Demello Bumper on TRD PRO

[Zombiehunter427]

I am thinking about getting a Demello bumper for my TRD PRO.. I know the Pro has softer springs than a standard T4R.. My concern is the frontend sagging with all the extra weight. I was thinking about just changing the front springs to a higher spring rate. Does anyone know what the current spring rate is and what spring I would need to keep the fronend up? This is my First T4R and need a little help. Current mods are GOBI Stealth rack and Budbuilt sliders. I would perfer not to change out the whole suspension, That would defeat the purpose of the PRO.. Thanks

 

[Swarty]

Wish Demello would post a weight on their website...

I am thinking about getting a Demello bumper for my TRD PRO.. I know the Pro has softer springs than a standard T4R.. My concern is the frontend sagging with all the extra weight. I was thinking about just changing the front springs to a higher spring rate. Does anyone know what the current spring rate is and what spring I would need to keep the fronend up? This is my First T4R and need a little help. Current mods are GOBI Stealth rack and Budbuilt sliders. I would perfer not to change out the whole suspension, That would defeat the purpose of the PRO.. Thanks

Hard to say without knowing the weight but my Shrockworks on stock shocks lost me about 1/4". That bumper is like 135 or something. I'd expect the demelo bumper to be lighter due to the design and it being made from aluminum. Be surprised if you had a big issue.

 

[Carolina Roscoe]

I am thinking about getting a Demello bumper for my TRD PRO.. I know the Pro has softer springs than a standard T4R.. My concern is the frontend sagging with all the extra weight. I was thinking about just changing the front springs to a higher spring rate. Does anyone know what the current spring rate is and what spring I would need to keep the fronend up? This is my First T4R and need a little help. Current mods are GOBI Stealth rack and Budbuilt sliders. I would perfer not to change out the whole suspension, That would defeat the purpose of the PRO.. Thanks

If you do it, please post photos. I was thinking the same thing:thumb3:

 

[my14runner]

The Demello bumper at this time is not made from Aluminum, Jason wont be offering that prob for another year. I'd guess the weight would be close to Shrockworks at 135# I'd say you'd prob lose "like stated above" a 1/4" to 1/2"

Right now Jason is at Lone Star Jamboree, but I'd give them a call and see what they say and if they have specs on the weight

 

[Range]

I am thinking about getting a Demello bumper for my TRD PRO.. I know the Pro has softer springs than a standard T4R.. My concern is the frontend sagging with all the extra weight. I was thinking about just changing the front springs to a higher spring rate. Does anyone know what the current spring rate is and what spring I would need to keep the fronend up? This is my First T4R and need a little help. Current mods are GOBI Stealth rack and Budbuilt sliders. I would perfer not to change out the whole suspension, That would defeat the purpose of the PRO.. Thanks

Have you seen the Southern Style front bumper yet? If not take a look. To be honest, unless you do some seriously aggressive off-roading where you've actually f'ked up the front bumper the Demello, CBI, Shrockworks etc.. type of bumpers are overkill. If you REALLY REALLY like the look then by all means do your thing and get it but I actually think the SS bumper is a very attractive alternative, it still has a single hoop, it still allows for a winch and a hidden light bar, you wont have to get heavy duty front shocks to accommodate for the increase in weight (kind of defeats the purpose of getting a TRD PRO if you're just going to take what makes it a TRD PRO and throw that away which are the shocks amongst other things) and it still allows you to keep the front grille which some people are paying $700 just to make their non-PRO's look like one.

 

[st8rocks]

[MENTION=115881]CplTurner[/MENTION] can comment on additional weight to the TRDP suspension. Not a front bumper per se but the weight from his RTT has changed the dynamics of the Billys. He is a local NC guy as well.

 

[3li0tt]

I just installed the 3/4" Toytec Spacers on my TRD Pro and received my Shrockworks bumper today. Unfortunately i can't install till next weekend but i'll post pictures once its all done.

 

[Miguelon]

I like Jason personally and he has pretty cool stuff. I was at the Lone Star Jambo and saw his Demello 4Runner. I was sure then that I made the right choice with my SW bumper and the TRD Pro badging

 

[Honu*]

I love my arbs hate the fit even on my FJ sticks out way to much

have to say nice looking bumper as it fits without sticking out a mile
but has nice classic lines

I like Jason personally and he has pretty cool stuff. I was at the Lone Star Jambo and saw his Demello 4Runner. I was sure then that I made the right choice with my SW bumper and the TRD Pro badging

 

[cjacob316]

Looks like you will loose your $700 TRD pro grill if you get pretty much any bumper other than shrockworks.

 

[4Surfin]

Looks like you will loose your $700 TRD pro grill if you get pretty much any bumper other than shrockworks.

could be sold to recoup half the cost of the bumper.... or fund a winch! both will get you home fast that a fancy grill lol

 

[chmura]

I do not like how the bumper uses a fabbed metal trim piece under the headlights. Using the existing bumper as a filler/trim piece would look better.

 

[Engineer]

I do not like how the bumper uses a fabbed metal trim piece under the headlights. Using the existing bumper as a filler/trim piece would look better.

