current needs. I really like the styling on this one and it comes powdercoated for a resonable price and their even more resonably priced front skid mounts right up to it. I needed both of these items desperately so score for me!

Front Bumper
Stealth style steel bumper insert and steel skid.

Rear Bumper
I also picked up the rear bumper at the same time hoping for a package deal. I comes powdercoated and the flush mount LEDs preinstalled. I really like the idea of the Relentless Fab rear bumper but I'm not keen on the tow hitch behind the license plate given how often I haul our bikes around so the DV8 will work better for me. I'll have plenty of clearance for off-roading where I need it most. I'll need to trim or re-route the last couple of feet of exhaust pipe for max clearance.

I did A LOT of research on winches as well. In a nutshell if you take care of them and use them properly all but the cheapest ones work well and last. ALL of the brands have failures so it really comes down to which ones you can get replacement parts for. Warn isn't difficult to work with but I've heard a lot of horror stories about getting small parts from Smittybilt which was my first choice. I decided to give the DV8 12k winch a shot knowing that if I can build a good customer relationship with DV8 I will have a much better chance of getting support in the future. DV8 is now part of a much larger corporation so they should have access to great resources yet still have the small shop accessability for the customer. It's worth a shot.

DV8 12k winch with synthetic rope and wired/wireless remote.

Hopefully I'll recieve my order next week and get it all installed by the weekend. I'll report back with photos and honest feedback. Crossing my fingers it all works out. :grin2:

This rig looks great. How did your build work out. Going the dv8 route myself ... I think.

I need the winch!

 

This rig looks great. How did your build work out. Going the dv8 route myself ... I think.

I need the winch!

I dig them! I had to modify brackets to make them work with my body lift. If I didn't have the body lift then everything would have lined up great.

The gas engine trucks have active grille shutters and it gets in the way when you try and mount a winch. I believe the Midwest bumper has the same issue. I had to trim the bottom shutter a bit to make the Smittybilt 10k winch fit. The DV8 unit wouldn't fit because the control box sits on top and is not moveable like the Smittybilt.

You can see here where I removed the waffle cover and cut the lower surround on the lower grille shutters.

They can take a hit too! Only damage was a slightly bent bracket and scuffs in the powdercoating.

The car that rear-ended me

 

I like the front bumper, appears to be a nice clean look. I really like my rear steps built into the rear bumper. If I was to replace my OEM on rear, I would go with the Fab 4 version.

 

I miss the side steps sometimes but I prefer the extra clearance offroad. The side steps get smashed alot! The Fab 4 one looks nice and has steps.

 

Incredible truck

 

Agreed! I’m short so having that bumper step really helps.

And , did you paint the emblems or buy black one's. I can't seem to find them online in black and I hear they are not great at holding any paint for long.

 

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View attachment 380506
Agreed! I’m short so having that bumper step really helps.

And , did you paint the emblems or buy black one's. I can't seem to find them online in black and I hear they are not great at holding any paint for long.

Emblems hold plastidip quite well. I have to redo one on the letters because a cow licked it before it had cured.

The front grille is painted and it chips very easily.

 

I pressure clean this sucker and plastic dip doesnt hold up to that to well. But I guess I need to not be in a rush ??. Guess that’s another rainy day project.

Guess my only good option is to replace the grille with a factory painted grille ?

 

I pressure clean this sucker and plastic dip doesnt hold up to that to well. But I guess I need to not be in a rush ??. Guess that’s another rainy day project.

Guess my only good option is to replace the grille with a factory painted grille ?

Clean the emblems with Acetone or something similar to remove any oils. Then apply 5 coats or so of Plastidip.

To install the DV8 front bumper the entire front bumper cover and grill has to come off. Install of the actual bumper is a breeze after that. A few hours to install although adding a winch at the same time could add another few hours as you figure out wiring and placement of the winch controller box and cut the active grille shutters.

 

As for the DV8 front bumper... does the entire bumper and grille have to come off to install it? And how long did it take to get it done?

 

I know this post is a bit old but I do have a quick question and figured it the best place to ask.
I noticed in your build diary you stated that the factory recovery points fit with this front bumper because you had the body lift. If I were to get this bumper and install it without a body life would I lose the front recovery points? That is a big factor for me in choosing a bumper, but man do I love the way this bumper looks, so clean.

 

Just noticed your replay here, may be a bit late but I have the DV8 front bumper without a body lift and I can confirm that the front recovery points can absolutely still be used. hope this helps.

 

I didn’t end up with the DV8 winch bumper for 3 reasons. The skid plate or any skid plate wouldn’t bolt on since I have the BDS lift.

And after giving it a lot of thought, places I go a front mounted winch is of no use. If I get stuck, winching forward is only going to make things worse and take me deeper. So I rigged a portable hitch mount with a 12k Warn. It’s easy to throw on when needed and will pull me back to the place I just came which would be solid ground. And if I need to winch forward for that odd occasion, my recovery bag has 3 blocks and extra shackles so I cane winch forward using a rear winch if needed. And 3 is with a wireless winch, if the controller goes under water, your winch won’t work.

so I mounted the controller remotely so it will never be under water or I have more to worry about.
With all that said, I think a stock truck will still retain the recovery points with the dv8 winch bumper so if you go with it you’ll have no worries IMO. It is a great looking and well thought out system

the plasti dip badges are holding up nice and I did replace the chrome with oem grille and valence in black.

 

I have the similar DV8 Off Road Hybrid Bumper on my Tacoma. I also had a good experience with the DV8 customer service people. The bumper was delivered with damage to the packaging and the hardware had fallen out. They not only send replacement hardware, but gave me a $50 rebate as well. The bumper itself is 1/4 steel, very well built with fairly even powder coating. The mounting system is not the best and I welded additional gussets to the mounts to strengthen the bumper for lateral pulls. Not sure about how well it would be with serious winching, but at $338, it was very affordable and works well for my needs.

 

Question on the DV8 front bumper, can you use other skid plates with it, or do you have to use the DV8 skid as well?

 

Did DV8 discontinue the front winch bumper?
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