New Trail Gear rear bumper for 3rd gen 4runner

[NJ-4Runner]

Anyone thinking about pulling the trigger on one of these. I am digging it.

- high clearance.
- 2" receiver hitch.
- how it mounts looks solid.
- good protection up the rear side portion of the truck.
- decent price

 

[RomanSchnobrich]

I'm personally not a tube guy but if you are, that looks like a nice and fairly inexpensive option. Just be weary of ordering from Trail Gear... I think they've been going downhill the past few years. I've read too many reviews of folks having crappy customer service experiences, or struggling to get all the parts they ordered.
TG has also bought up a lot of smaller companies recently (most recently Headstrong Offroad from my understanding) which doesn't excite me. Just my two cents!

 

[spartacus]

practical and fuctinal. It's great.

 

[Endlessblockades]

Picture or it didn't happen......

This one, yeah? I was considering this one, too as I can pick it up at Wheeler's
and save the shipping.

 

[TW44LR]

Picture or it didn't happen......

This one, yeah? I was considering this one, too as I can pick it up at Wheeler's
and save the shipping.

Would fabricating a swing out on one of these be reasonably easy or harder because it’s tube? I haven’t the first idea on welding, so pardon me if it’s a stupid question. I’ve just seen it more commonly on plate bumpers but that might be because they’re more common in general


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[Endlessblockades]

Would fabricating a swing out on one of these be reasonably easy or harder because it’s tube? I haven’t the first idea on welding, so pardon me if it’s a stupid question. I’ve just seen it more commonly on plate bumpers but that might be because they’re more common in general


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If you can weld, I don't see why not. I am resigned to carrying a spare under, above, or inside my rig until I find a used swing out bumper or some other improbable arrangement.

Link to other views: Rock Defense 1996-2002 4Runner Rear Bumper

 

[Devbot]

Would fabricating a swing out on one of these be reasonably easy or harder because it’s tube? I haven’t the first idea on welding, so pardon me if it’s a stupid question. I’ve just seen it more commonly on plate bumpers but that might be because they’re more common in general


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It's steel - anything is possible if you're motivated and skilled enough. I imagine it would be significantly easier on this unit than others given how simple and straight it is. My buddy/coworker welds up armor for the PNW/Washington Toyota groups on facebook and adding the swingout yourself is something he always recommends if possible and/or reasonable. It's a very good way to save a good bit of money, as many will charge an extra $1000 or so just for the addition. You can get "kits" that contain the latch, pin, bearings, etc. for less than $100 leading you to just pick up some steel, design it and throw it all together (a little oversimplified here but that's the jist; I'm not sure if the tire mount itself also has to be built or if you can buy something pre-made. Wouldn't doubt it if something already exists to help you out)
Even at the current price of steel and paying someone to do it for you, you'd probably still come out way below what the average bumper+swingout would cost.
You're definitely right in thinking they're more common on plated bumpers because they're far more common in general. For what it's worth, CBI used to make tube bumpers with tire carriers but have recently dropped all 3rd gen products from their catalog. I use their hybrid bumper+swingout which is more tubed than plated

 

[NJ-4Runner]

Picture or it didn't happen......

This one, yeah? I was considering this one, too as I can pick it up at Wheeler's
and save the shipping.

I pulled the trigger on this and it is sitting in the garage right now. I will post some pics when I get it installed...hopefully this weekend! I have to clean, prime, and paint it first though.

 

[Endlessblockades]

I pulled the trigger on this and it is sitting in the garage right now. I will post some pics when I get it installed...hopefully this weekend! I have to clean, prime, and paint it first though.

Nice - please share your install experience and impressions once you have it on.

 

[NJ-4Runner]

Nice - please share your install experience and impressions once you have it on.

