New Grille Guards Provide Front-End Protection for Class 2-5 Vehicles

DES MOINES, Iowa (March 4, 2025) — Ex-Guard®, the leading full-service manufacturer of semi-truck and van guards in the U.S., is thrilled to introduce the all-new FX and HX Series Heavy Duty Grille Guards for Class 2-5 vehicles.

“Ex-guard has redefined durability and design for class 8 semi-truck protection in North America for nearly 20 years. now we’re bringing that same level of protection to heavy-duty pickup trucks and chassis,” says Jeremy Drever, director of engineering for ex-guard. “it’s class 8 protection for class 2-5 vehicles.”

Proudly made in America, the new guards deliver Ex-Guard’s legendary defense to some of the most popular full-size and heavy-duty pickup trucks and chassis, including:

• Ford Pickup Grille Guards: F-150, F-250, F-350, F-450, F-550
• Chevy Pickup Grille Guards: Silverado & GMC Sierra 1500, 2500HD, 3500HD
• RAM Pickup Grille Guards: 1500-3500

In addition, Ex-Guard has plans to expand into other popular work vehicles, including Toyota trucks, Rivian vehicles, cargo vans and full-size SUV models.

With nearly two decades of experience protecting Class 8 trucks and fleets across more than 200 billion miles, Ex-Guard has proven to be the ultimate safeguard in protecting fleets and drivers from front-end collisions, animal strikes and other road hazards. Now, that experience extends to a whole new class of vehicles.

The new FX and HX Series Grille Guards are built with Ex-Guard’s unmatched level of quality and durability, featuring 11-gauge high-tensile steel, intelligent design and EVRCoatTM PVC coating that prevents rust due to road wear and the toughest weather conditions.

The FX and HX Series are ClearZone® collision mitigation system (CMS) compatible, ensuring the CMS can function properly without guard interference. The ClearZone designs will work with adaptive cruise control and parking sensors.

Ex-Guard Grille Guards are designed to absorb the impact of a collision and distribute the force evenly, ensuring the safety of drivers and reducing the risk of damage to the vehicle. With Ex-Guard Grille Guards, business owners and fleet managers have reduced front-end replacement part costs by 97% and towable accidents by 80%. Now heavy-duty pickup truck owners can experience the same safety and savings.

Be among the first to see the FX and HX Series Heavy Duty Grille Guards at Work Truck Week, where Ex-Guard will debut its new series in Booth 110, held March 4-7, 2025, at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.

For more information visit Pickup Grille Guards, or call (888) 902-2777.  To learn more about becoming an Ex-Guard dealer, click here.

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About Ex-Guard Industries:
Since 2009, Ex-Guard Industries has been proud to provide fleets and owner-operators with high-quality products made in the USA. Headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, Ex-Guard is committed to providing customers with exceptional products and ensuring customer satisfaction. As an industry-leader, Ex-Guard semi-truck, van and heavy-duty pickup truck grille guards are built on a reputation of excellence and known for their durability, versatility and overall value. Visit ex-guard.com.

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New Grille Guards Provide Front-End Protection for Class 2-5 Vehicles

(April 1, 2025) — Ex-Guard®, the leading full-service manufacturer of semi-trucks and van guards in the U.S., began production today on its new line of grille guards and front-end protection for three major heavy-duty pickup truck brands.

“This has been a long time coming,” says Jeremy Drever, director of engineering for Ex-Guard. “After tens of thousands of requests, today is the day we begin production on Ex-Guard for the most popular heavy-duty truck models in America’s fleets.”

Proudly made in America, the new guards deliver Ex-Guard’s legendary defense to some of the most popular full-size and heavy-duty pickup trucks and chassis, including:

• Ford Pickup Grille Guards: F-150, F-250, F-350, F-450, F-550
• Chevy Pickup Grille Guards: Silverado & GMC Sierra 1500, 2500HD, 3500HD

Ex-Guard will also begin production on brush guards for Ram® Heavy Duty trucks as well as medium-duty F-150®, Silverado®, Sierra® and Ram in the next 90 days.

