Deer smasher upgrades?

[repo]

I spend a lot of time on Nebraska back roads and late fall they are nothing but a long smear of roadkill blood. I want a grill guard and better illumination to see deer at night. Also I wouldn't mind better lights for bad weather. So I was thinking just oem fog lights and westin grill guard? HID bulbs? Or maybe ARB and spot lights? What would be recommended? I don't want to interfere with air bags or crumple zones too much.

 

[DanKendall6]

Brush guards and grill guards are just damage multipliers. I live in the back roads of a mountain and have tube bumpers on my 4runners and smash deer all the time. Get a quality dom or hshrew bumper that won't bend on impact. I've also found that a led light bar from amazon is the best option. Mine was 60 for a 20 in. Way better than my hids and hella 500s

 

[reelamin]

Brush guards and grill guards are just damage multipliers. I live in the back roads of a mountain and have tube bumpers on my 4runners and smash deer all the time. Get a quality dom or hshrew bumper that won't bend on impact. I've also found that a led light bar from amazon is the best option. Mine was 60 for a 20 in. Way better than my hids and hella 500s

What he said except plate bumpers protect more of your internal stuff/components. I get to see a lot of vehicles from Prius to Semit Trucks that hit Deer from 20-70mph. We have real deer in our area not dogs with hooves! LOL Without a question aftermarket real HD bumpers are the only way to go. Any additional light aimed for your area of need to increase visibility will help. So far in the limited testing/comparison I have done the cheap LED's help, but don't even compare to the expensive ones in light output and quality.

 

[tS_kStin]

A plate or tube bumper will be much better than a grill guard. Grill guardsare just multipliers for damage as stated above. I will say that even a cheap lightbar will do you wonders. The white light reflects off eye balls really well (elk heards in fields look crazy). I have been running a dual row 13.5" flood/spot lightbar from lifetime led along side a pair or rigid duallys in spot for distance. It is an amazing combination for seeing animals.

 

[Salman]

Arb

Go for ARB 3423020 - for $ 823 at AutoAccessoriesGarage.com - Auto Accessories, Car & Truck Accessories, Aftermarket Performance Parts

bush guard is not recommended. Once you have arb buy some nice led bar.

 

[BrianSD_42]

First of all ... Say you hit a deer at 30+ MPH your truck may be f#ck-d even if you have an ARB. I guess it all depends on the size of the deer though.


Step 1 - don't hit a deer at all.

Step 2 - with that in mind I would suggest upgrading your lights to with a "drop-in" HID projector kit from The Retrofit Source. Installation will take less than an hour and it is supposed to be nearly as good as a full retrofit but for only around $300.

Step 3 - If you still are concerned enough to get a bumper upgrade then definitely go with the ARB Tacoma/4Runner bumper. I have it and it is awesome.


:lookout:

 

[hounddogman]

Here's my solution.

The ARB on the 4runner is untested but the one on the GC has stopped two deer and one Subaru that was driven by a dog in a parking lot . One of the deer was a large buck at 60 mph and I had to replace a mounting bracket . Not bad. As far as I know ARB is the only one that is air bag compatible.

 

[hounddogman]

Step 1 - don't hit a deer at all.

By far the best option !

 

[98OzarksRunner]

Definitely HD bumper. I run Hella 500s and can see a deer at almost 1/4 mile ahead, but not too much on the sides. 4000s would be even better.

 

[ajonesnv]

Don't they make animal whistles for the front of trucks?? IDK, if they work, but may be another option.

 

[reelamin]

Don't they make animal whistles for the front of trucks?? IDK, if they work, but may be another option.

LOL....all they do is call in the deer.

For those of you who do not live in a high deer area you can have daylight and still hit deer. Its not like your driving beside another strip mall parking lot, so you can see for 1000 yards of nothing.

Also...hitting a deer is not going to **&^ up your vehicle if you have a quality bumper on it. Rest assured a deer at 40mph will Ins. total out most 4Runners in our area. Hit one a month ago in a Tahoe at 50mph....6k!!! Sure the deductible was only 250, but now the entire front end except one fender has been replaced.
I have dents in both doors on the drivers side of my brand new work car from a deer running into the side of it as I was driving in town at 20mph. Car had 1500 miles on it. I did not even get to kill the deer, because she jumped up and ran off. So unless you live in a heavy deer area, you really don't have any idea how easy it is for them to cause vehicle damage.

 

[piecesparts]

I bought my 97 4 Runner from the body shop that had my other truck in it's shop to fix a deer hit. I decided that I wanted something to drive to work daily to be the "Beater" and save my sport truck. So after buying the Runner and on the very first day of driving it to work, I hit another deer. That made two deer in three weeks. The cheap A$$ed factory bumper was mangled and the right front fender had some crunch in it, but it was drivable. The cost of the cheesy sheet metal and plastic front bumper was about $600.00 and an ARB bumper was $800.00 and would provide more protection for my runner. I now have an ARB and new headlights (factory design light units but complete with new reflectors). I upgraded the headlight bulbs to Vision-X white bulbs and then put on a pair of KC Hilites fog lights in the middle of the bumper. I also upgraded the bulbs in the fog lights to Vision-X bulbs and now I have a very clear and not illegal lighting system that gives me a good view of the road and ditches. I drive 25 miles a day to work in Kansas and I do it at 4:30 AM, so I see all kinds of animals on the roads.

 

[Bandit Runner]

Here is what I use to kill deer:

I have a bunch of LED lights for spotting them too:

Killed this sucker dead on the spot only going about 40MPH:

 

[nevada]

I spend a lot of time on Nebraska back roads and late fall they are nothing but a long smear of roadkill blood. I want a grill guard and better illumination to see deer at night. Also I wouldn't mind better lights for bad weather. So I was thinking just oem fog lights and westin grill guard? HID bulbs? Or maybe ARB and spot lights? What would be recommended? I don't want to interfere with air bags or crumple zones too much.

Introducing the Bambi Basher

Badland Bumpers - Front Bumpers

I don't see your year listed, but that doesn't mean he doesn't make one.

give jeff a call, hes a great guy, and builds an excellent bumper.