Front bumper

[Davids90toy]

I have a 1990 toyota pickup and was wondering what kind of front bumper all of you recomend. i was thinking the ARB bull bar or the Marlin Crawler front.

Sugestions needed thanks

Picture of the front end can be found at

Four Wheel Toys (http://www.4wheeltoys.com)

[Tucson T4R]

On my 2004 I run the Shrockworks winch bumper. Their website doesn't say they have one yet for the 90 4Runner but I would call them, I think they are working on expanding their range of coverage. The quality of the bumper is top notch.

http://www.shrockworks.com/Toyota-4Runner-Winch-Bumper-Bull-Bar-Front-pr-16148.html


http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m125/bgarland40/07%20Richmond%20Basin/RichmondBasin07039.jpg

[toyrunner95]

i personally like tha ARB i am planning on buying one this summer for my truck, but is only compatible with a few winches. like the m8k or the m9k from warn. t max works too i think. but there are many choices.

bentup, badland bumpers, WARN makes a kick *** bumper for your truck. all pro, marlin. go here

http://www.nw-wheelers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=181

those are all parts dealers

get ahold of a 4wd and toyota owner magazine and flip through it. there are a bunch of chices. its really a matter of preferance. if you like the tube style or the bumper brush guard combo. what will you use it for, where are you going (this is improtant, tube bumpers dont pretect a whole lot if you are bush bashing, radiators, oil coolers, etc.)

[wesel123]

I hate to bad mouth but I've been wating for my Shrockworks bumper for 3 1/2 months. Something to do with 1)Being to busy & 2) New design for the marker lights. It kinda sucks that I was quoted 5 weeks and that I was charged the Full amount. I guess I wouldn't be as bummed if I was only charged a deposit with balance due upon completion. Everyone says that these are awsome bumpers, I sure hope so.

Ok I'm stepping off the bloody soap box.

[toyrunner95]

yeah i havent had to deal with them, sometimes i dont like to deal with small buisnesses unless i can drive to them, mainly because they tend to take forever.

my friend had to deal with AOR before they closed down and he said they took about 6 months to get anything out of them. and on top of that when he finally got them they were the wrong ones.

but i think alcan has fixed that problem.

[asteffes]

i personally like tha ARB i am planning on buying one this summer for my truck, but is only compatible with a few winches. like the m8k or the m9k from warn. t max works too i think. but there are many choices.


A Superwinch X9 should fit anywhere those Warns fit. The EP9.0 will fit in almost as many places, too, though it is a bit wider. Some TJMs on Rovers can't accomodate it. My '06 Tacoma's ARB swallowed it just fine.

[Redline]

Boy I love seeing good pictures of your rig and that front bumper... Mine should arrive any day/week now and I can't wait to get rolling on my modifications to make my little Runner into something.



On my 2004 I run the Shrockworks winch bumper. Their website doesn't say they have one yet for the 90 4Runner but I would call them, I think they are working on expanding their range of coverage. The quality of the bumper is top notch.

http://www.shrockworks.com/Toyota-4Runner-Winch-Bumper-Bull-Bar-Front-pr-16148.html


http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m125/bgarland40/07%20Richmond%20Basin/RichmondBasin07039.jpg

[Tucson T4R]

Thanks. :wings: It will be worth the wait. I was in the first batch of about 20 that were made for the 4th Gen 4Runners. It was a long wait for us while the design was worked out and the first batch was fabed up and shipped out. I'm glad I waited. The quality is outstanding. ARB makes a good bumper too. For me, I personaly like the lines on this one a little better. I would put the fabrication quality on the same par. :safari-rig:

[LexusAllTerrain]

I hate to bad mouth but I've been wating for my Shrockworks bumper for 3 1/2 months. Something to do with 1)Being to busy & 2) New design for the marker lights. It kinda sucks that I was quoted 5 weeks and that I was charged the Full amount. I guess I wouldn't be as bummed if I was only charged a deposit with balance due upon completion. Everyone says that these are awsome bumpers, I sure hope so.

Ok I'm stepping off the bloody soap box.


That is the main reason I am going with ARB, plus I think ARB stands behind their products, I e-mail shrockworkks and they took a long time to respond back, makes me think twice.

[asteffes]

I like that the ARB accomodates a roller fairlead rather than only a hawse (although you could probably order a custom option from Shrockworks if you care enough about this, too.)

