Grill guard / bumper guard Tacoma 1st gen.

what will be a good grill guard or more a bumper for my 2001 4 door Tacoma prerunner that is not 4x4 I really like the ones for fwd but I think there are to heavy for my rwd. Any suggestions?

 

I wouldn’t get a pull bar or grill guard if you plan on any kind of off roading, if all you do is take your truck to the mall then go ahead and get one, not that in accident they tend to be damage multipliers to your car. You can get a plate or tube bumper for your truck. They tend to be on the really heavy side, but some ome 881 or 883 would help with that depending on how heavy of a bumper you went with. Do you plan on lifting your truck as well?

 

Not planning on doing a lift since it’s not really for off-roading just my daily driver, although I put some rancho quick lift shocks and it did lift my truck about 2” more, just looking for protection against bad drivers and a few deers

 

Then a grill guard or bull bar wont help. It will just cause more damage

 

Plate bumpers can weigh 100-200 pounds depending on configuration and require heavier coils. The quick lifts may help a little bit but its still gonna sag and hit bumpstops hard. If i were you i would go with a strong tube bumper to save some weight. When i say tube i dont mean a crappy bull bar or grille guard either, like good dom tubing.

 

@MurderedTacoV2 thanks 4 the advise

 

Like this, mine is 65 pounds but go to the armor thread and look at the post there, our thetr is a bumper thread here in the 1st gen section

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ith-metal-bumpers.543152/page-3#post-17721317

 

The Coastal Offroad DIY Bumper kit is a plate bumper but is super low profile. This keeps the weight down to around 80lbs:

https://www.coastaloffroad.com/product-page/copy-of-3rd-gen-4runner-high-clearance-plate-bumper

IMG_5265 by Brandon Faliszewski, on Flickr

IMG_5300 by Brandon Faliszewski, on Flickr

 

How many pieces did it come as? How work intensive was the kit? I have a mig, but I'm novice at best.

 

I don't know the number of pieces off the top of my head but with everything perfectly CNC cut, it fits together really easily. No need to even touch the angle grinder besides beveling a couple edges before welding.


This is from the website FAQ page:

All of our bumpers are very simple to weld together and come with detailed instructions containing step by step guides and clear and concise diagrams. With all of the pieces precision cut by CNC and all mounting and accessory holes already cut, everything fits together like a puzzle. Simply remove the stock bumper, bolt the provided mounting plates to your frame, and start assembling the bumper piece by piece, starting from the vehicle frame and working outwards. The vehicle and the pieces themselves act as guides so there is no need for specialty welding jigs or tools.

In fact, long before I started Coastal Offroad, I designed and welded together the original prototype front bumper as my very first welding project (I am a mechanical engineer by trade). The welds were far from pretty but nearly 3 years later, that bumper is still installed on my personal vehicle as a testament to how robust and user-friendly these weld-together kits are. After countless winch pulls and direct impacts with rock faces, the bumper continues to perform.

 

link for those turn signals??

 

^^

 

do aftermarket bumper affect airbag deployment ?

 

no

There are no sensors or anything in the bumpers. The airbags are deployed using inertial sensors, and are independent of the bumper.

 

ARB claims that their bumper "works with the stock airbag sensors" but more than anything I think that just means that ARB is the only company that's paid to have the official testing done so that they can make that claim. I bet most if not all aftermarket bumpers still "work" with the airbag sensors, but to claim that they do you'd have to go through the proper channels and tests that ARB did. Most fab shops and small businesses aren't gonna do that.

 

DIY bumpers are totally doable. Good for a novice (like me). I would have preferred a bigger welder than my 125, but it (eventually) got the job done.

Keep in mind that when you go the low profile bumper route there is more than just bolting it on (after it's assembled). I relocated my washer fluid reservoir, and did a bunch of trimming to the body panels and fender liners.

Here's a link to my build thread of the CBI DIY kit, this should give you an idea of the work involved:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-1st-gen-tacoma-front-bumper.584372/

 

It is the Grote #45823 Signal light with the #92120 Grommet and #67050 Pigtail. The Triden EP35 Electronic Flasher can be swapped into the fuse panel to return the flashing speed back to stock (The LED's have a lower resistance value and will hyper flash as if there is a burnt out bulb).

 

They're required to test for airbags in Australia in order to sell them.