Heavy Duty Front Bumper

Hey yall,
I just got into an accident not too long ago because a deer ran in front of me. I would've just hit it if it wasn't going to total my truck. I was going about 75mph, and the deer ran full sprint in the road. I ended up running off into a ditch and jumped a driveway. Luckily, only some minor suspension damage was caused, and the taco will be back on the road soon. Anyway, I'm looking for a good-quality heavy-duty front bumper to just hit the deer if that ever happens again. Does anyone have any good options?

 

Something will full height hoops would likely be your best bet. Backwoods Adventure Mods has this one and it's a mix of aluminum and steel, likely your best bet if you want something not terribly heavy. https://backwoodsadventuremods.com/products/2016-tacoma-hi-lite-overland-front-bumper-bull-bar

 

I would go ARB since it’s crash tested

 

I do like that one. I've been looking at possibly getting this one. https://rcimetalworks.com/product/2...wdercoat&attribute_pa_hoop-options=full-hoops

 

Check out our Stealth Bumper, we offer both a bull bar and no bull bar option. We designed the bumper with fitment and strength in mind, you get a bumper that truly fits the body of the vehicle while also getting a strong and durable piece of armor that can tackle just about everything you throw at it... including protecting the vehicle from oncoming deer in this case!

We are also running our 15% off sale for the month of November!

Here is the link to the stealth bumper. please let me know if you have any questions! https://caliraisedled.com/products/stealth-bumper-for-2016-2023-tacoma

 

Although I do like it, I'm looking for more of a full hoop setup.

 

I'm going to second an ARB bumper. They're actually rated for crashes and to work properly with your vehicle's air bags.


https://expeditionportal.com/arb-bumper-review/

Impact Protection

Unsurprisingly, the biggest benefit of an ARB bumper is improved safety for you and your passengers, which is achieved in three main ways.

• First and foremost, the reinforced design protects the radiator, engine, and other vital components from damage in the event of an animal strike. This greatly reduces the chance of you being stranded with a disabled vehicle in some remote corner of the world.
• Second, the bumper is shaped to push an animal or other object underneath and to the sides of the chassis. This discourages any debris from rolling up onto the hood or into the windshield, where it could potentially harm the driver or passenger.
• Finally, ARB designs each one of their bull bars to match the vehicle’s factory crush rate, and then tests them in actual crash labs. This is ARB’s trump card in the world of bumpers. Instead of throwing a mess of steel onto the front of your truck and hoping for the best, their engineers work tirelessly to retain the critical crash pulse matched to your airbag system, thus eliminating the chance of an unnecessary or failed deployment.

 

Thought I'd give yall an update on what I am going to go with. https://store.arbusa.com/summit-mki...ear=2021&Make=Toyota&Model=Tacoma&Submodel=SR
The style of it is exactly what I wanted and from what I've read is very high quality. Seems like a no-brainer

 

Just shot you a PM @Willt2006

 

A bumper is not likely to survive a 70 mph collision with a deer. I suggest you search the web for pictures of bumpers after a high speed big animal collision.

That said, the ARB bumper is the only one advertised to survive large animal collisions, albeit I don’t think they include a speed limit. Hiway speeds are likely above and beyond its ability.

 

ARB is the only one designed for animal strikes, that's why the headlight hoops are twice as beefy as everyone else's, while lacking recovery points and shackle mounts.

Like gudujarlson said, ARB bumper will not let your truck come out scathed hitting a deer at 70 mph. The crash energy involved is just too great. The bumper may in fact survive with little damage, but your truck's frame will crumple at the crumple zones and be a write-off. IIHS crash testing is done at only 45 mph.

 

This thread might help you make a more informed decision. It’s long, but I read the whole thing while I was searching for a bumper for the same reason as you and it has a lot of very useful information.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/plate-bumpers-after-impact-with-pics.379600/

The consensus seems to be ARB is the absolute best, but you sacrifice looks and useful fog lights. Demello Off Road seems to make a good steel option. I also looked at the Backwoods Hi Lite bumper but I imagine it wouldn’t stand up to an animal strike very well since it’s largely aluminum (hence the light weight). Demello’s full hoop bumper wasn’t too insanely heavy for being full steel.

 

If you decide to go with the ARB here is a set of brackets that allows you to add real fog lights
https://www.paranoidfabrications.com/products/arb-summit-style-baja-designs-light-brackets-set-of-2
I am using the Baja designs brackets, but am looking at swapping my lights for a set of SAE Diode Dynamics. Good thing the brackets are only like $30

 

I have brackets to run BD lights as well. I went round instead of cube to match the opening better.

 

I used to live in elk country brother.
At the Helm made mine and I really like it. Great build quality, shorter lead times than most. Looks as good as C4’s but costs way less




Also I love ARB bumpers but theirs sticks out on the 3rd gen like a torpedo

 

Here is an example of a Taco with a bumper hitting a elk at hiway speed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=872WWcUoqpY

 

It sticks out far, and isn’t the greatest for clearance, but is unmatched in terms of protection

I sold mine for a pelfreybilt because I wanted to have better clearance up front for hard trails, but for 99% of people I think the arb is a better bumper