kurticus91
New member
A couple weeks back I installed my Tacoma ARB (part #3423020) on my 3rd gen 4Runner.
I ran into a few installation issues and figured I would document them for future reference. The research I conducted prior to install only turned up posts from people saying "remove stock bumper, cut off the frame ends, slide mounting brackets over frame and simply bolt on". My install was not a simple bolt-on without some modification to the mounting brackets.
Here's what I had to do...
I was very surprised by the lack of organization from ARB. All of the hardware for installing the bumper was literally dumped into a single bag, all jumbled together. The list of the individual pieces of hardware provided in the installation instructions made it possible to organize everything.
I was eventually able to figure out what was what, and where it went, by counting everything and laying it all out. The instructions were pretty poorly written which didn't help much, but the parts list helped keep everything straight.
About half of the hardware ended up not even being used since I was not installing a winch at the time. I just threw all of the unused hardware into a plastic bag and put it in my storage compartment.
HERE is where I ran into trouble..."simply" bolting the mounting brackets to the frame was not possible without modification.
With the stock bumper's mounting brackets on the frame-ends sawed off and the tow hook/tie downs removed, I was unable to slide the ARB mounting brackets deep enough onto the frame-ends to bolt them on. A "notch" on the frame-ends prevented this.
In order for the ARB mounting brackets to be installed onto the frame/chassis I had to cut a notch into the brackets (to compliment the notch on the frame-ends) in order for the bolt holes to line up and for everything to sit flush.
Here you can see the notch on the chassis preventing the brackets from mounting deeper:
I had to cut a notch into the mounting brackets like so:
After cutting out the notch, the mounting brackets will sit flush and the bolt holes will lineup allowing the stock tie-downs/towing hook to be bolted back onto the frame.
I also used a 1/2" drill-bit to drill out a small hole forward of the tow-hook/tie-downs on each side which allowed me to run another set of 1/2" bolts vertically through the mounting brackets and the chassis for added support. One bolt per side. It may not have been necessary, but it certainly didn't hurt! I don't have a picture of this added bolt, I might add it in the future.
Hopefully this will help people who are trying to install their ARB and are running into the same issues as I did. Good luck!
I ran into a few installation issues and figured I would document them for future reference. The research I conducted prior to install only turned up posts from people saying "remove stock bumper, cut off the frame ends, slide mounting brackets over frame and simply bolt on". My install was not a simple bolt-on without some modification to the mounting brackets.
Here's what I had to do...
I was very surprised by the lack of organization from ARB. All of the hardware for installing the bumper was literally dumped into a single bag, all jumbled together. The list of the individual pieces of hardware provided in the installation instructions made it possible to organize everything.
I was eventually able to figure out what was what, and where it went, by counting everything and laying it all out. The instructions were pretty poorly written which didn't help much, but the parts list helped keep everything straight.
About half of the hardware ended up not even being used since I was not installing a winch at the time. I just threw all of the unused hardware into a plastic bag and put it in my storage compartment.
HERE is where I ran into trouble..."simply" bolting the mounting brackets to the frame was not possible without modification.
With the stock bumper's mounting brackets on the frame-ends sawed off and the tow hook/tie downs removed, I was unable to slide the ARB mounting brackets deep enough onto the frame-ends to bolt them on. A "notch" on the frame-ends prevented this.
In order for the ARB mounting brackets to be installed onto the frame/chassis I had to cut a notch into the brackets (to compliment the notch on the frame-ends) in order for the bolt holes to line up and for everything to sit flush.
Here you can see the notch on the chassis preventing the brackets from mounting deeper:
I had to cut a notch into the mounting brackets like so:
After cutting out the notch, the mounting brackets will sit flush and the bolt holes will lineup allowing the stock tie-downs/towing hook to be bolted back onto the frame.
I also used a 1/2" drill-bit to drill out a small hole forward of the tow-hook/tie-downs on each side which allowed me to run another set of 1/2" bolts vertically through the mounting brackets and the chassis for added support. One bolt per side. It may not have been necessary, but it certainly didn't hurt! I don't have a picture of this added bolt, I might add it in the future.
Hopefully this will help people who are trying to install their ARB and are running into the same issues as I did. Good luck!
