first gen 4runners with ARB bull bars

[bryan89]

can some of you guys with first gen 4runners (preferably ifs) and the ARB bull bar post up some pics?

i am having problems with the corners of my arb hitting the bottom of the front fenders, by the corner marker lights. its so tight to the point that its making road noise when i go over a bump and its rubbing paint off both parts. WTF?

i even put a washer spacer inbetween the frame and the bumper to space it down and one side has about 3/16" clearence and the other side is still touching the fender? WTF!?!?!?

im getting pissed off.
did i get a crooked bumper from ARB? my truck is all original, never been wrecked or anything so im pretty sure it aint my truck.

looking for pics of how much clearance you have and how its mounted to the bottom of your frame.

Thanks

 

[bryan89]

here is a decent side pic i found tooling through google image.

This http://www.google.com/imgres?q=88+4...w=186&start=160&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:160guy has plenty of clearance there.
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=88+4...w=186&start=160&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:160

 

[MaK92 4RnR]

Swimmerboy2112's 1986 4Runner Build-Up Thread - Page 119 - YotaTech Forums

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Bryan, lots of pics of mine (link in sig line) but I think the 84 and 85 bumpers are different so they probably won't be much help to you.

 

[80t0ylc]

here is a decent side pic i found tooling through google image.

This guy has plenty of clearance there.
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=88+4...w=186&start=160&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:160

If you read the article, the pic that comes up when you click on the link you provided has a 1" body lift. Look at the pic of before he put body lift on. It looks close - like you're talking about. Going to the link mak92 4RnR's provided in post #3 shows close too. Could be the nature of the beast.

 

[bryan89]

good catch.
yeah but close and wedged up in there are two different things. i mean it has some force on it. like it would be higher if the fender wasnt holding it down kind of contact.

and the other side is fine imo.

i dont know, i think it got tweaked or something either when shipping or during welding process. like it wasnt jigged right. or maybe moved it out of the jig before it was completely cooled and it warped up on them a little. too bad its been so long since i orderded it.

i will probably ratchet strap it to the floor somehow and try to jack the truck up to tweak it ever so slightly. i think a quarter inch would do it.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

You might try investing in a new set of body bushings from LC Engineering (or similar) if you haven't already replaced yours. I can't imagine that the OEM ones haven't compressed a bit over the years.

 

[toy4xfun]

the one on my wife's 95 is tight to the fenders like that. i can tell you from experience that the ARB Bull bar is one tough bumper, and i wish i had bought one for my truck instead of building one.

 

[pholife]

as mentioned above, new bushings helped....

ToyoTech559's 1988 4Runner Build-Up Thread - Page 13 - YotaTech Forums

 

[Devil's Slide Doug]

My guess is that either your body mount bushings are worn out and compressed or you have the wrong model. I have a 94 (different body style than yours) and the bumper is quite close to the fender. In fact when rockcrawling the bumper has flexed into the fender and dented it. I am not sure if it is frame/bushing flex or the bumper flexing when making contact with a rock or a little of both. I now have a 1" body lift and it is no longer an issue.

 

[bryan89]

thanks for the heads up on the body mounts. good idea.