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For a little perspective consider how many folks don't buy anything at all to mod their 100 series because the "Entry Cost" for a bare bones front bumper is $1200+? Rear bumper? $2500+. Sliders? $900+.
I'm a huge car-mod guy, but I'm nearly in the category of people who struggle to justify the costs of 100 series mods. Modding 100 series vehicles is expensive as hell. A set of decent bumpers and sliders is $5k. Tell that to a Wrangler owner and they'll laugh all the way to their bank... which still has funds in it because their bumpers and sliders cost half as much as ours. Some low-end offerings don't hurt the 100 market, but may actually strengthen it because some less "hardcore" and/or wealthy people can have fun modding the 100 and get into the hobby/lifestyle. Mods which, for many other platforms, can be bought for 50% of what 100 series owners face.
1/8" shell? No wonder it can be picked up with one hand. I hope you guys engineered the sh*t out of those internal braces/gussets. I wonder how long it'll take for me to kill this bumper. But for $750 I'll definitely try it!
Perhaps I wasn't as clear as I could have been. In looking at paulbgardners post 18 on page 1, I see it mounted to a land cruiser and showing some gaps. I think the curves on my LX are different. So I'm wondering if I will see more gap or less gap. Or perhaps there will be an LX specific version made available.
If you follow the details the bumper on paulgardners LC was a prototype and was scanned on the truck after install so the could make changes and as PhilmDamon stated the design was adjusted to fill those gaps.
At the end of the day I don't think Slee or Dissent will be effected by this bumper... some will see the benefits of thicker gauge and structure
and won't blink about the price and there are many that price will be the determining factor just like the company's making drawer systems.
You have Trekboxx at the top of the market and are not effected by all the less expensive systems. BTW paulgardner has the $4600 Trekboxx
in the back of his LC.
How pertinent....? It is Sunday and I happen to be sitting in a hotel, waiting to be at Slee to pick up my Blueberry first thing in the morning. I really did follow this thread closely. I did a cross country trip and planned my swing by Slee on the way home for a reason. I really do like seeing these places in person. I read this thread and came away saying these are Apples and Oranges. A 1/8'' bumper should not be compared to a 3/16" like they are equal.
That being said, I do enjoy the relationship using "local" guys. Trail Tailor built an awesome roof rack for me...I love it and he is a great guy. Joe Williams, out of Tennessee, built my rear bumper...super build and great guy.
And now, I look forward to seeing the Slee shop....knowing good and well they wont be as excited to see me as I will be to see them.
This car hobby is a great thing...no losers. We all win for doing what we love.
They will be available through TJM's dealer network. Just call (888) 909-4856 and our sales and marketing staff can direct you.Shipping from / pickup location?
@Phil Damon , will this new bumper be airbag-compliant like the TJM 100 series bullbars sold in Australia? I know this is not a legal requirement in the States, but if your company has already designed a compliant bar and/or paid for crash simulation and testing work, it would certainly make sense to take advantage of that.
EDIT: Any idea how much the bumper weighs?
Another thing to take into consideration is that the impact sensors that trigger the airbags are not mounted to the bumper. So any aftermarket bumper for the 100 series is "airbag compliant".@Phil Damon , will this new bumper be airbag-compliant like the TJM 100 series bullbars sold in Australia? I know this is not a legal requirement in the States, but if your company has already designed a compliant bar and/or paid for crash simulation and testing work, it would certainly make sense to take advantage of that.
EDIT: Any idea how much the bumper weighs?
The stock front bumper is also only one zone of the crash or crumple section. The whole front end (subframe, fenders, etc) are all designed for what you are stating. The plastic front bumper and subframe provide very little protection as is. I was under the impression that the airbags deployed if the decel rate was faster than the specified rate by toyota engineers. All aftermarket bumpers would just cause that decel rate to increase, still deploying the air bags. At least this is the way I understand it, but I am far from educated on the matter. And with the accelerometer located in the center dash, I have faith that any significant frontal impact will deploy the air bags.@Phil Damon , thank you very much for the answers. Are you 100% sure about the weight? I remember @benc Dissent bumper to be 85 lbs WITH a winch mount?
And for those that aren't aware, the airbag compatibility is a legal requirement in Australia, where these types are mods are much more commonplace and thus, definitely on the radar of the regulatory agencies. @DirtDawg It doesnt matter where the sensors are mounted. The airbag sensor, or sensors as the case maybe, are calibrated carefully to the "crash pulse" of the stock vehicle FPS (frontal protection system). The crash pulse is nothing but a deceleration profile at various points along the length of the vehicle. It's deceleration that kills or injures occupants and that decel is managed carefully by designing the front structure to absorb crash energy in a controlled manner (see any slow-mo video of a crash test to understand how this works in practice). The OEM bumper is a big part of this system. When you change the bumper, and replace it with a chunk of steel, it changes the crash pulse and thus the airbags may not deploy in the intended time because the sensors aren't calibrated to the new bumper.
So front bumper design, if done with these legal (and maybe even moral) considerations in mind, is a delicate balance between providing adequate low-speed strength for animal strikes / rock crawling etc, while not compromising the crash performance at high speeds. ARB (and now it looks like, TJM) do the requisite testing so that the crash pulse is unchanged from the OEM one, hence in theory at least, it is safer. Since its not a legal requirement here in the US, how much you care about this is up to your conscience.
I believe for the most part the air bags would deploy slightly faster in either situation, the difference is the amount of force the passengers would feel before the airbags deploy. The more rigid the bumper the more force to the passenger, however, I believe with every after market bumper I have seen for the 100 series the difference would be very minimal.Yes, airbag compliance only matters on airbag-equipped vehicles . The whole front end, including the front bumper, is designed to work as a system. Any time you change any part of the system, the airbag deployment changes. In a low-speed or low-decel situation this might mean quicker deployment than a stock bumper, which is consistent with your observation of "I have also seen airbags not deploy from too-flimsy of bumpers installed." In a high-speed or high-decel impact situation however, the opposite could be true, and there are examples out of Australia where this was a big issue at some point. So it depends on the vehicle to some extent.
Its a free country with no legislation on this, so you can put on whatever your heart pleases....