[phillipm]

For a lot of reasons a bolt on kit is safer to market and sell to the average consumer. I spoke to Bret the owner of Ride Tech about it at length some years back. He explained to me that from an engineering stand point they are able to account for the strength and load that each fastener will carry and calculate the overall rigidity of that assembly. When you sell a product to be welded you are relying on the field installer and his knowledge of the welding process to create the bond. That is both unpredictable and not smart from a safety stand point. I thought that was an interesting take on the subject.