Since the announcement of the new Ex-Guard models, hundreds of customers have requested mounts for the most popular electric winches currently available. “Interest in a winch mount was almost instant,” noted Drever. “Our team set right out and made a winch box that will fit popular models from Warn Industries, Ramsey Winch®, Superwinch®, Bulldog Winch, Warrior Winches, Smittybilt® and more.

The WM-9512 Winch Mount will accept most winches that fit in an 8” x 8” x 26” space, making them a very flexible option for users in very rugged environments. This winch mount also includes heavy-duty towing clevises to make extrication easier.
Finally, the new guards are ClearZone compatible, ensuring that they will work with adaptive cruise control and parking sensors available on top-end trim packages of these truck models.

With nearly two decades of experience protecting Class 8 trucks and fleets across more than 200 billion miles, Ex-Guard has proven to be the ultimate safeguard in protecting fleets and drivers from front-end collisions, animal strikes, and other road hazards. Ex-Guard owners and fleet managers have reduced front-end replacement part costs by 97% and towable accidents by 80%. Now, heavy-duty pickup truck owners can experience the same safety and savings.

For more information visit Pickup Grille Guards, or call (888) 902-2777.  To learn more about becoming an Ex-Guard dealer, click here.

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About Ex-Guard Industries:
Since 2009, Ex-Guard Industries has been proud to provide fleets and owner-operators with high-quality products made in the USA. Headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, Ex-Guard is committed to providing customers with exceptional products and ensuring customer satisfaction. As an industry-leader, Ex-Guard semi-truck, van and heavy-duty pickup truck grille guards are built on a reputation of excellence and known for their durability, versatility and overall value. Visit ex-guard.com.

Follow Us:  Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn

MVTS test reveals Ex-Guard XG-125G3 and Ex-Guard XG-150G3 have little impact on fuel economy.

October 28, 2024 (Las Cruces, NM) – MVT Solutions (MVTS), a provider of breakthrough fuel economy testing and design and development services for the trucking industry, today announced that the Ex-Guard XG-125G3 and the Ex-Guard XG-150G3 grille guards had only a minimal impact on fuel economy, of only -0.31 gal/1000 miles (-0.32%) and -0.40% gal/1000 miles (-0.41%).

“Ex-Guard has proven again that our guards are undeniably a net positive for fleets when considering how to reduce front end damage with a smaller fuel economy footprint,” said Jeremy Drever, Director of Engineering at Ex-Guard.

“The improvements in fuel efficiency compared to previous models of our largest and best protecting Ex-Guard model, the XG-150, really underline how serious we are in making Ex-Guard a staple for every fleet and every truck,” he noted. “Combining the 80% decrease in towable accidents many of our customers have seen, along with this lower impact on fuel economy, the financial benefits are easily recognized and the overall environmental impact can be better than not running guards at all.”

The MVTS tests were conducted on a 2024 Freightliner Cascadia powered by a DD 15 engine and a DT12-1750-DHE Efficiency On-Highway 12-speed transmission, with a 53-foot refrigerated trailer. The gross vehicle weight was 46,000 lbs. Testing was conducted at 65 MPH steady-state speed on a private track in Texas.

“These two grille guards had very little impact on fuel economy,” says Daryl Bear, lead engineer and chief operating officer of MVT Solutions. Using the XG-125G3 test results of -0.31 gal/1000 miles will result in an additional fuel expense of only about $164 a year, while the XG-150G3 with test results of -0.40 gal/1000 miles will result in an additional fuel expense of only about $211 a year. Fleets need to evaluate this cost against the cost of repairing a vehicle with front end damage.” Financial values are based on 125,000 miles traveled annually and a fuel price of $4.214, which was the average retail price of diesel fuel in the USA in 2023.

The full report will be available soon at m-v-t-s.com.

