1/8 inch steel rear bumper?

Is 1/8” thick enough to not dent or bend easily?

 

There’s A LOT of variables here.

What kind of bumper construction; plate, formed, tube, both?

What material; hrew, dom?

What are you using the truck for?

I am of the mindset that 3/16 and 1/4 bumpers are overkill for most folks, and I prefer to keep things as light as possible, as heavy as necessary.

 

I think the majority of the bodies of ARB bumpers are 3mm sheet steel, so that's about 1/8" thick. Their strength is in the folds and forming more than just material. A simple plate or tube bumper without the engineering and manufacturing complexity would have to be thicker material.

 

Just remember the stronger it is the more likely to have frame damage with a hard hit.

While you want protection, you also want that part to fail before transferring significant energy into the mounting points, being the frame.

 

It all depends on how fast you back into something .

How hard and how big what hits you is.

Like was said the style of the bumper plays into the equation.

I went with 3/16"because I had left overs .

 

it is a fabricated rear bumper. Rolled steel. ICI is the manufacture. I tow with my truck and have dented the factory bumper a little jackknifing the trailer and bumping shit.

 

This is what we're talking about, then. For light use requirements it's probably fine. I'd be careful about trusting the shackle clevises, likely not done well structurally.

https://www.rockymountainsusp.com/rbm72tyn-ici.html

 

1/8th inch is probably more than enough for a formed/fabricated bumper like that if braced and built properly. I too would be curious to see what those shackle mounts look like on the backside before I trust them. That thing looks HEAVY too.

 

I have seen different weights listed for the same bumper. From 150-212 pounds.

I have ride rite airbags if I need to add a little height to the back. The truck rides better with a few pounds in it.

and yes that link is to the exact model.but i can get for $1200

 

That's true because the suspension is built to carry some weight.

However you might experiment with placement before deciding a bumper fills this need.

Generally the best ride from added weight is when it's placed over the axle line, not hanging off the rear.

 

FWIW, I run a plain old All Pro bumper. It's not really ideal for you since it does not retain the factory hitch but probably a similar construction and weight. It's 10 ga sheet, which is slightly thicker than 1/8" (11 ga is roughly 0.125"). The mounting and reinforcement are thicker, 3/8" and 1/4" respectively. Anyway, it bumps and scrapes over stuff but holds up to regular 'wheeling.



It weighs about 75 lbs and I have the All Pro hitch behind, which is another 30 lbs. In my case the difference from a stock stamped bumper and factory hitch wasn't a lot. So I'd think the one you're looking at must surely be closer to 150 than 212 lbs but since it keeps the factory hitch it could be quite a bit weight. On mine I couldn't see any noticeable extra sag but I already run OME Dakars with an extra leaf.

 

This is the bumper I recently ordered which is 3/16 steel.

https://www.4xinnovations.com/2005-2015-Tacoma-Bolt-On-Rear-Bumper_p_61.html

I called and spoke with them asking about the weight, and per the person I spoke with the weight of the plate bumper/hitch combo is equivalent to the weight of the stock bumper and hitch. It's also the only plate steel bumper with an integrated hitch that I've found which is actually tow rated, albeit only up to 5000 lbs. I personally don't mind the loss in tow capacity as I don't ever pull anything much more than 1200 to 1500 lbs. I'm expecting it to arrive within the next two weeks.

 

Has anyone actually weighed the stock rear bumper? It's wild to me that 3/16th bumper weighs the same as the stock bumper and rear hitch, though hitches tend to be heavy. Maybe I need to pull my stuff off and weigh it.

 

Per my phone call with 4x Innovations, the stock setup is 100-110 lbs more or less. I kind of tripped out myself when they said that the plate bumper was comparable in weight to the stock bumper and hitch. I'll just have to see for myself when it arrives!

 

$1400 for a rear bumper. Not a fugging chance.