Overall, the ARB bumpers are well-executed designs as far as the metal fabrication goes. The ARB bumpers are a little weak in some respects that no one seems to talk about. Perhaps I'm being overly picky, but I think that for the money they could and should fix these items:

On the '05+ Tacoma (and I imagine on those for other trucks), they did not elegantly deal with the wheel well liners. You have to zip tie them up and out of the way or trim them down altogether.

The turn signal lights are cheesy and not at all high quality. They could find much better lights in the Hella catalog for a few bucks more.

On the '05+ Tacoma bar, the lower winch mounting bolts do not line up with the holes in a standard Warn or Superwinch roller fairlead. You have to re-drill your fairlead to line up with the holes in the bumper. The instructions tell you where to center the holes, but it's still somewhat lame.

The included winch solenoid bracket seems to fit only Warn solenoids. No mention in the instructions of how to mount a Superwinch solenoid pack atop the bar. I planned to mount mine under the hood, anyway, but still. With all the Rover guys out there running Superwinch models I would think they could offer something.

Don't get me wrong, it's a good product overall. It's just not perfect and I have yet to see anyone mention the things I brought up. Take it for what it's worth.

[DaveInDenver]

Adam has some points, which might be particularly true of the Taco ARB bumpers. But the original post had David asking about a bumper for his third gen Hilux. This is exactly the truck I have and I have an ARB on mine. I looked at the Marlin as well and it comes down to me a difference in philosophy. Marlin (and AOR when they were still around) make what's in my estimation more or less a winch carrier more than a bumper for protection. If you get the stinger, that acts like a grill protector to some extent, though it sticks out sort of awkwardly. The ARB (and TJM, which are nice, too) are frontal impact protection that some are offered with a provision for a winch (you can get a non-winch bull bar).

I went with the ARB because I wanted the top hoop and at the time I could not find a TJM model 13, their traditional steel bull bar. TJM doesn't have quite the same distribution here and so sometimes availability is spotty. I was looking at their S1386E

I ended up with an ARB 3414070, the IFS '86-'95 winch bull bar. This reuses your original Toyota front turn signals, which is nice because there is no splicing and they are cheap and good. My bumper fit fine, but I had to cut it a bit to work with my Total Chaos idler arm, but would have fit just fine with the stock steering. It uses the 4 existing bumper bolts and then adds something like 12 additional ones. It uses your tow hook holes, the ones under and on the front of the front frame member, basically every possible bolt that can be used on the front of your truck has a bolt in it. Being that there is no air bag and the bull bar is the old school style, before ARB had to make them pedestrian friendly, this thing is brutally strong. I'm not sure there's anything I would change on it, it's basically pretty much what I would build if I went custom.

[wesel123]

Well I continued posting on Yota Tech about my Shrockworks bumper dilemma.

The long and short of it is that they did not complete the bumper, and I ended up getting my money back. The owner was very apologetic and sited suppier problems as the reason the bumper I ordered was not complete nor would it be complete for another month.

I got my money back and ordered a scratch and dent bumper for one heck of a price. (I bought the scratch and dent due to the fact that I'm going to color match)

[LexusAllTerrain]

Well I continued posting on Yota Tech about my Shrockworks bumper dilemma.

The long and short of it is that they did not complete the bumper, and I ended up getting my money back. The owner was very apologetic and sited suppier problems as the reason the bumper I ordered was not complete nor would it be complete for another month.

I got my money back and ordered a scratch and dent bumper for one heck of a price. (I bought the scratch and dent due to the fact that I'm going to color match)


I am glad you got your money back, however your wating time is gone!:oops:

[Redline]

You bought a scratch and dent bumper from Shrockworks?

Glad they refunded you money without issue.



Well I continued posting on Yota Tech about my Shrockworks bumper dilemma.

The long and short of it is that they did not complete the bumper, and I ended up getting my money back. The owner was very apologetic and sited suppier problems as the reason the bumper I ordered was not complete nor would it be complete for another month.

I got my money back and ordered a scratch and dent bumper for one heck of a price. (I bought the scratch and dent due to the fact that I'm going to color match)

[Grim Reaper]

Adam has some points, which might be particularly true of the Taco ARB bumpers. But the original post had David asking about a bumper for his third gen Hilux. This is exactly the truck I have and I have an ARB on mine. I looked at the Marlin as well and it comes down to me a difference in philosophy. Marlin (and AOR when they were still around) make what's in my estimation more or less a winch carrier more than a bumper for protection. If you get the stinger, that acts like a grill protector to some extent, though it sticks out sort of awkwardly. The ARB (and TJM, which are nice, too) are frontal impact protection that some are offered with a provision for a winch (you can get a non-winch bull bar).