About MVT Solutions
MVT Solutions, a subsidiary of Mesilla Valley Transportation, provides fuel economy testing based on race car engineering.  This high-tech testing methodology can obtain accuracy up to 0.25% and accounts for such variables as wind, driver behavior and duty cycle. With over 1,000 fuel economy tests conducted to date, the company’s proven approach provides highly reliable and consistent data that enables trucking companies to make more informed choices and manufacturers to design and develop products backed by accurate fuel efficiency information that customers trust. MVT Solutions also provides consulting services to fleets looking to implement the right fuel-savings technologies for their operations.  MVT Solutions was founded in 2016 and is based in Las Cruces, New Mexico. To learn more about MVT Solutions and for the latest in fuel efficiency news, visit www.m-v-t-s.com.

DES MOINES, Iowa, March 4, 2025 – Ex-Guard®, the leading provider of front-end protection solutions for the commercial transportation industry, has added a new guard to its flagship XG series that is designed specifically to complement and protect Daimler Truck North America’s Freightliner fifth-generation Cascadia. Ex-Guard is currently the only brand offering front-end protection for the new Cascadia.

 The new XG-150G3-CASCADIA, offers extreme-duty full protection for bumper, grille, radiator, collision mitigation radar sensors, hood, and headlights. Ex-Guard worked directly with industry partners, customers, and the manufacturer on real-world testing to validate the design and strength of the new guard.

According to Jeremy Drever, Ex-Guard director of engineering, the company’s latest grille guard is engineered with cutting-edge materials, featuring a design that integrates seamlessly to protect the new Cascadia’s collision mitigation radar sensors.

“This guard is by far the most advanced model our team has ever produced,” said Drever.

“The design has to work in harmony alongside all the advanced sensor technology of the Cascadia to provide an unprecedented balance of protection and value. We’ve already had several of the top industry-leading fleets place orders for this guard. The fleets and owner-operators that use our front-end protection solutions benefit by defending critical and potentially costly safety components and truck parts from parking lot incidents, wildlife, and even other vehicles or hazards on the road.”

In addition to specific design features for compatibility with the new Cascadia, the new guard features:

• ClearZone® CMS Compatible Design – works with the truck’s built-in collision mitigation system radars
• Ex-Guard’s patented XERO-G™ Lift Assist, which greatly reduces the effort to raise and lower the guard
  8-gauge high-tensile steel coated with 3mm of EVRCoat™ PVC finish
• LEVRLock™ dual latches
  Additional cross bar for increased grille coverage
• License plate bracket

Ex-Guard’s latest XG series guard for the Cascadia is now available to order at any of Ex-Guard’s 2,500 dealers in the U.S. and Canada. The extreme-duty XG-150G3-CASCADIA guard will be on display at Ex-Guard’s booth #2517 at the upcoming TMC Annual Meeting & Transportation Technology Exhibition in Nashville, Tennessee from March 10-13. It will also be on display at the Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS) March 27-29 at the Ex-Guard booth #20055.

About Ex-Guard®:

Ex-Guard is the leading manufacturer of premier front-end protection guards for commercial vehicles in North America. Headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, Ex-Guard produces 100% made-in-the-USA guards for light, medium, and heavy-duty trucks, vans, and RV’s.

Coming soon to a highway, interstate or street near you: the premiere of deer rutting season. Deer on the move this fall means a higher percentage of deer-vehicle collisions, resulting in more potential damage to your fleet, increasingly expensive repairs and frustrating downtime for your drivers. Part by part, day by day, the number of this year’s deer versus truck showdowns can quickly rack up and put a serious dent in your company’s bottom line.

