ARB front bumper, question about mounting brackets (1 Viewer)

[aviafx]

Hey mud -

How do the mounting brackets that the bumper bolts to attach to the frame? Do they use the existing OEM bumper horns as well as bolt holes on the top of the frame rail? Haven't had much luck looking for images of just the brackets mounted up. My horns are removed as I have a 4plus front bumper on the truck, it's a great bumper but @evilorgoodtwin's recent post has me thinking about protection from running into a deer.

 

[GeologistFelix]

The main bar of the ARB is above the framerails, which I think is 99% of why it uses the OEM brackets, but even without that part, it's probably going to do fine with a deer; maybe not so much if you t-bone a Prius at 40 miles an hour. I'm running an ARB without the stock brackets, just the main bolts to the framerails, since I tore those brackets off to get my ugly, pre-ARB winch carrier to fit. Without those brackets, it's clearly still very stout, but I can't imagine it's as strong as with everything fully triangulated. I'd like to fix this at some point, but it'll wait until I have some basic fab tools, which is 'finish grad school, get grownup job, buy house with garage' years away. Or get somebody's takeoffs if they show up on the classified. That would work, too.

 

[brian]

it's designed to handle a roo, so a deer would handled well.

 

[klinetime574]

@aviafx

Like this

^ Passenger side frame rail from where the winch would be, and the next photo is the driver side frame rail from outside.

Note this is a new style ARB on my May of 1984 FJ60.

 

[aviafx]

@aviafx

Like this

View attachment 2147934

^ Passenger side frame rail from where the winch would be, and the next photo is the driver side frame rail from outside.

View attachment 2147936

Note this is a new style ARB on my May of 1984 FJ60.

Thanks for the photos. Are there bolts through the bottom of the bracket/frame?

 

[klinetime574]

Thanks for the photos. Are there bolts through the bottom of the bracket/frame?

Yes. My bad. Forgot to take pics of that.

 

[GeologistFelix]

Yeah, I can't see those being crucial for handling a deer. I could see a side impact to the bumper trying to twist the ends of the frame without those bracket, but that ~1/8" sheet metal, with those big (admittedly, metal) spacers and long bolts really couldn't contribute that much to the strength of the bumper. Hm.

 

[klinetime574]

The spacers are only used on the FJ60 frame. The FJ62 has a taller front bumper. Those frame horns are definitely not super beefy. I bent my stock bumper and it bent those frame horns easily. I’m sure you can tell in the pics. Either way 6 bolts > 4 bolts, but I concur they probably don’t do much.