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I'm with you 100%. While I would love to go all out with front/rear bumpers and what not, I have a lot of expenses that come first. For the forest trails I explore, a 1/4" steel HD bumper just isn't needed. I have TJM skids on my truck because there were a good improvement over stock and didn't break the bank.
I'll echo the jeep statement. More than once I've been insanely jealous at how little their mods cost. I guess economies of scale will do that for ya.
paulbgardner
SILVER Star
I think there are bumpers out there for people that want to kill bumpers. For me I saw this as a light weight alternative to the plastic tub bumper. It will probably take a pretty good beating but its not going to take hardcore rock crawling and bashing around. For me, I don't rock crawl that much in my rig so it is a good compromise. Better than plastic bumper, not as heavy as a tank. It is really all about the requirements you put on yourself and how you are building your rig. I have built my rig based on the requirements of my family and the style of travel we have grown into and this fit the bill perfectly. Even though this bumper was free for me, if it hadn't been what I wanted for my rig I would have 100% passed on it. My wife and I had plenty of discussions prior to going in on this deal to decide if it was the right thing to add to the truck at the time.
paulbgardner
SILVER Star
The gaps are because it is a prototype. They will be fixing those for the 100. Not sure about the LX
paulbgardner
SILVER Star
Just an aside, the Trekboxx was and still is the single best thing I ever added to my truck. I use it every day.
paulbgardner
SILVER Star
By the way, if any socal folks want to check out the bumper in person I am always willing to drive around. I will be in the San Diego area all day tomorrow and in Pasadena the rest of the time. I am thinking about doing a cruisers and coffee for the local Newbs in the San Gabriel Valley.
I'm down for an SGV meet.
Just received confirmation from marketing on the prices.
100 Series T17 front bumper #074ST17A81Z - $749.99
100 Series Winch Frame #957MTT1781Z - $154.95
Arrival time is mid May.
100 Series T17 front bumper #074ST17A81Z - $749.99
100 Series Winch Frame #957MTT1781Z - $154.95
Arrival time is mid May.
Shipping from / pickup location?
I am in TN an interested if Joe builds bumpers for anyone or just a one off for you?
They will be available through TJM's dealer network. Just call (888) 909-4856 and our sales and marketing staff can direct you.
@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?
EDIT: Any idea how much the bumper weighs?
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The mounting brackets and bumper are the same basic design as the old T17. So the air bag compliance should be similar, but we haven't done any actual testing on it. TJM does all their own air bag compliance testing in house in Australia.
The bumper weighs about 85 lbs. and the winch frame is about 20 lbs.
DirtDawg
"It'd be alot cooler if you did"
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 , 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.
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.
DirtDawg
"It'd be alot cooler if you did"
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.
Smaller companies like slee and dissent don't have the financials or equipment to crash test their bumpers, but understand that the end user is looking for protection and quality, so that is what they produce. The only difference between the ARB/TJM and the other aftermarket bumpers is the "crush" zones on the mounting structure of the bumpers. This still leave the crush zones on the actual vehicle frame and any others that the toyota engineers provided. I have still seen airbags deploy on almost all aftermarket bumpers under the right conditions (Both from my experience in the LC and 4Runner world). I have also seen airbags not deploy from too-flimsy of bumpers installed.
So in the end, TJM and ARB are airbag compliant because they can afford to be. I would honestly feel safer putting my loved ones behind any aftermarket bumper, because I know it will provide ample protection over stock. But I would not simply rule out a bumper because it hasn't been tested to be airbag compliant unless you were in a region that specified this requirement (AUS). Even then is that requirement only on SRS vehicles?
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....
. 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....
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Here is an old TJM video showing their testing years ago. It has gotten a lot more sophisticated since then.
benc
Supporting Vendor
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
Its a free country with no legislation on this, so you can put on whatever your heart pleases....
IMHO, a bumper that is designed to collapse with more rigid frame mounts is a better option than a bumper that is more rigid and has crumple frame mounts, especially on a winch bumper. Just my 2cents from the research I have done.
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whitenoise: Excellent logic. Have often thought about this topic, but had a lack of "engineered" logic (true or false) to fully understand.
Benc: also a good point that I have often discussed w. my peers. Back in "the day" when I was toying with idea of designing a custom bumper for my wagoneer (flame on) or, later, my 60, I contemplated wood (railroad ties or ?) along with rubber mounts in shear (engineered by me as I used to do those calcs) as the basis. That way, the rubber will handle low speed impact, and the wood is sacrafised on larger impacts, thus protecting the frame. Last thing one wants is a super stiff bumper as then the frame get's all the load = bent = totaled (most of the time). Other main factors are fatigue as well as dynamic loads (as in avoiding harmonic amplification due to washboard/pavement seams). Again, played in that space as an engineer in a galaxy far away
(no pun there either).
That's all the news that's not fit to print......your friendly OCD-dreaming-used to be engineer
Benc: also a good point that I have often discussed w. my peers. Back in "the day" when I was toying with idea of designing a custom bumper for my wagoneer (flame on) or, later, my 60, I contemplated wood (railroad ties or ?) along with rubber mounts in shear (engineered by me as I used to do those calcs) as the basis. That way, the rubber will handle low speed impact, and the wood is sacrafised on larger impacts, thus protecting the frame. Last thing one wants is a super stiff bumper as then the frame get's all the load = bent = totaled (most of the time). Other main factors are fatigue as well as dynamic loads (as in avoiding harmonic amplification due to washboard/pavement seams). Again, played in that space as an engineer in a galaxy far away
(no pun there either).That's all the news that's not fit to print......your friendly OCD-dreaming-used to be engineer
