I have been wanting to pick up a rear bumper/tire carrier, as well as a winch and front bumper since the day I bought my 4Runner. I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted, and I have become more and more conscious of adding unnecessary weight to the truck. I ended up with a LoPro front bumper from C4 Fabrications.
Here's the front end tore apart.
Thankfully, as a southern vehicle its whole life, there was no rusted hardware, and all nuts and bolts came right off.
Here is the finished product, with a Warn M8000 winch.
Installation was fairly easy, except for a few issues. First, I found out the hard way that the bumper will not accept a roller fairlead--hawse only. Not a big deal, but another $50 I wasn't expecting to spend. Also--and this isn't a dig against C4--there wasn't much room for the separate solenoid. The description states that the bumper is designed for winches with separate solenoid, and that some integrated solenoid winches may fit. There looks like plenty of room for an integrated solenoid, and if I ever get another winch, I'll get an integrated model. Overall it was a pretty easy install, and it is a very well built bumper--two thumbs up.
Getting the winch un-spooled and re-spooled under tension.
Now for the back. I know there will be plenty who think I should have gone with a full bumper, and I won't disagree. But what I was looking for was something as light as possible, while still doing the job--which was to get the spare out from under the truck. So I ended up with a Wilco Hitchgate.
This gives me the option of a second spare (not likely necessary), and easier access to the spare should I need it while on the trail in an awkward position. I also wanted a place to mount some of my tools, such as a shovel and ax (working on that now). It's very well made, and doesn't move at all. I wish it sat an inch or so closer to the bumper, but I'm not doing any hard core rock crawling with it, so I'm not worried about my loss of departure angle. Plus I can remove the whole thing when I don't need it, or move it to another vehicle.
I fabbed up a license plate bracket, and am working on the tool carrier, as well as a Jerry can holder.
I have a few more things to knock out before the Appalachian Toyota Roundup in two weeks, but these were two big things.
Here's the front end tore apart.
Thankfully, as a southern vehicle its whole life, there was no rusted hardware, and all nuts and bolts came right off.
Here is the finished product, with a Warn M8000 winch.
Installation was fairly easy, except for a few issues. First, I found out the hard way that the bumper will not accept a roller fairlead--hawse only. Not a big deal, but another $50 I wasn't expecting to spend. Also--and this isn't a dig against C4--there wasn't much room for the separate solenoid. The description states that the bumper is designed for winches with separate solenoid, and that some integrated solenoid winches may fit. There looks like plenty of room for an integrated solenoid, and if I ever get another winch, I'll get an integrated model. Overall it was a pretty easy install, and it is a very well built bumper--two thumbs up.
Getting the winch un-spooled and re-spooled under tension.
Now for the back. I know there will be plenty who think I should have gone with a full bumper, and I won't disagree. But what I was looking for was something as light as possible, while still doing the job--which was to get the spare out from under the truck. So I ended up with a Wilco Hitchgate.
This gives me the option of a second spare (not likely necessary), and easier access to the spare should I need it while on the trail in an awkward position. I also wanted a place to mount some of my tools, such as a shovel and ax (working on that now). It's very well made, and doesn't move at all. I wish it sat an inch or so closer to the bumper, but I'm not doing any hard core rock crawling with it, so I'm not worried about my loss of departure angle. Plus I can remove the whole thing when I don't need it, or move it to another vehicle.
I fabbed up a license plate bracket, and am working on the tool carrier, as well as a Jerry can holder.
I have a few more things to knock out before the Appalachian Toyota Roundup in two weeks, but these were two big things.
