Bump it Offroad (BIO) rear bumper (1 Viewer)

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I installed a rear bumper and tire carrier from Bump It Offroad (BIO) over the weekend.

http://www.bumpitoffroad.com/

This was built as part of a group buy back in August of this year (2014). The bumper is the standard BIO 100-series Land Cruiser bolt-on bumper and tire carrier with the following customizations:

- single centered carrier arm
- capped ends on the bumper wings

I took delivery of the bumper in bare metal, and had it powder coated locally at Armor Coatings to match my Slee front bumper at a 60% gloss black finish.

http://www.armorslc.com/

It installed very easily, bolting up to the four 14 mm bolt holes on the main frame rails, with the wing supports bolting to four additional 14 mm holes forward of these. Attaching the wing supports to the bumper was tight and a little fiddly, but without too much harsh language. BIO includes four grade 10.9 14 mm bolts, and expects you to reuse the four factory bolts to fully mount the bumper. This is reasonable, but two of the four factory bolts are longer to accommodate the factory tow hook, and without full thread on these, you HAVE to use the tow hook. Although it is a small detail, I find this kind of silly with the presence of two massive tow points on the bumper, so I sourced two additional 14 mm bolts from my local hardware store (note that the chain big box stores did not carry metric sizes this large).

I cut down the factory mud flaps and reinstalled the mounts to close off the wheel wells at the bumper ends. Easy, effective, and I think it looks fine.

The carrier arm mounted on the spindle perfectly. I did have to dremel out a layer of powder coat to seat the bearing seal because the powder coater did not mask this area. Not a big deal, and definitely not an issue with the bumper itself.

I either lost both the zirk fitting for the spindle and the cotter pin for the bearing nut, or BIO failed to include them. Both were quick and easy to source, so no big deal there, either.

The tire mount is well designed, with adjustability for various sizes and offsets, as well as for the vertical position of the tire. Mine is mounted at the second-highest position. BIO included some big basic nuts for the wheel lugs, but I replaced these with actual Toyota lug nuts.
The TEQ emblem in the photos came from MUDder bhicks:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/BH3DPrinting

The carrier arm is secured with a spring loaded pin and a locking latch. Both installed without issue.

I have not wired the license plate light yet, but this will be very straight forward.

As with most of my opinions on the 100-series Cruisers and 100-series products, they are shaped by my experience owning, building and wheeling an FZJ80 for 11 years. I ran an original Slee rear bumper and tire carrier on my 80, loved it, and wanted to more or less recreate it for my LX470. In this context, my initial impressions of the BIO rear bumper are as follows:

- Well-built. Comparable to Slee products.
- The core design is clean, straight forward, functional, and aesthetically appealing.
- It's very sturdy and strong, but without excessive unneeded steel.
- The wing supports seem slightly less robust than those on my old 80-series Slee bumper, but I am confident that they are adequate for bashing.
- The carrier arm secures against a plastic plate with a pin and a latch. I am very confident that it will not rattle.
- The carrier is very tight to the body, although with plenty of clearance. I think this is a nice design. It also helps me fit the tight tolerance in my garage.
- My tailpipe and resonator are screaming to be cut off now. This will happen soon...

Mike at Bump It Offroad was a pleasure to work with, and I am very happy with the bumper.

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couple more pics to follow:
 
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@Hayes

Looks very nice and like a clean install. Really like the centered swing out too.

Couple questions if you don't mind:

1 - What is your opinion of the recovery points on the rear?

2 - Where did you source the M14 Class 10.9 hardware locally? I just happen to want to pick up a few.

I always get a kick out of your pictures (e.g. many with Kennecott in the background).
 
@Hayes

Looks very nice and like a clean install. Really like the centered swing out too.

Couple questions if you don't mind:

1 - What is your opinion of the recovery points on the rear?

2 - Where did you source the M14 Class 10.9 hardware locally? I just happen to want to pick up a few.

I always get a kick out of your pictures (e.g. many with Kennecott in the background).

The recovery points seem burly. They're tied directly to the bumper mount. Is there a reason to suspect otherwise?

I found 14 mm fine thread class 8.8 (~SAE grade 5) at Riverton Hardware, on Redwood road in Riverton. They didn't have 10.9 in fine thread, but for wing support the weak link is obviously the much smaller (8 mm?) bolts in the bumper side connection, or even the support subframe itself. An additional Class 10.9 bolt is not going to make the wing support any stronger. My bumper wings get one 10.9 and one 8.8 on each frame side connection. The main mounts used all 4 supplied class 10.9 bolts.

I'm at that mine every day... .
 
Thanks Ryan (@Hayes) - I hadn't seen any pics (other than the one you posted above) or mention of the BIOR rear being tied in, but you answered it.

Concerning the hardware, thanks for the reference. Been there many times, so I may check that out (but am looking for 10.9 if I can find them - otherwise I'll have to purchase online and probably pay more than I want).

You certainly have a nice build in the works - congratulations. Nice touch to get all the pieces PC'd the same color.
 
@SmoothLC ,
You might just ask the folks at Riverton Hardware if the can bring them in. They have a coarse thread 10.9 in 14 mm, and a huge variety of other sizes and specs. The absence of 10.9 14 mm fine thread seems like an oversight.
 
Yes, I'm current;y running a BIOR rear bumper with a Drawtite tow bar. While you can run an integrated BIOR rear bumper hitch, it reduces your towing capacity.

I am eventually going to go with a rear bumper, and I like the BIOR one. How much does it drop the towing down from 6,500 (I may want to use a trailer in the future)?
 
I am eventually going to go with a rear bumper, and I like the BIOR one. How much does it drop the towing down from 6,500 (I may want to use a trailer in the future)?

dubitup may know something more, but I don't think the integrated hitch is rated.
 
I have had my BIO front and rear bumpers for a number of years now.....towed everything from landscape trailers to enclosed trailers loaded with motorcycles and gear. I have yanked tractors, F150s and other Land Cruisers out of mud that was up to the frame.....I have dropped down off ledges onto bone jarring granite......and the bumpers have never let me down. The 2" receiver on my BIO has to be as strong or stronger than what was originally there as it ties directly to the frame rails. Tow weight is also typically determined MORE by your braking ability rather than actually being able to pull something. Hence, the Toyota Tundra pulling the SPACE SHUTTLE in advertisement...pulling it and getting up to speed is easy...stopping it is another story.

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...and after I put on rear BIOR bumper...I had my exhaust re-routed so it tucked up where spare tire used to go...then cut it off flush with bottom edge of bumper...but I left tow hook on that side...every little bit helps. :)
 
Would someone be able to post a video of how the tire carrier opens and closes?
 
I don't have a video, but the pivot is just an axle stub with bearings. Operation is very solid and smooth.

To open it you just release the latch (red handle) and pull up on the pin (black knob). A strut cartridge assists with the opening as well as keeps it open.
 

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