I agree but I have never seen anyone do this and am not sure that the support is there to keep the factory pieces in place. I would be interested to know from those who have taken off the front clip or installed an aftermarket bumper if it would work to sacrifice your stock bumper and use original pieces to fill the gap.

Major downside is if you ever wanted to revert to stock you are buying a new front clip but I doubt that is a major concern for most people. And talk about taking up storage space (keeping the entire OEM front bumper!)

 

[Miguelon]

I agree but I have never seen anyone do this and am not sure that the support is there to keep the factory pieces in place. I would be interested to know from those who have taken off the front clip or installed an aftermarket bumper if it would work to sacrifice your stock bumper and use original pieces to fill the gap.

Major downside is if you ever wanted to revert to stock you are buying a new front clip but I doubt that is a major concern for most people. And talk about taking up storage space (keeping the entire OEM front bumper!)

Anything could be done, but why? It would look odd. There is a lot of craftsmanship in those filler piecesand they tie the bumper intothe rest of the truck

 

[3wbdriver]

Looks like you will loose your $700 TRD pro grill if you get pretty much any bumper other than shrockworks.

Or the SSS slimline. :wink2:

 

[CplTurner]

The stock TRDP front springs are 650lb eibachs.
Adding an aftermarket full bumper to the front of a stock pro will make it look like a stinkbug for sure without a suspension upgrade. You have a few options here. It is a bit more difficult to replace the spring only on the front. They are different lengths also to accommodate the driver's side lean. Toytec makes a 1" spring seat spacer that will help a little bit:1" Front Lift for BAJA TRD Tacoma's

But beware, just placing a spacer on the front doesn't really address the fact that you have now taken the preload out of the springs and affected the vehicles handling. If you are thinking about a full front bumper, adjustable coil-overs are probably in your future.

I don't have a steel front bumper yet, but do have sliders, roof rack and RTT. The stock TRDP suspension isn't really designed for that amount of weight, plus the cargo I typically carry on a trip. So I plan on upgrading to an Icon stage II asap.

Hope some of this helps. :cheers:

 

[CplTurner]

.....Also, to all of the folks that hold strong opinions about not replacing the suspension on a TRDP because it "defeats the purpose"....I respect that opinion, and for the most part it holds water for most folks. In my case, I bought the TRDP because I was shopping for an FJ for going on camping trips and general travel. We test drove the FJ, and pretty much liked it. Walked back into the dealer and saw a beautiful black 4runner sitting on the floor, and my wife made me buy it :bounce:
Now at the time, as I said, we had no notions of doing any serious off roading or overlanding, but that changed quickly. Within a week of buying the pro, we discovered xoverland.com, T4R.org etc. We got infected with the disease and started bolting heavy steel stuff on to our shiny new vehicle and found out quickly that the bilsteins were not up to the task of handling an expedition build.
So this is just one example of why someone might end up with a vehicle like a TRDP, and mod the *hit out of it. If I had to make the decision over again, would I have bought an SR5 premium or TE? Sure, maybe....but maybe not. The point is, to each his own. Me personally, I will bolt whatever I want on my rig to make it do what I want, and to make it "mine", and I encourage everyone else to do the same!

:cheers:

 

[Honu*]

if you have not already check out Expedition Portal Forum
good info all around about expedition stuff

.....Also, to all of the folks that hold strong opinions about not replacing the suspension on a TRDP because it "defeats the purpose"....I respect that opinion, and for the most part it holds water for most folks. In my case, I bought the TRDP because I was shopping for an FJ for going on camping trips and general travel. We test drove the FJ, and pretty much liked it. Walked back into the dealer and saw a beautiful black 4runner sitting on the floor, and my wife made me buy it :bounce:
Now at the time, as I said, we had no notions of doing any serious off roading or overlanding, but that changed quickly. Within a week of buying the pro, we discovered xoverland.com, T4R.org etc. We got infected with the disease and started bolting heavy steel stuff on to our shiny new vehicle and found out quickly that the bilsteins were not up to the task of handling an expedition build.
So this is just one example of why someone might end up with a vehicle like a TRDP, and mod the *hit out of it. If I had to make the decision over again, would I have bought an SR5 premium or TE? Sure, maybe....but maybe not. The point is, to each his own. Me personally, I will bolt whatever I want on my rig to make it do what I want, and to make it "mine", and I encourage everyone else to do the same!

:cheers:

 

[3li0tt]

Very much agree with everything you said. I initially installed the spacers to simply level out the TRDP. But then I got sliders and the bumper and.... the list will continue to grow. Before I swap out everything for an Icon or Toytec Boss lift I want explore all options. Is it possible to swap out just the front coil-overs to help compensate for the additional weight or would that be more of a band aid? Any input is appreciated.

 

[abtrdpro]

Very much agree with everything you said. I initially installed the spacers to simply level out the TRDP. But then I got sliders and the bumper and.... the list will continue to grow. Before I swap out everything for an Icon or Toytec Boss lift I want explore all options. Is it possible to swap out just the front coil-overs to help compensate for the additional weight or would that be more of a band aid? Any input is appreciated.

what spacers did you install and did it level it out the truck with the sliders on? Thank you