Front Taco Winch bumper

DarkHelmet

Adventurer
Shop around...

As other's have mentioned... do a bit of shopping around online and you should be able to find an ARB bumper for quite a bit less than $1,000 "full-boat-sucker-retail-price". Most anyplace will price match. I bought mine through 4 Wheel Parts since they offered free shipping to their store by my house and gave me a great price on bumper, winch, lift, and tires all installed.

I am really happy with my ARB and feel that the quality was worth the price I paid. If it is the ARB you want then shop around for a better price and then get it. For my 2005 I found the ARB bumper online for as low as $699, not including shipping.

- DH
 

RocKrawler

Supporting Sponsor
You might consider the weight of the plate style bumpers though, most like the ARB weigh in over 150lbs. The All Pro tube style is only 65 - that means with a winch installed it will still weigh less than other companies bumpers empty... and tons more clearance

0607or_24_z+taco_supreme_solid_axle_toyota+front_and_rear_flex.jpg


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jh504

Explorer
RocKrawler said:
You might consider the weight of the plate style bumpers though, most like the ARB weigh in over 150lbs. The All Pro tube style is only 65 - that means with a winch installed it will still weigh less than other companies bumpers empty... and tons more clearance

0607or_24_z+taco_supreme_solid_axle_toyota+front_and_rear_flex.jpg


0607or_13_z+taco_supreme_solid_axle_toyota+driving_through_rocks.jpg

I have to give you credit on that Taco. That is one mean machine! There is not much else I would do to that one to make it near perfect.
 

frgtwn

Adventurer
The Expedition West Taco ARB bumper is listed as weighing 78 lbs without lights or winch. http://expeditionwest.com/equipment/tacoma/arb_bumper.html

Shrockworks lists their bumper at 98-118 lbs. (Hoops or not.)

I find that the plate style bumpers will likely give more protection in several scenarios, notably rock penetration, tree and branch damage, and certainly animal strikes. There are simply fewer "holes" to penetrate.

On the question of clearance, the Taco itself is the major handicap here. There is stuff under there that just has to be covered. A tube or plate can both do the job, but I see no advantage to tubing. Many tube bumpers look somewhat anemic in front of the wheels/suspension. Each to their own, I guess.

There is a great picture of the approach angle on the Shrockworks sight. It would be interesting to see an analogous picture of a tube type bumper.

http://www.shrockworks.com/Toyota-Tacoma-Winch-Bumper-Front-Bumper-pr-16223.html
 

RocKrawler

Supporting Sponsor
frgtwn said:
The Expedition West Taco ARB bumper is listed as weighing 78 lbs without lights or winch. http://expeditionwest.com/equipment/tacoma/arb_bumper.html

Shrockworks lists their bumper at 98-118 lbs. (Hoops or not.)

I find that the plate style bumpers will likely give more protection in several scenarios, notably rock penetration, tree and branch damage, and certainly animal strikes. There are simply fewer "holes" to penetrate.
Odd that expedition west lists it at about half of what the manufacturer does... that bumper comes in a box about the size of a refrigerator and weighs more than 78lbs!

Shrockworks makes a great product, as does ARB.

As for protection from rock penetration, animals and such, keep in mind the crucial components are in the center that need protecting between the framerails. None of the bumpers are braced from the ends, so any can bend back past the frame when taking a hit from the corner because there is no bracing out there. Tube or plate bumpers have massive bracing protecting the crucial components in the center (radiator, motor, etc). Either style will protect you better, but keeping the weight down will help overall vehicle performance on & off the trails.
 

xcmountain80

Expedition Leader
4307 said:
Look at Bentup. Looks like their web site is down right now.
AJ can build anything you want.


