Need pics, ideas for a winch bumper - plate... not tube (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Jun 22, 2005
Threads
164
Messages
2,758
Location
Atlanta
Website
www.stokesignals.agency
The early Toyota Pickup Truck world doesn't need another tube bumper - there are plenty (!) of options out there. But, it seems the choices in the plate bumpers are pretty limited. I have some friends who are considering making one - one to sell... they're a Toyota Land Cruiser and Truck shop. They have a full-time fabricator and all the cool tools to do this - right down to powder coating. But... the market may be too small. We'll see.

We ARE making at least one - mine ;) So, now I need to give them an idea what that should look like. They have enough other bumpers - ARB, Warn, Dissent, IronMan - on other Toyotas floating around the shop - they can reverse-engineer the backside, e.g. mounting, winch support, etc.

Thoughts:
- Should look like it was designed FOR these trucks... not adapted TO these trucks from some other truck. That means the scale has to be right, e.g no giant snowplow looking profile, a grille guard that matches the lines of the grille and lights
- Cutouts to accept the OEM bumper lights - the small rectangle lights
- Winch mount - open to exposed, partially exposed, hidden with just the fair lead visible
- Typical options, e.g. tow points, grille guard - full, center, none

Warn's is okay - just seems too heavy/big for these trucks. That center vertical plate is big
Screen Shot 2019-08-26 at 10.26.51 AM.png


I like the scale on this one - overall weight/size, etc. Not sure I'm digging the angles, points, etc. but I like that it clearly "fits" the truck
Screen Shot 2019-08-26 at 10.29.31 AM.png


Northwest Trail Innovations' kit is okay. Pretty basic. Whoever designed/bent that grille guard must not have had a picture of a Toyota Truck handy...
Screen Shot 2019-08-26 at 10.30.10 AM.png


This one is the best I've found. The scale, lines... right down to the cutouts for the OE lights. (and I thought that was my idea!)
Screen Shot 2019-08-26 at 10.31.04 AM.png


Any suggestions, ideas, warnings... would be hugely helpful. This is my first Toyota Pickup build. I've done an FJ Cruiser and 100 Series Land Cruiser (and a ton of Jeeps), but this is new territory for me. What works on the bigger trucks may not work here.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
If I was going to choose, I would say #2 or #4, or maybe a hybrid between the two. The last (#4) bumper looks like an old Front Range, so I'm a little biased. My only thought is to lower the winch, and keep it as much as you can between the frame rails.

20171015_101253-crop.jpg
 
What I built in '98, and then drove until last year w/o ever installing the winch. These are old scans and are as big as they get.

i-6mpSbBN.jpg


i-k7QNZw4.jpg


i-dvhP3LZ.jpg


It took an offset head-on hit from a Class 5 Baja Bug wannaB with not a lot of damage. Top pic was taken after that and you can't see it. I re-wired the corner marker lights to function as the turn signals. Just a matter of moving which wire gets plugged into them.
 
@ntsqd - I love the underside - great for approach. Clean design.

@pappy - thanks for ID'ing that bumper. I think you're right - has to be a Front Range. It's damn near exactly what I'd started to sketch. The line match the '85-85 perfectly. Now, let's see if those guys have the drawings stuffed in a drawer somewhere ;)
 
It would appear the potential market for a new bumper for this segment is, well... thin. So, I think I'm going to go classic old school - and put an ARB on the little truck. I'd ruled out the ARB, really without thinking, because I'm not a big fan of them on the 100 Series - which I've been playing with the past few years. I think the ARB's lines work well with the more squared-off truck like the 60 Series. Well, the '84 Pickup is pretty damn squared-off.

Anyone put one of these on? Are any modifications needed - to the truck or the bumper?
 
It would appear the potential market for a new bumper for this segment is, well... thin. So, I think I'm going to go classic old school - and put an ARB on the little truck. I'd ruled out the ARB, really without thinking, because I'm not a big fan of them on the 100 Series - which I've been playing with the past few years. I think the ARB's lines work well with the more squared-off truck like the 60 Series. Well, the '84 Pickup is pretty damn squared-off.

Anyone put one of these on? Are any modifications needed - to the truck or the bumper?

ARB sure makes a nice product. I haven't installed one on a truck with leaf springs but I did install one on my 1994 Pickup years back.

Instructions were pretty okay but installation was easy. It'd probably be easier to install if you had a friend to hold it up as you put the bolts in. I was pretty impressed with it and have always been a fan of how they look. If my truck didn't have an Front Range bumper I probably would've replaced it with an ARB...but I like the low profile of mine.

I believe the bumper that I put on my truck is almost identical to the ones on the previous generations, with the exception of how it bolts on the bottom due to the leaf spring hanger.

4RBuYS.jpg
 
Another big thumbs up for ARB (and a chance to park my white ‘90 next to Yotadudes)!

B6102D18-0CFA-46D9-879F-3BC8420FEF82.jpeg
 
now y'all got me looking at an ARB for the front of my '88. Wonder if I can mod it to include the tow bar brackets......
 
I’d do an ARB on my ‘Runner, but I had to put a GNB* on instead...







* Got No Budget!
 
Thanks for the input guys. Both of those white Pickups look great! And, it confirms the ARB really works with the square bodies.

@joseywales, I feel ya. I looked at kits, custom... there's really no cheap way to put a nice bumper on a truck. The guys at ACC were interested in doing some R&D with me to create a product for this segment. I would've ended up with a sweet custom bumper at a reduced cost. They'd have a product to sell. But, I just don't think there's room for another product here. Plus, with all the other stuff the truck needs (interior, bed, sliders) a bolt-on seems the way to go for this one.
 
The more that I look at it, I could be talked into an ARB.

IF if it did not have the "brush guard" and tubes around the headlights. Not too sure that I'm willing to cut into a brand new $1100 bumper....
 
Now, if somebody would make something similar for 1st gen 4Runners with a tire carrier. Remember the Stout bumper?

stout002.jpg


Hard to believe this 20 (!) year old article still exists:

Stout Bumper on Off-Road.com
 
Now, if somebody would make something similar for 1st gen 4Runners with a tire carrier. Remember the Stout bumper?

Hard to believe this 20 (!) year old article still exists:

Stout Bumper on Off-Road.com
I own one of those. Though, mine has been modified.

20190203_145934-sm.jpg
 
I like it.

How are those roof rack mounts holding up on the fiberglass? Have you ever done a thread about it?
 
How are those roof rack mounts holding up on the fiberglass? Have you ever done a thread about it?

I've talked about it. The mounts between the windows are bolted/nutted through single wall fiberglass. The rear are installed using a special rivet nut for fiberglass/plastic since it's double-walled back there.
 
There's a by-line that I haven't seen in years! Is Jim still out there in Toyota-Land somewhere?
Jim? Grant! Yes, yes he is.
 
Jim Brink, author of the ORC review. As I recall he was the original mod for the ORC toyota email list.
 
Jim Brink, author of the ORC review. As I recall he was the original mod for the ORC toyota email list.
Ah, I thought you were talking about that Stout Equipment fella.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom