Please recommend an aftermarket front bumper for 3rd gen

[TXRick]

I've got the 4xinnovations and love it. Looks great and easy install. Check out my build thread.

 

[piecesparts]

After purchasing my 97 T4R and having the opportunity to hit a deer on the first day of driving it to work, I put the ARB bumper on my Runner. Reason being, the bumper cost me a little more cash, but surprisingly only $250.00 more than the stock cheesy bumper parts added up to. So I got most of m ine paid for by the insurance company. If I hit another deer or a rampant crazy roady, pipe laying Bubba, which are working at my plant, then I have some certainty that I will not be replacing the bumper again for the same amount of money or more. The front bumper is pitiful at best on these vehicles, but there are improvements out there.

I am satisfied with the design and sturdiness of the ARB, and I purchased this vehicle to rummage around int he snow and muck, so it whould work well for my use.

 

[farmerjon]

You are showing your (our) age. The young guys think it's too big.

I must be old. even though I'm a young guy. ARB is my favorite.

 

[Mike&Ike]

I am looking at the addicted offroad bumpers after going around to a few fab shops and getting quoted the lowest at $1100. I was like wtf at that price it kinda makes me want to buy my own welder. Addicted has the best looking bolt on front bumpers IMO.

 

[OU4x4]

taking off the stock bumper is easy, unhook a few lights and take out a few bolts.
the airbag sensors aren't located in the bumper so removal or an aftermarket bumper won't interfere with their function.

 

[piecesparts]

taking off the stock bumper is easy, unhook a few lights and take out a few bolts.
the airbag sensors aren't located in the bumper so removal or an aftermarket bumper won't interfere with their function.

The deer, that I hit, did most of the work. The plastic and light metal disappeared fast.

 

[KSWAY]

Find a local fab shop and have them build what you want.
I had a local guy build me this one for $650 painted, installed.
Granted I purchased the winch and rigid lights from him.
But even with all that..It was still way cheaper than some of the big brand bumpers.

 

[SURF RUNNER]

Does ARB make this bumper without the brush guards? Im looking into bumpers as well and dont really like how most of the newer style bumpers cut up so much on the ends and exposes so much of the front end. The ARB looks more like a traditional bumper to me.

As far as I know there are no options with the ARB Tacoma bumper. It comes powdercoated black (semi-gloss I think). You would need to have the brush guards removed and then get the affected surfaces repaired... probably not worth it.

I see a couple of 1st gen Tacos here are the bumpers that fit 1st gen Tacos interchangable w/ 3rd gen T4Rs?

I'm not sure if the ARB Taco bumpers you see on 1st and 2nd generation 4Runners will fit on a 3rd Generation 4Runner. I think you are talking about these:

 

[djtlaz123]

Find a local fab shop and have them build what you want.
I had a local guy build me this one for $650 painted, installed.
Granted I purchased the winch and rigid lights from him.
But even with all that..It was still way cheaper than some of the big brand bumpers.

Ksway, that is a good looking bumper. Do you have side shots of it.. I may be interested in one just like it.

 

[KSWAY]

Ksway, that is a good looking bumper. Do you have side shots of it.. I may be interested in one just like it.

 

[ranbar02]

I like it! That's a good looking bumper.

 

[JohnBill53]

Incase you haven't decided...... I vote addicted

 

[TheeMikeB]

That Addicted bumper is very nice and if that was around when I was doing my build I would have probably went for that one. I found a used ARB from a local guy and paid like $350 for it if I recall.

A nice feature of the ARB is it is air bag compliant so your airbags will still work if you get in an accident.

Here are pics of my ARB:

 

[piecesparts]

That Addicted bumper is very nice and if that was around when I was doing my build I would have probably went for that one. I found a used ARB from a local guy and paid like $350 for it if I recall.

A nice feature of the ARB is it is air bag compliant so your airbags will still work if you get in an accident.

Here are pics of my ARB:

Was there a lot of time and issues mounting the winch on the ARB bumper? It appears that the XRC 8 Comp series winch is $449.00 at Summit Racing. Anyone know a better price anywhere?

 

[98OzarksRunner]

Was there a lot of time and issues mounting the winch on the ARB bumper? It appears that the XRC 8 Comp series winch is $449.00 at Summit Racing. Anyone know a better price anywhere?

I have a Warn M8000 that was $490 from Amazon a couple of years ago (well, I did have $50 in amazon reward points). No problems mounting it at all. You can get one from Amazon for $586 shipped, and the VR8000 is only $479 shipped. I think the extra $30 for the VR8000 would be well worth it if you ever have to use it (even though it doesn't have synthetic rope - I think the Smitty is just their $275 winch with synthetic rope). I haven't been overly impressed with Smitty products, and Warn is rock solid.

 

[98OzarksRunner]

A nice feature of the ARB is it is air bag compliant so your airbags will still work if you get in an accident.

Actually, I think the ARB is airbag compliant since it has the crush zones to keep the airbags from going off in a minor accident. A fender-bender with another bumper might cost you several hundred dollars to replace an airbag (and your broken glasses ).

 

[ADV-R]

Im very happy with my CBI bumper

 

[Brique]

Ksway, that is a good looking bumper. Do you have side shots of it.. I may be interested in one just like it.

Wow. That bumper looks awesome! Nice and minimal. Only thing I don't like is that the toyota logo gets covered, but that's cosmetic and not a huge deal.

 

[TheeMikeB]

Was there a lot of time and issues mounting the winch on the ARB bumper? It appears that the XRC 8 Comp series winch is $449.00 at Summit Racing. Anyone know a better price anywhere?

The winch mounted fine, the cables are JUST long enough to reach to the battery and the solenoid box with not much room for error. So if you want to get crafty with the mounting of the solenoid box you will need to get longer heavy gauge cable to do so. Other than that it was fine.

There is a little contact from grill on the solenoid box because the grill on the 00-01 sticks out a bit and there is slight contact, but I bent it forward a bit and it's fine.

I was teetering between the Warn M8000 and the Smittybilt and decided on the XRC8 because it came with synthetic and with the money I saved I purchased snatch blocks, tree saver, tow and recovery lines. I got the whole package for the same price as the Warn AND synthetic line.

 

[TheeMikeB]

Actually, I think the ARB is airbag compliant since it has the crush zones to keep the airbags from going off in a minor accident. A fender-bender with another bumper might cost you several hundred dollars to replace an airbag (and your broken glasses ).

You are correct...

I actually did get in a fender bender and rear ended a woman in a Lexus due to the horrible ABS brakes on these trucks. (which has now been disabled


My airbags did not go off and the crush zones on the bumper did their job and absorbed the impact. The ARB got minor damage to it but the brackets were toast. You can purchase new brackets from ARB or Toytec too. I ended getting a new ARB through insurance and sold my old one to another member here. He was able to get the replacement brackets from Toytec.

Now i'm positive if I was going any faster and really crashed my airbags would have gone off, but I"m glad they didn't in this case.