02 tacoma best bumper
- Thread starter Carl
- Start date
pray4surf
Explorer
Help us out with answering this one question...
Tube or Plate?
Personally, I prefer the plate style. I've only seen a few tube bumpers that pique my interest.
The ARB's are probably pretty popular on this sight - kinda 'screams' EXPEDITION - LOL
Here's mine
The 'company' that made this bumper is no longer in business.
Tube or Plate?
Personally, I prefer the plate style. I've only seen a few tube bumpers that pique my interest.
The ARB's are probably pretty popular on this sight - kinda 'screams' EXPEDITION - LOL
Here's mine
The 'company' that made this bumper is no longer in business.
Anything that will work with the stock skidplate will work with the budbuilt.
The ARB bumper is actually starting to grow on me, I didn't like it at first. The all-pro bumper is really nice, but doesn't work with the budbuilt skids so that one is out. CBI offroad fab has some great front bumpers. I'm probably going to buy a bumper from 4xinnovations though, I really like it.
From their website, thats actually SAR_Squids I believe:
The ARB bumper is actually starting to grow on me, I didn't like it at first. The all-pro bumper is really nice, but doesn't work with the budbuilt skids so that one is out. CBI offroad fab has some great front bumpers. I'm probably going to buy a bumper from 4xinnovations though, I really like it.
From their website, thats actually SAR_Squids I believe:
CYi5
Explorer
Tube will be your lightest option, but I've really only seen one that is actually visually appealing as well as functional (guy on TTORA, built his own):http://ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24276
To be honest I still don't understand the stinger thing...unless you plan on dropping down 70 degree rock walls, it just seems like an eye sore imo.
To be honest I still don't understand the stinger thing...unless you plan on dropping down 70 degree rock walls, it just seems like an eye sore imo.
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SirCampalot
Adventurer
That is a sweet setup!
Applejack
Explorer
Something to consider is the safety aspect. I have a friend that just wrecked his '03 Tundra. He was forced off the road on a curve by a semi and hit a light pole. He had a custom winch bumper made and as a result his air bags deployed late. The result: Broken sternum (steering wheel) and 44 stitches on his head and face (windshield). To my knowledge ARB is the only manufacturer who make bumpers that are synced with the factory airbag deployment schedule. Like many, I never thought it was a big deal, but I do now.
alexrex20
Explorer
Tube will be your lightest option, but I've really only seen one that is actually visually appealing as well as functional (guy on TTORA, built his own):http://ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24276
To be honest I still don't understand the stinger thing...unless you plan on dropping down 70 degree rock walls, it just seems like an eye sore imo.
best looking tube bumper i've seen on ANY vehicle. nice work!
Crikeymike
Adventurer
Ouch!! That would have been horrible. I wonder if insurance still covered the truck, or voided out since the airbags were deployed late. That would mean that the "custom winch bumper" didn't match the same crush characteristics of the OE bumper, therefore not letting the sensors feel the impact at the correct time.
BTW, I've lifted an ARB bar for a taco, with no winch installed, and it's not super heavy. I guess about 90-100 pounds because I could move it around the garage. The shrockworks bar on my Suzuki Sidekick is approx the same weight as the ARB for the old Taco's.
SAR_Squid79
Explorer
IMHO - ARB's are overpriced and underbuilt. I've seen a lot of ARB's get bent from lesser impacts than my bumper has taken and stood up to. And they're heavy as hell! ...but I must admit that they do look good.
But I know a lot of people don't like my bumper, or the stinger, or tube bumpers in general. If you don't like my bumper, I would suggest checking out CBI.
He makes nearly a dozen different tube bumper styles, and CBI makes the plate style bumper that is my personal favorite - hands down.
On Tacomas the bumper has absolutely NOTHING to do with the air bag deployment. On a Tacoma, the sensors are located on top of the frame rails in the engine compartment - not in the bumper. A Tacoma's airbag is set off via a "G Force' imometer" or watever its called. The sensors measure how fast a vehicle stops, NOT a crumple zone detector, that deploys the airbags once the bumper is crumpled.
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Yep - that's my bumper. Tube will give you the lightest weight, but still be structurally solid. I love my bumper. Mine was 4xInnovations Tacoma prototype, and Adam built it based on what I wanted. My custom bumper became his Tacoma production bumper. You can get it with or without the stinger, or with a 2-bend hoop in front. The purpose of a stinger is to protect your radiator in the event of a roll over, to keep you from rolling over forward on a VERY steep descent (which is mostly a problem for Jeeps - NOT Tacomas), and you can use it to push the front of the truck up to get your front wheels up a rock face. But to be honest - I just like the way it looks, and as a side effect it helps me judge how close I am to stuff.I'm probably going to buy a bumper from 4xinnovations though, I really like it.
From their website, thats actually SAR_Squids I believe:
But I know a lot of people don't like my bumper, or the stinger, or tube bumpers in general. If you don't like my bumper, I would suggest checking out CBI.
He makes nearly a dozen different tube bumper styles, and CBI makes the plate style bumper that is my personal favorite - hands down.
On Tacomas the bumper has absolutely NOTHING to do with the air bag deployment. On a Tacoma, the sensors are located on top of the frame rails in the engine compartment - not in the bumper. A Tacoma's airbag is set off via a "G Force' imometer" or watever its called. The sensors measure how fast a vehicle stops, NOT a crumple zone detector, that deploys the airbags once the bumper is crumpled.
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gearbox
Adventurer
I believe the white-coats call it an accelerometer or, in this case, a decelerometer.
Applejack
Explorer
The sensor you're referencing is an accelerometer and you're part right, the sensors are not in the bumper and I didn't intend to convey that message. Modern airbag systems use various kinds of accelerometers (MEMS or capacitance), they measure things like inertial force and angles of impact and yada yada yada. These devices are why we can see premature airbag deployment when a vehicle jumps or simply hits a bump too hard. There is a reason why they are placed where they are. However, the stress's of an impact on the frame ends are also essential for the management system to know when to deploy the airbags, like say, If you are stopped and someone hits you head on. If it were not so than you could simply place the sensors anywhere. When you change the structural integrity of the frame ends, where the sensors are placed, by way of a heavy duty bumper or even no bumper, you do in fact change the entire dynamic of the the system. It may only be a small change like fractions of a second but if the impact is severe enough, than late or premature deployment is a danger.
Highjack off!
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best of both worlds?
seems the first homemade bumper combines the best of light weight, some protection for running through brush, good access to winch, light weight. The ARB's seem popular, but seem large. A good example of what I like was for Landrover - Safarigard. I don't want a large stinger, but do want front end, protection around lights, hood front, etc...
seems the first homemade bumper combines the best of light weight, some protection for running through brush, good access to winch, light weight. The ARB's seem popular, but seem large. A good example of what I like was for Landrover - Safarigard. I don't want a large stinger, but do want front end, protection around lights, hood front, etc...
Desert Taco
Observer
If you plan to do any harder wheeling you may be disappointed with the TJM and ARB bumpers. They look good and may stand up to roo impacts, but they limit your approach angle and are weaker than you would expect when it comes to absorbing impacts from rocks and such. The mounts don't stand up well to repeated impacts and winching loads and will tear up the frame ends.
My TJM has been rehabilitated with all new mounts, reinforcements, and lots of trimming, hopefully it holds up better now :littlefriend:
My TJM has been rehabilitated with all new mounts, reinforcements, and lots of trimming, hopefully it holds up better now :littlefriend: