Front bumpers without hoops (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Sep 26, 2012
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OK. This is a weird one.

Anyone with a front winch bumper without the hoops (particularly ARB, but any experience is helpful) notice any lack of front end protection?

All you guys who tend to smack into solid objects, please chime in.

I’m planning on adding a front bumper to my 2014 LC, mainly because all the deer in northern MN love me. This is not an exaggeration: I hit 4 in the first 3 years I was stationed here. And several since then, totaling the G truck once and earning me a reputation with my supervisors that did not want. They subsequently gave me a huge commercial-grade grille guard and while it worked to protect the truck, I found it to be a big, cumbersome eyesore.

I want to get the ARB deluxe bumper without the hoops. I like the cleaner look. And all the photos I’ve seen on their website make the one WITH the hoops look ginormous.

In my twisted way of thinking from a physics standpoint, any animal you hit *should* impact the bumper first, right? FYI: I got a ‘D’ in physics, so when chiming in, please explain your experiences to me as you would to a small child. 😎
 
Disclaimer: I don’t have an aftermarket bumper on my 200 yet. I did have a SDHQ tube bumper (without the bull bar) on a 2011 Raptor. Also had a ‘97 D90 with the factory bull bar front bumper. That bumper would be a lot like an ARB bull bumper. I never hit a deer with the Raptor but I did hit one in the Defender. I was going maybe 45, the deer contacted the front driver’s side corner and was swept under the truck. The only damage was a hoof creased the door sill.

My 2 cents; every little bit helps, but you could sustain damage with either style. Deer strikes are so varied, often they are just glancing blows. I’ve had one run straight into the side of the car. You could crack a headlight or grill, or even need a new bumper in either case if the accident is severe enough, so get the style that appeals to you.

Although with your record, you should probably get the bull bar with front quart protection! 😆
 
This is you @RandyDaytona

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Seems like your boss would want an Exocage like this one 😳

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My vehicles seem to like deer too. I’ve hit one in my LC with stock OEM which was bad but repairable ($25k damage). And one with my TJM (with hoops) with zero damage. When I hit the deer with the TGM, the Deers head was visible from the driver seat above the truck. Yeah, the Deer hit the lower bumper first but without the hoop the Deers head would’ve hit the hood of the vehicle, so in that one incident the hoop saved the truck, and I sustained zero damage. In fact, I just kept driving.

Any aftermarket bumper will be better than OEM for a deer strike. The big hoops are better than no hoops, but it doesn’t mean there’s 100% protection.
 
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The hoops certainly help and personally I find the ARB without the hoops goofy looking but that's just one mans opinion. All bumpers help to some degree in this scenario but like others have said, the impacts vary greatly and there's no fool proof solution.
 
I too prefer a clean look, but without a bull bar (or maybe a good stinger as a compromise) you are likely going to have severe damage with a deer strike. With a bull bar, the height should hopefully push the animal away or under the rig while a longer than stock bumper is even more likely to take out the animals legs as main contact will be the lower bumper, which makes the likelihood of the animal getting pushed onto your hood or windshield even higher. Basically you want contact above the legs into main mass to push the animal forward, if it is jumping, or you hit a tall moose, it may be bad news even with a bull bar.

I hit a big 5 point buck with a taller Tundra at night at 60 mph , and thankfully for my safety some dumb luck kept it from going through my windshield and somehow it only killed my one headlight, hood, bumper, grill and radiator. The damn think jumped into the road as I was passing it, and somehow it flew Rudolph style over my truck. My wife was driving behind me and saw it happen, glad it was me that hit it and not her in her 4runner.
 
OK. This is a weird one.

Anyone with a front winch bumper without the hoops (particularly ARB, but any experience is helpful) notice any lack of front end protection?

All you guys who tend to smack into solid objects, please chime in.

