New design BIOR front bumper
- Thread starter mgoblue
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- #22
Is that the same lx that's on his website advertising this new bumper? If so, anymore pix?
The new pics definitely help.
Yes it is the same LX. Here is a pic of the BIOR sliders and skids put to work. The bumper cleared the obstacle.
I have Mike's tube front bumper on my 80, and I'm pretty sure it saved not only my truck but my friend's life! He makes great stuff.
- Thread starter
- #26
Yes it is the same LX. Here is a pic of the BIOR sliders and skids put to work. The bumper cleared the obstacle.
Any chance you have more photos?
Pictures do not do the bumper justice! When I first saw pictures I thought the same things mentioned here but you have to see it in person. It gives great clearance and is SUPER stout. You could plow through a deer at 70 and I don't think it would do a thing. Mike does awesome work.
BIOR is on the right
x2, the pictures are not telling the whole story. This picture is better, but I see Mike's truck fairly regularly, and it looks much better than these pictures.
Plus Mike is someone I really enjoy talking to. Life is too short to deal with unpleasant people.
If I remember right, mike has his original version on his. At least I think he did when I met him a HiH. I personally like his old version better. The extra angle at the top of the bumper looks nice but I think it also contributes to the bulk. When I was building mine I toyed with having the extra angle but in order to have it the bumper would have to be much bigger to accommodate the winch.
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Another thing to consider is the winch access, while I like the clean look of having no access holes in the front, the top access will not work if you plan to ever run a light bar. Also, you will notice the stock bumper has an opening across the front, this is for air flow, the bumper covers almost half the radiator so in my opinion it is crucial to have some type of cutouts in the bumper. This would likely not cause an issue in colder climates but could in hotter climates. You will notice that most aftermarket bumpers will have some kind of cutouts or opening across the front.
Lastly, the weight would be something to consider as well, it looks to be a very heavy bumper, you will feel it on the suspension and it will have a negative effect on the ride. I do believe it is built very well and stout but I also believe there is such thing as overbuilt as well. I'm not saying that this one is as I do not know the weight of the bumper but when I see 1/2" steel being used for the mounting plates it leads me to believe it could be. I think bumpers are one case where bigger isn't always better
I'm not trying to discredit mike at all as I do believe he is a great guy that builds a great product, just trying to give you some things to consider while making your decision.
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Lastly, the weight would be something to consider as well, it looks to be a very heavy bumper, you will feel it on the suspension and it will have a negative effect on the ride. I do believe it is built very well and stout but I also believe there is such thing as overbuilt as well. I'm not saying that this one is as I do not know the weight of the bumper but when I see 1/2" steel being used for the mounting plates it leads me to believe it could be. I think bumpers are one case where bigger isn't always better
I'm not trying to discredit mike at all as I do believe he is a great guy that builds a great product, just trying to give you some things to consider while making your decision.
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Agreed, I've always enjoyed tire kicking and talking shop with Mike. I choose BIOR to support a local small business as well.
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I relocated the solenoid box to the area in the engine bay where the AHC system would be (I have a '00 LC so no AHC). This is not that big of a deal though, extending a couple of wires is all there is to it and that's a pretty common situation most face when installing an aftermarket bumper. Sure, I have to pop my hood to access it but that kind of adds another form of security - the hood will protect anything from entering the vehicle through the windshield if something were to go wrong and I can control it from inside the cab while still maintaining sight on my winch line. As far as the bumper blocking air flow, I am yet to experience any problems. Now I do live in Arkansas so we don't have very hot weather, but it does get pretty warm during the summer. I drove my truck from Little Rock to Albuquerque and back with no problems last June and the highest temp that I saw was 106* just east of Amarillo. There is no denying it is a heavy bumper, at least heavier than most of the other ones out there. But after installation I barely had to crank my TB's maybe half a turn each to get the proper rake. I did replace my front shocks but only because I wanted to since they had ~165k on them, not because I was experiencing any problems. Also, the mounting plates as well as the recovery brackets are made with 3/8" steel, not 1/2". All in all I love it and it has definitely saved me and my truck multiple times. A real dream would be to have two LC's, one with a BIOR bumper and the other with a Dissent bumperAnother thing to consider is the winch access, while I like the clean look of having no access holes in the front, the top access will not work if you plan to ever run a light bar. Also, you will notice the stock bumper has an opening across the front, this is for air flow, the bumper covers almost half the radiator so in my opinion it is crucial to have some type of cutouts in the bumper. This would likely not cause an issue in colder climates but could in hotter climates. You will notice that most aftermarket bumpers will have some kind of cutouts or opening across the front.
