The rest of the install was really easy. The hardest part for us was fitting the rubber trim that takes up the gap between the lower sheet metal and the bumper. It just took a little time and we kept installing the bumper without accounting for a sheet metal lip (seen in the pic above just below the seam of the headlight and turn signal below the sheet metal) that prevented leveling the bumper at the wings to the wheel well opening. Once we figured that out it was smooth sailing. Three main mounting bolts per side then a fitting of the rubber trim, and the chrome hoop to finish it off.
I picked up three Hella Rally 4000's over the past few months since the bumper has been waiting installation. I have used a set of Hella 4000 Euro beams on my FJ40 for almost 10 years and I LOVE them! The beam pattern is so nice and useful for spotting elk and deer in Colorado, and the flood pattern is awesome off road when working technical trails as well. I know that LED light bars are all the rage right now, but these lights are proven to me and since the LED bars have become so popular the Hellas have plunged in price and increased in availability on the secondary market. For this build I decided on 2 Hella 4000 Euro beams with free form refectors, and one center Cornering beam for wide angle light up front.
I have to give a shout out to my friend Leal (one_if_by_land here on ExPo) for taking some time on a day off to help me install this. He is a fan of vehicle based travel and wheeled an AWD Sienna harder than anyone else I've known. He's got plan for a Toyota build himself once the timing is right. Thanks again bud.
We got the hoop installed along with the fog lights and turn signals. This was pretty straight forward and I was impressed with the quality of the IPF fog light kit and harness. I went ahead and installed the roller fairlead onto the bumper as it helps the overall look of the ARB imho.
And here is the after. It took us about 4 hours of actual work to get this done. Just a little bit of head scratching and having to undo something to redo another but that is how any first time installation goes. Props to ARB for such a high quality part, instructions with pics, and customer service even after the discontinuation of this bumper. I must have said a dozen times, "man! this is high quality stuff!" or "Wow, the details they thought through are awesome!" Keep on being awesome ARB.
NOTE: Also, in the end I think the center corning light clutters the front end a little too much for me. I will have to decide if I want to run it or not when I build the harness for the Hellas but for now, I have deleted it and will focus on the fog light angles for slow trail work and the Euro beams for spotting game on the roadsides.
All that is left is to finish the wiring for the lights, figure out my winch dilemma, adding recovery points and enjoying it!