I’m planning on adding a front bumper to my 2014 LC, mainly because all the deer in northern MN love me. This is not an exaggeration: I hit 4 in the first 3 years I was stationed here. And several since then, totaling the G truck once and earning me a reputation with my supervisors that did not want. They subsequently gave me a huge commercial-grade grille guard and while it worked to protect the truck, I found it to be a big, cumbersome eyesore.

I want to get the ARB deluxe bumper without the hoops. I like the cleaner look. And all the photos I’ve seen on their website make the one WITH the hoops look ginormous.

In my twisted way of thinking from a physics standpoint, any animal you hit *should* impact the bumper first, right? FYI: I got a ‘D’ in physics, so when chiming in, please explain your experiences to me as you would to a small child. 😎

Yes you are correct, generally it hits the bumper first. Next it usually either rolls into your radiator or your front windshield.

How many times a year do you have animals run in front of your vehicle where you have to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting them? If none then you don't need a bull-bar/brush guard.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys!

Yeah, I think my boss would’ve covered my truck in reactive armor like tanks have if he had the chance. But work forced me to drive long distances at night in rural areas of northern MN and WI. They understood, but were never happy about it.

I suppose ARB wants their bars to look big, I.e. beefier and affording more protection. I did manage to find a photo where the bumper (minus the rails) looks more acceptable to me from a minimalist standpoint (below). I may go with that.

Pet peeve: one would think that for $2k, a company would have more a handful of stock photos of the item in question. I know some vendors have hundreds of customer photos. That would be nice to see from ARB.

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This one as well.

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@RandyDaytona I’m sure you already know this, but a light bar or some good accessory lights mounted on your bumper and wired into your brights will go a long ways towards avoiding a bunch of those deer.
 
Great phots and info. Thanks fellas!
A related question: can anyone recommend a good 4x4 shop where one could buy (for example) an ARB bumper and maybe some sliders and have them installed at once? A place that knows what they’re doing, is reputable, etc.

Maybe this should’ve gone under “stupid questions,” but I’m asking because when I had my rear bumper and aux tank installed, I followed the seller’s recommendation of a “specialized/preferred” vendor certified by them to do the work.

Not only was I was overcharged by quite a bit (compared to other experiences I’ve seen documented on the web) but the installer admitted to me that mine was only the second one he had done.

I’d like to try and avoid that this time around.
 
A related question: can anyone recommend a good 4x4 shop where one could buy (for example) an ARB bumper and maybe some sliders and have them installed at once? A place that knows what they’re doing, is reputable, etc.

Maybe this should’ve gone under “stupid questions,” but I’m asking because when I had my rear bumper and aux tank installed, I followed the seller’s recommendation of a “specialized/preferred” vendor certified by them to do the work.

Not only was I was overcharged by quite a bit (compared to other experiences I’ve seen documented on the web) but the installer admitted to me that mine was only the second one he had done.

I’d like to try and avoid that this time around.
 
I would add - travel is not a huge issue. I’m in MN, and though closer is obviously better, I’m willing to drive to the right place.
 
I’d recommend the bullbar - animal strikes is kinda what they’re for. I run one on mine (MetalTech Ghost Rider) for that reason alone. Lots of deer and elk in my area.
 
A related question: can anyone recommend a good 4x4 shop where one could buy (for example) an ARB bumper and maybe some sliders and have them installed at once? A place that knows what they’re doing, is reputable, etc.

Maybe this should’ve gone under “stupid questions,” but I’m asking because when I had my rear bumper and aux tank installed, I followed the seller’s recommendation of a “specialized/preferred” vendor certified by them to do the work.

Not only was I was overcharged by quite a bit (compared to other experiences I’ve seen documented on the web) but the installer admitted to me that mine was only the second one he had done.

I’d like to try and avoid that this time around.
It is a bit of a jaunt from MN but I would call Bryan at Mud Connection 4 x 4 in Little Rock, AR (501-562-6494). Their shop is loaded with Cruisers weekly including 60s, 80s, 100s and 200s and even some 70 series stuff. Customers bring rigs from all over the country.
 

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