Bentup is great but you'll wait a while, we purchased ours and for some reason it took almost 2 months. Now whether they lost our paper work or what they had out money and we had to wait.
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TJM is good and SOnoran likes them, he wheels hard and can back them from here till kingdom come.
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ARB is more stout in my opinion and doesnt seem to flex as much as the TJM while winching or hitting small cars, kids, animals, stupid people that cross when the hand clearly says not to.
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While most of these are on a tacoma the look doesn't change drastically, if your looking for a upgrade over stock I say the TJM is a good way to go, it is a tacoma so you could always add a 6K winch later if you wanted but if a winch isn't in the cards then you'd be fine with a TJM too.

Aaron
 

xcmountain80

Expedition Leader
DarkHelmet said:
As other's have mentioned... do a bit of shopping around online and you should be able to find an ARB bumper for quite a bit less than $1,000 "full-boat-sucker-retail-price". Most anyplace will price match. I bought mine through 4 Wheel Parts since they offered free shipping to their store by my house and gave me a great price on bumper, winch, lift, and tires all installed.

I am really happy with my ARB and feel that the quality was worth the price I paid. If it is the ARB you want then shop around for a better price and then get it. For my 2005 I found the ARB bumper online for as low as $699, not including shipping.

- DH

Ha I bought my ARB from a junkyard 200 miles from me for $400, when I got there I thought it was the wrong one, as it looked brand new. It was only missing the ARB decal. It was the $400 that sold me otherwise I would have bought a ARB prado bumper not a Taco.

Aaron
 

Tucson T4R

Expedition Leader
I've bee running the Shrockworks bumper on my 4Runner since they first released them. I have been very happy with the workmanship and performance. The improved approach angle has been a major improvement.

A little pricey but you get what you pay for.

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Dipodomys

Observer
Personally, I'd skip the cheese on your hamburgers for the next few months and spring for the ARB. I recently installed one on my 2008 Tacoma and I couldn't be more pleased. The quality is great. Frankly, once I saw all the metal and fabrication that is involved with one of these things, and then considered the fact that it was shipped all the way from Australia, I asked myself "how do they sell these things so cheap?" In my mind it is a great value, and almost certainly superior to anything you could get fabricated locally, and it bolts right up out of the box. The box, by the way, is HUGE. Be thoughtful about where you have it delivered, and make sure you have a buddy on hand to help! I did it all myself, and it was "challenging."

Like everyone else is saying, shop around, and carefully consider shipping costs. You might get a great deal on a bumper, but if shipping is $200 then the deal might not be so great. I bought mine from TRDParts4U, along with a complete OME suspension kit and some other stuff and had it all shipped at once, which saved a little. My bumper was $775 plus $150 shipping. You might find a marginally better deal elsewhere, but I doubt if you'll improve much on that when it's all said and done. Worth every penny, and I love it!
 

jh504

Explorer
Dipodomys said:
In my mind it is a great value, and almost certainly superior to anything you could get fabricated locally, and it bolts right up out of the box.

The ARB is certainly a high quality bumper, and worth the money if you get it at a decent price. But I wouldnt venture around http://www.offroadfabnet.com/ making superior quality statements. There are plenty of custom fab guys here in the states who take great pride in their work. Their artistic eye and attention to detail outweighs any factory built bumper. But yes, there are also a lot of yahoos trying to sell crap as a custom fab job.
 

Crikeymike

Adventurer
RocKrawler said:
Odd that expedition west lists it at about half of what the manufacturer does... that bumper comes in a box about the size of a refrigerator and weighs more than 78lbs!
150lbs is the approximate shipping weight of almost all ARB bull bars. Take a taco bar out of all of its packaging, and that's probably where the 78lbs came from.

My old ARB bar for my sidekick was 70lbs, yet the shrockworks I have now is 95lbs.

Now my question back to taco owners is what does a stock front bumper weigh? Take that off, and add on an ARB, Shrockworks, or tube bumper, then you'll truly know the weight difference, before the winch is added.
 

xcmountain80

Expedition Leader
Not to mention you'l want to then add some more supportive front suspension. This is an endless cycle.


AAron
 
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