I believe a properly built Tube bumper is every bit as strong and possibly stronger then the ARB. It is the same type material they build race car chassis and roll cages out of.

A tube bumper is built out of structural tube. ARB is formed out of bent plate. While the ARB appears to have more mass it has less "Structure". ARB is also designed to work with the vehicles “Crush zone” and it is built to start folding up in a frontal impact.

Tub bumpers are usually stronger then the frame they are attached to. It is expected that they will hit rocks and face plant in desert racing. The design is to proved maximum ground clearance and protect the radiator. It is also hoped to make the front sled over rocks and other obstructions till the wheels can get to them.

As long as its a quility product and design I wouldn't make strenght as the deciding factory. They are both plenty strong and at the poit they are failing the frame is probably also failing.

This is more a style preference.

[big sky trapper]

I have a very old STOUT brand bumper on my 84. Its very well built. Its made from 1/8 Diamond plate and 3/16 steel. Plenty of room to drop in most any winch into it.

http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5176 (for a few pics)

They have changed names of the company I had to make new brackets to fit my frame but wasnt hard. STOUt is now called HINKEN Specialty Fabrication. there now here.. http://www.hsf4x4.com/ very reasonbly priced. Dont know anything about them now but might be worth a look.

Dont forget the warn combo mount, some here dont like them and they do look a little "erector" set built, but it is strong and functional. I ran one for many years on my old 94.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q18/bigskytrapper/Picture20025.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q18/bigskytrapper/Picture20024.jpg

Its only draw back is my part of the country it's not deer prrof. Any bumper with those little side wrap around wings will destroy your grill/head light area when struck by a deer. For every day exploring its a good choice with/with out the wings. And it will keep the front end weight down some, but like every trade off you'll loose some protection.

[hattrik21]

Well I continued posting on Yota Tech about my Shrockworks bumper dilemma.

The long and short of it is that they did not complete the bumper, and I ended up getting my money back. The owner was very apologetic and sited suppier problems as the reason the bumper I ordered was not complete nor would it be complete for another month.

I got my money back and ordered a scratch and dent bumper for one heck of a price. (I bought the scratch and dent due to the fact that I'm going to color match)

Jim's a good guy over all, I just think he has more going on than he has employees to build the stuff. There are several people on some of the Xerra forums who are in the same boat. It took me forever to get my sliders and the entire skid plate set but in the end the quality was worth it.

I'm looking for a front bumper as well and I'm trying to decide to throw some money and wait on a Shrockworks one or wait to see if ARB ever makes one for the 2005+ X's. With the delays, I'm not sure which one would be ready first. :)

[DaveInDenver]

I believe a properly built Tube bumper is every bit as strong and possibly stronger then the ARB. It is the same type material they build race car chassis and roll cages out of.

I've said this before, but will repeat it here. I have no doubts that tube bumpers are certainly strong and /probably/ stronger in many ways than a plate bumper. It IS the better bumper for rock crawling and as a winch support. But there is more frontal area of a plate bumper, so more surface protected. In the case of an animal strike, a tube bumper with enough tubing would probably do fine, as would an ARB. But what about small things, like chunks of ice or rocks? There isn't much surface area on a tube and the part of the tube that will directly oppose the object is small. Most objects are just deflected and will still hit your front end will significant force. Imagine swinging at a ball with a round bat or a 1x6, which has the better chance of making impact? In the case of my truck, I think the chance that my ARB will keep a flying rock or something from hitting my radiator is higher than with a tube bumper. That's my reasoning, right or wrong. The perfect front end protection will also block most of the air flow, so there is no ideal solution. I just looked at the ARB and thought it gave me and my truck the best chance of surviving a more varied range of impacts. I don't think the ARB is the best bumper, just the one that best meets my requirements.

[SinCity4r]

This tube bumper didn't fare too well..

http://calrockx.com/~bruce/4Runner/lance.jpg

http://www.yotatech.com/showthread.php?t=114154

[erin]

I wonder how fast the impact speed was on that? Also said the bumper was mounted incorrectly, whatever that means?

