The 1986 FJ60 that I recently bought has these humongous custom bumpers on it. I just weighed the front one and it alone is 165 lbs. I suspect the rear one is almost that much because it has a tire carrier. Although part of me wants to put them back on, I also have the stock bumpers which are in great shape. We plan to use this rig mostly as a daily driver (not a rock climber). Thus, I am agonizing over whether packing the extra 300 lbs around is worth it. I do want to add a lift and go to 33 inch tires very soon and if I keep the big bumper, I will have to go heavy duty. I see a lot of aftermarket bumpers in the catalogs, but they do not give the weights. Are my bumpers in the range with the aftermarkets in regard to weight? How much do the commercial ones weigh? (ballpark range).
165 lb bumper
- Thread starter Heartworm
- Start date
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The most common aftermarket bumper is sold by ARB. It is light enough that is can be lifted and installed by one person. I'm guessing 70-80 pounds without a winch installed. That same bumper will knock down deer like nobody's business. Often you will read stories of how "I smashed somebodies car when they pulled out in front of me with only a couple scratches on my ARB". IMHO an ARB is worth more than it's weight in gold. Without a picture of what you have it's harder to say...
HTH,
Nick
HTH,
Nick
the best way to know whether to keep them or take em off is to test drive. See how much front end plow you get when braking and check the distances. How does it handle in emergency situations? How bad does the MPG suffer? Does the truck lag when merging into the expressway?Post your location so somebody could volunteer to test drive your truck and tell you their impressions on how your 60 handles. Don't forget to post your findings here.
- Thread starter
- #4
thanks
I appreciate the help. I am planning to put a layer of POR-15 on it to keep it in shape but I will install the stock bumpers for now. The engine is at the rebuilders and the carb/distributor are at Jim Cs, so I cannot drive it right now. In fact, I have never driven an FJ60 as I bought this one with a bad motor. (I have a good FJ40) One front shock absorber is toast so I will be dealing with suspension issues. I need to get past the engine issue before I move to other things but I am trying to get as much done as I can while everything is easy to get to.
I appreciate the help. I am planning to put a layer of POR-15 on it to keep it in shape but I will install the stock bumpers for now. The engine is at the rebuilders and the carb/distributor are at Jim Cs, so I cannot drive it right now. In fact, I have never driven an FJ60 as I bought this one with a bad motor. (I have a good FJ40) One front shock absorber is toast so I will be dealing with suspension issues. I need to get past the engine issue before I move to other things but I am trying to get as much done as I can while everything is easy to get to.