Pictures! Overall this is a good product and well worth the price. It was a bit of a pain to prime and paint it but that comes with the lower price I guess. It seems a lot of off-road protection is unpainted nowadays anyway. The way it attaches to the frame is very good as you can see from the pics. I had a minor issue with 2 of the bolt holes not lining up with my frame but other than that the install was smooth. I had to hit those 2 holes and grind a bit with my Dremel and it was good to go. It might have been my frame too as the truck is old and been through a lot, either way it wasn't a big deal. I also painted the back rear sections of the truck body black, the parts that were originally under the chrome rear side bumper pieces. I don't know if I like it or not. The drips in the pictures under the bumper are water as it rained right before I took these pictures.

 

[Endlessblockades]

Great stuff - much appreciated!

Edit - looks like you could benefit from a cabin vent kit from Four Cam Engineering (Opt Off Road distributes them)

 

[derpsquad]

Pictures! Overall this is a good product and well worth the price. It was a bit of a pain to prime and paint it but that comes with the lower price I guess. It seems a lot of off-road protection is unpainted nowadays anyway. The way it attaches to the frame is very good as you can see from the pics. I had a minor issue with 2 of the bolt holes not lining up with my frame but other than that the install was smooth. I had to hit those 2 holes and grind a bit with my Dremel and it was good to go. It might have been my frame too as the truck is old and been through a lot, either way it wasn't a big deal. I also painted the back rear sections of the truck body black, the parts that were originally under the chrome rear side bumper pieces. I don't know if I like it or not. The drips in the pictures under the bumper are water as it rained right before I took these pictures.

Do you mount your spare under the truck? Any pics of that? Considering this bumper but don't want to mount the spare somewhere else and am worried the spare would now become my protection from ground instead of the bumper itself.

 

[GhostRing]

Do you mount your spare under the truck? Any pics of that? Considering this bumper but don't want to mount the spare somewhere else and am worried the spare would now become my protection from ground instead of the bumper itself.

At one point I fabbed a simple 3/16" aluminum skid that
covered the spare and moved up/down with the hoist thing.

 

[Endlessblockades]

Fast forward 2 years and I have one of those TG tube bumpers. No complaints - I installed it solo and then removed it again and got it powdercoated and reinstalled it no problem. Minimal high-clearance design and it has a non-DOT receiver for my bike rack so I'm pretty happy with it.

 

[derpsquad]

Fast forward 2 years and I have one of those TG tube bumpers. No complaints - I installed it solo and then removed it again and got it powdercoated and reinstalled it no problem. Minimal high-clearance design and it has a non-DOT receiver for my bike rack so I'm pretty happy with it.

Sounds like for a budget build, this may be the way to go. Do you still keep the spare under the truck? Any pics?

 

[derpsquad]

At one point I fabbed a simple 3/16" aluminum skid that
covered the spare and moved up/down with the hoist thing.

That's a great idea. Any pics of this setup? Curious on how much it hangs down from the bumper.

 

[Endlessblockades]

Sounds like for a budget build, this may be the way to go. Do you still keep the spare under the truck? Any pics?

I lost my phone with 10k photos a couple weeks ago, so no recent photos. The last few pics in my album show it. I have since gone to 33s so I can't fit the spare underneath and don't really want one there anyway. I haven't carried a spare underneath (or at all) for a year or more. I have Glue Treads, a puncture kit and a compressor, and very new tires. When I go into the wilds I carry a spare inside or on the roof.

Only pic I have after powdercoating: https://www.toyota-4runner.org/memb...-y2k-ltd-3-4-a-picture63213-xblackpowder.html

 

[96RedRunner]

Been running E 10 ply 33's since 2002 spare leaves garage for offroad stuff.

I'm not seeing that hitch/bumper rating class 3 if it's even rated. If it matters read the fine print.

 

[GhostRing]

That's a great idea. Any pics of this setup? Curious on how much it hangs down from the bumper.

I don't have it on the vehicle right now, but I'll see if I can get a shot of
the plate to help illustrate the concept. It was an old skid plate from our
rally car that I rounded off and cut "petals" around the perimeter that
bent upwards to sort of cradle the tire like a shallow cupcake baking cup.