[DaveInDenver]

That's Lance (Good Times in some forums, not to be confused with our GT). His bumper is (or was) a Demello and his truck was a '03 4Runner, slightly modified.

http://www.chaosedition.com

[big sky trapper]

that kind of impact seems to me doesnt matter what brand or how its mounted....

[DaveInDenver]

that kind of impact seems to me doesnt matter what brand or how its mounted....
The F350 guy hit a moose at 65 MPH and the Jeep guy got hit by someone running a red light. The caveat is these are from the ARB website as testimonials, so they are obviously best cases.

[SinCity4r]

The F350 guy hit a moose at 65 MPH and the Jeep guy got hit by someone running a red light. The caveat is these are from the ARB website as testimonials, so they are obviously best cases.

F350: 1
Moose: 0

[DaveInDenver]

F350: 1
Moose: 0
Yeah, if you take the story at face value, that's as good an example of why you need to run a real front bumper. No matter if that is a ARB or a substantial tube one.

BTW, the link:
http://www.arbusa.com/testimonials.php

[Davids90toy]

ok guys i called AJ at bent up talked tohis wife

i was quoted 660$
for this on my truck

http://bentup.com/images/01+1104+front+winch+with+led+signals.jpg

[DaveInDenver]

ok guys i called AJ at bent up talked tohis wife

i was quoted 660$ for this on my truck

That's pretty good. I bought my ARB through Rocky Road when they still did free shipping to business addresses and it cost me about $725. Now an ARB would be more than $800 with shipping or tax.

[wesel123]

You bought a scratch and dent bumper from Shrockworks?

Glad they refunded you money without issue.

Acutally I bought a scratch and dent ARB for $750. I didn't care about the scratches due to the fact that I'm going to powder coat it white. I hope it will make it blend into the truck alittle more.

I do like the Shrockworks look alittle better but I NEEDED the bumper. We have a long trip coming up for work and I needed a winch so i couldn't wait. Oh well, Jim said he'll treat me right the when I get back from my trip and decide that the ARB is not what I really wanted.

[Nonprophet]

I just ordered my ARB from 4x4 Connection http://www.4by4connection.com/totrsuvarbbu.html for $715--that was the best price I could find. It's about $140 to have it shipped to a non-commercial (read: no loading dock) address, I choose to do a will-call and pick it up in Seattle as I'll be there next week anyway.

My local ARB dealers all wanted $925 PLUS shipping..........and they wonder why the internet is kicking their *****.............:exclaim:



NP

[DaveInDenver]

It's about $140 to have it shipped to a non-commercial (read: no loading dock) address, I choose to do a will-call and pick it up in Seattle as I'll be there next week anyway.

I wonder if you could pick it up at ARB and pay no shipping?

[Nonprophet]

Yep, that's what I'm doing (will call=I pick it up at ARB) so no shipping charges. The $140 savings easily covers the cost of my trip there and back.

Looking forward to getting it installed!


NP

[Davids90toy]

ok guys so i have the bumper on and some pictures. i will attactch them so you guys can see....

Front bumper (http://rhs.rocklin.k12.ca.us/sports/baseball-gallery/images2/front.jpg) - fit perfect custom mounts by Aj from bent-up. Me and Jim from 4wheeltoys.com modifyed the fender supports and batter support so its not hanging below the bumper. we cut bent and bolted them together.

Rear Bumper (http://rhs.rocklin.k12.ca.us/sports/baseball-gallery/images2/back.jpg) - Required cutting of rear runner pannel and fit extreamly tight.

Thats all the updates for now Aj will be putting rock sliders in a few months. there $250 installed so thats a great deal since i cant weld. the bumper cost me $600 which is alot less then all the other ones i found and yet the best design also.

Links if the attatchmets do not work
http://rhs.rocklin.k12.ca.us/sports/baseball-gallery/images2/front.jpg
http://rhs.rocklin.k12.ca.us/sports/baseball-gallery/images2/back.jpg
http://rhs.rocklin.k12.ca.us/sports/baseball-gallery/images2/before.jpg
http://rhs.rocklin.k12.ca.us/sports/baseball-gallery/images2/aftermod.jpg

[DaveInDenver]

Looks really good. That back bumper looks like the the Marlin Crawler rear on a first gen pickup, I wonder if Bent-Up is making them for Marlin?

[big sky trapper]

I Like It!

[Davids90toy]

the back bumper is from marlin the front is from Bentup