Thoughts on Trail Tailor Armor
At this point I've had a few month of experience with the Trail Tailor Rear Bumper (sorry, kids, not available until a year or so from now assuming Jason decides to design another) and a handful of outings with the front bumper. One of my favorite aspects of this hobby is getting to do business with people who are both passionate and extremely good at what they do. I put Jason (Trail Tailor), David (Trekboxx), and the entire Valley Hybrids / Cruiser Brothers crew in that category, among others. It makes it a bit easier to part with hundreds (thousands!?) of dollars when you have confidence that you're going to get your problem solved and products/services that are simultaneously expensive yet a good value.
Late last July, I drove by a car wash in Moab and noticed a 200 in one of the bays. Immediately, I recognized it as Tony's truck no more than a few months after the initial round of armor went on. I'd like to say I was impressed with the build quality, etc. but I actually didn't know what I was looking for but had to admit it a.) looked good, and b.) seemed to provide a lot of storage/utility. Also, Tony seemed to be happy with it.
Next, over the course of 2-3 days, I saw Tony put full faith in his armor time and time again. Is that a three foot ledge where we can't see the bottom because it's covered in tepid water? No problem, let's just nose dive this front bumper right into the ground. I remember the sound of scraping metal more than image. To be fair, Mark's Slee+TJM setup faired very well and I'm a fan of Slee's shop and Amory's knowledge/service/advice but the reality is at that time there were no 16+ bumpers I liked and Slee wasn't quite ready to ship their rear for installs outside the shop.
Breckenridge didn't really have much to test armor aside from skids and sliders, but I made up my mind after last summer to reach out to Jason regarding a hidden winch mount and a rear bumper.
Rear Bumper
The rear bumper came first and even in its original form it exceeded expectations. It was rock-solid, the wings attached to the frame, and it gave me the option to finally carry water outside the vehicle. I also valued the utility of being able to run spares on either side plus a tray or spares on both sides. The bumper-mounted camp lights solved another problem I had as well. Feature-wise, the bumper had everything I wanted. I also appreciated how Jason worked in the factory parking sensors which I know can be a bit of a challenge.
There were a couple minor issues with the bumper in its original form that Jason addressed while the truck was in for the hidden winch mount R&D (which turned into a front bumper install). One issue was that the locking strut mechanisms made it difficult to close and lock both arms. Jason was already aware of this potential issue and offered to install some locking pins. The locking pins completely solved the problem. The second issue was that the tailgate was dangerously close to the bumper. This was resolved by installing some small spacer blocks between the bumper and rear crossmember.
I've yet to smash the bumper on any rocks as I don't really seek out technical terrain but have full confidence that the bumper would be the least of my worries. Finally, going back to the main reason I wanted a bumper in the first place, the setup excels in auxiliary storage options. The tray itself takes 3 jerry cans and I also have my shovel mounted via a Quickfist mount. The arm frames could also house additional accessories if one is so inclined. In Baja, I had my second spare tire, a set of Maxtrax, a Trasharoo loaded with firewood, 130 lbs water, a shovel, and a camp light bar attached to the bumper and had zero failures over 2500 miles of travel including multiple high speed drives over washboards and whoops where the 8500 lb truck saw a bit of error.
In general I think a rear bumper is a necessary mod for any vehicle that needs to split the balance between carrying additional gear for backcountry trips and relevant protection for technical trails.
Skid Plates
Protecting my rear shocks has been a constant area of minor concern for the life of the vehicle. I lost my BP-51 protection on the first trip out and since had been concerned with minding the shocks while driving. I decided it was time to commit to an improvement after my redesigned BP-51 guards broke as well. I asked Jason to make a simple skid and he ended up designing a bombproof solution that protects the shock and the mounting bolt. I'm super-happy with the solution and look forward to not worrying about busting my shock bolts.
Hidden Winch Mount turned Front Bumper
It's old news now in terms of the build but I ultimately ended up with a full front bumper from Trail Tailor instead of a Hidden Winch Mount. However, my very first communications with Jason were related putting together a state-side hidden winch mount solution for this community. People have had mixed results with the Asfir option and I knew Jason wouldn't do it unless it was it was a complete solution.
After Baja, the truck went back up to Redding for a few weeks of R&D focused on both the hidden winch mount and the 16+ bumper. Well, once I saw the truck modeling the 16+ bumper I decided that I had to go that direction. I loved the idea of added protection in the front, had continued to have issues with 34s rubbing, and wanted a better platform for a light bar than the roof. The integration of Baja Designs lighting solutions sold it for me as I've had nothing but good luck with their lights for many years.
I have zero complaints thus far with the front bumper. Like the rear, it kept the parking sensors. The forward camera still works without a hitch, and the Baja Designs Squadrons wired directly into the factory fog light harness. There's ample room for a winch (I have a Comeup 9.5 in there). The overall design and geometry is both practical and aesthetically pleasing.
In terms of the winch, in hindsight I kind of wish I'd gone with one of the integrated units from Comeup or a Warn Zeon series. The winch controller fit easily enough behind the grill but I'd have preferred to not block any airlow (though I doubt it's blocking enough to be concerned.
Working with Trail Tailor
I feel like it's easy to see Jason's output on the mud forums but his high levels of customer service, stellar communication, and general good-guy-ness tend to not be as visible until you work with him. Since he used my truck for R&D for both the 16+ front and rear, my truck has been at his shop for 6-8 weeks in 2018 and I never felt like he took that time for granted. I got frequent updates, photos, and he valued my time traveling to and from Redding. I was also always impressed that Jason would remember every single tiny, small piece of feedback or verbal request and integrated it into the work. Early on in the rear build, I mentioned that I was thinking about mounting a table behind the spare tire mount. I assumed he'd forgotten all about it but when I visited to pick up the truck he grabbed a Frontrunner table from his pile of goodies and told me about how he had tried to fit it but there just wasn't room with the clearance.
Anyway, I hope folks enjoy the shock skids, hidden winch mount, and 16+ gear that my truck played a small role in helping Jason bring to market.
Prior to Telluride/Ouray, we're taking the long way via Palm Springs, Tucson, Ojo Caliente, and Pagosa springs and hope to find some more technical terrain en route or in the San Juans. If nothing else, I'll go scrape the bumpers on some Sierra Granite in late summer.
