Fitment on 95-97 Aftermarket Bumpers

Hey! I'm planning on buying a plate bumper for my 96 tacoma and have narrowed it down to the True North Plate Bumper.

https://www.truenorthfabrications.com/product-page/96-02-4runner-plate-bumper-welded

In doing some more research though, I found that some bumpers have a gap when ran on a 95-97 (see thread below, that looks awful and its on a 98-00)

I also saw that 4xinnovations makes a specific 95-97 bumper which kind of surprised me because I figured 95-00 would pretty much be the same.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/all-pro-apex-bumper-fitment.522878/

Would I have an issue fitting the true north bumper without having the fitment be wonky? It's based around a 3rd gen which I think is most similar to the 98-00. The instructions say to cut 2" off the frame rail but from what I understand, the 95-97 tacoma is already shortened that much.

 

If you bring the bumper that far back will it rub on the tires?

My arb had extensions for a different year truck, mine was a 99 and it fits inside the grille by an inch or so.

 

Oh no, I meant that the instructions say to cut 2 inches off the 4runner frame. From my research, I believe the 95-97 and 01-04 frames are already shorter and the 98-00 frame is longer like the 4runner.

 

Did you ever figure anything out on this? I'm looking to get a bumper for my 95.5 as well and narrowed it down to the True North or Coastal WIY kits. But can't really find any examples on the 95-97 front ends.

 

IIRC, the 95 to 97 frame does not have crush boxes. Having built and installed a few Flatland 4X4 plate front bumpers these things are not light.

 

They don't. The grilles are also pretty shallow and flat compared to the 01+ and I'm worried there will be a large gap and look weird.