Aluminum winch bumpers?

[el pollo]

Any direct experience with these? How do they compare with the steel bumpers for strength? I've been looking at Pelfreybilt and CBI aluminum winch bumpers for a 2016 Taco. Both are roughly 60# for the base aluminum bumper which is about half the weight of the steel version. Wanna keep the weight down, but what will that mean for strength and crash damage? I'm leaning towards one with the full grill and headlight hoops. Thoughts on that? How durable are the aluminum hoops?

Thanks a bunch.

 

[tonkaman]

I'm running the Pelfreybilt aluminum version with full hoops. It's built extremely well, and is holding up very well. Tacomas really get bogged down by the extra weight of steel so this go round I decided to keep it as light as possible.

 

[el pollo]

Thanks, TM.

 

[Colorado_Outback]

I don't have any experience with those products but I weld aluminum for a living and I'm planning on making a front bumper/winch plate and skids for my 3rd gen 4runner using aluminum.

 

[maktruk]

Hefty Fabworks is doing aluminum 'Yota bumpers too.

 

[Dalko43]

Can't speak specifically for Tacomas, but if you head over to the 5th gen section of toyota-4runner.org (http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/), you'll find a few vendors, and customers, with aluminum bumpers. Other than cost, I haven't seen any outright negative feedback with these bumpers.

The basic con's I've heard of, in theory, are less durability (for hard-core rock crawling and abuse) and higher cost relative to steel bumpers. The pro's are weight and rust resistance.

I know there are other threads which go into far more detail on the comparison between steel and aluminum, but generally speaking they seem like a decent option for the weekend warrior who both daily drives and explores with his/her 4x4.

 

[el pollo]

Gracias, folks. It sounds like Aluminum is the best route. I'm not so much a rock crawler or even an off-road guy. Its just that my roads can occasionally be mistaken for goat trails. My truck gets me where I want to go, and hopefully it gets me back.

 

[washington taco]

This is a custom build by VMI off road in Bellingham WA. Its been in use for 6-7 years with no issues. It weighs in at 47 lbs. I pulled many full size trucks with it. I needed a custom built due to my 3 inch body lift and Warn M12000 winch. I cant say enough good about using aluminum!

 

[Rando]

Does anyone have an idea of what the NET weight change is for one of these aluminium bumpers is? It seems that they all weight in at 55 - 65lbs depending on the options, but how much does the stuff you remove weigh?

 

[Rando]

And for extra credit - anyone know of an aluminium low profile bumper (like this but in Al) for a 2016 Tacoma. It seems like that could be an extremely light weight option.