The deer-vehicle collision stats are startling

While deer-vehicle collisions can happen anytime throughout the year, the months of October, November and December are most prevalent, when deer are migrating and more active. U.S. drivers filed an estimated 1.8 million animal collision insurance claims in the U.S. between July 2022 and June 2023, with November being the most dangerous month for incidents. [1] And the toll on vehicle damage, economic losses and human casualties is deer-in-the-headlights startling:

• Around 2.1 million deer-vehicle collisions occur annually.
• These collisions cause more than $10 billion in economic losses
• Each year, deer collisions account for some 59,000 human injuries and 440 human deaths[2]

Your risk of colliding with a deer is higher depending on where you are in the U.S. West Virginia is the state with the highest risk of your vehicle striking a deer, followed by Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Iowa.[3]

In Iowa, drivers can face multiple factors that contribute to increased encounters with deer, according to Sgt. Alex Dinkla of the Iowa State Patrol. “Since Iowa is primarily a rural state, there is a robust deer population moving across more rural roads. When you combine that with the fact that it’s rutting season as well as harvesting season where deer are moving from field to field, motorists really need to be on the lookout.”

Dinkla, who has also served as a patrol officer during his 20+ years in law enforcement, has witnessed numerous deer-vehicle collisions, with results ranging from no damage at all to simple property damage, all the way to vehicles being totaled. And the damage doesn’t always stop with the vehicle who struck the deer. He adds, “There are incidents where the deer will be struck by a vehicle and then thrown into oncoming traffic, causing damage to even more vehicles.”

The cost of big rig repair is increasing

One in nine trucks experience a collision each year, and according to industry data compiled by PPG’s AdjustRite commercial estimating system, the cost of repairing front-end severity, which includes parts, supplies, materials, etc., is on the rise for Classes 1 through 8. Factoring for any front-end damage (left front, front, and right front), AdjustRite reported increases from 2021 to 2022, with tractor repairs rising the most with 24% to $13,317.4

Chances are a collision with a deer won’t total out a semi-truck. But it could damage the hood, body and grille, as well as more critical components, leading to extended downtime – on average two days or more – and expensive repairs. In fact, AdjustRite estimates the average labor hours for a heavy-duty truck front-end collision were:

• Body: 20.7 hours
• Frame: 12.9 hours
• Mechanical: 15.1 hours
• Paint: 12.5 hours

That’s a total of 61.2 hours if all areas need to be repaired.[4]

And the repair costs can really hit home, like it did for this driver who weighed in on thetruckersreport.com: “I have hit five deer in 15 years of driving trucks, in Nebraska, Kentucky, Georgia, Arkansas and Ohio. The one I hit in Georgia was the most devastating. It was intense – there were pieces of the truck everywhere. I had to get towed and the whole coolant system was destroyed. That was almost 10k in costs, hotels and damage.”

Downtime, towing and CSA costs are often missed

In addition to the hard costs to repair an animal strike, too often fleets don’t recognize their biggest expenses – the opportunity costs of missed days of revenue from each downed truck. According to a recent white paper from Ex-Guard, the average cost of a day of downtime for fleets is $1,200; which can take the total cost of an accident north of $50,000.

According to Ryan Holt, General Manager of Ex-Guard, fleets can feel the regulatory and contractual pinch when their towable accidents get recorded in the CSA database. “These accidents affect fleets’ status with the government, with customers and can even lead to the loss of their ability to operate. When a truck receives enough damage that it is no longer deemed roadworthy, contracts, licenses and livelihoods are at stake.”

Guard against deer collisions

Ex-Guard (https://go.ex-guard.com/deer-season-2024), the largest manufacturer of semi-truck and van grille guards in the United States and Canada, has been protecting drivers and fleets from animal strikes for more than 15 years. “We have customers that have seen an 80% decrease in their towable accidents by following a few simple steps, including the installation of Ex-Guard on their fleet. With deer season getting into full swing shortly, fleets need to act as soon as possible,” noted Holt.[5]

About Ex-Guard:

Ex-Guard Grille Guards are available at more than 1,500 dealers in North America. For more information, visit Ex-Guard.com or call (888) 902-2777.

[1]https://newsroom.statefarm.com/likelihood-of-hitting-an-animal-while-driving/

[2]https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(22)01615-3

[3]https://www.moneygeek.com/insurance/auto/deer-car-accidents/

[4]https://www.fleetmaintenance.com/in-the-bay/article/53058139/how-much-deer-collision-damage-costs-fleets

[5]https://go.ex-guard.com/reduce-80-hp?

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