I've seen "homemade" bumpers made with rubber molding used on 18-wheelers. It's cheap, incredibly durable and looks nice. He secured it by running an aluminum strip through it and anchoring it with the blue concrete screws through a small hole drilled in the rubber. I've got a phone call in to him, he said he'll get me the info and some pics.
Our front vacs face away from the bays. It's mostly not a problem, but a few not-so-smart people think they have to pull up to the front of the vac and block the entrance to two bays. If the islands were long enough, I'd put two vacs on them, one facing to each side.