Lastly, the weight would be something to consider as well, it looks to be a very heavy bumper, you will feel it on the suspension and it will have a negative effect on the ride. I do believe it is built very well and stout but I also believe there is such thing as overbuilt as well. I'm not saying that this one is as I do not know the weight of the bumper but when I see 1/2" steel being used for the mounting plates it leads me to believe it could be. I think bumpers are one case where bigger isn't always better
I'm not trying to discredit mike at all as I do believe he is a great guy that builds a great product, just trying to give you some things to consider while making your decision.
Sent from my iPhone
What about the free spool lever?I relocated the solenoid box to the area in the engine bay where the AHC system would be (I have a '00 LC so no AHC). This is not that big of a deal though, extending a couple of wires is all there is to it and that's a pretty common situation most face when installing an aftermarket bumper. Sure, I have to pop my hood to access it but that kind of adds another form of security - the hood will protect anything from entering the vehicle through the windshield if something were to go wrong and I can control it from inside the cab while still maintaining sight on my winch line. As far as the bumper blocking air flow, I am yet to experience any problems. Now I do live in Arkansas so we don't have very hot weather, but it does get pretty warm during the summer. I drove my truck from Little Rock to Albuquerque and back with no problems last June and the highest temp that I saw was 106* just east of Amarillo. There is no denying it is a heavy bumper, at least heavier than most of the other ones out there. But after installation I barely had to crank my TB's maybe half a turn each to get the proper rake. I did replace my front shocks but only because I wanted to since they had ~165k on them, not because I was experiencing any problems. Also, the mounting plates as well as the recovery brackets are made with 3/8" steel, not 1/2". All in all I love it and it has definitely saved me and my truck multiple times. A real dream would be to have two LC's, one with a BIOR bumper and the other with a Dissent bumper
My bad, the brackets are 3/8" but it looks like the recovery point are 1/2" in the pics.
Again, I have nothing bad to say about bior, just pointing out some things to consider while bumper shopping. I understand My bumper is not for everyone as some people prefer the bigger beefier look, but I also think people are starting to understand that there is such thing as overbuilt and sometimes less is more.
Besides, you did say if the dissent bumper was an option when you bought your bumper you would have gone that route[emoji4]
I honestly do like the look of the bior main bumper but the bull bar is what kills it for me personally. I see what he was tying to accomplish but I don't think the bends have a tight enough radius to pull it off.
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Did you ever hear back about this?It looks to me that he just moved the wings back a bit, here's another photo I found of my original BIOR front bumper. Mike's product is rock solid, I got one of the mounting points stuck under a root, I couldn't go forward and couldn't go back, so we literally had to winch at about a 75 degree angle to break through the root and pull me up. The ENGO was a champ, but the bumper didn't flex at all, and there was a a LOT of weight on it
Mike emailed me last night and said the the LX version can have the center section pushed back a bit, which I'm awaiting more details on.
I believe he may have meant that the other way around, if anything I would think the LC bumper would be able to be pushed back some. The lx grill opens with the hood so there should be no reason the lx version could be pushed back more. I'm not 100% sure but I also believe that the bior bumper will require you to cut the lip off under the grill on the lx or 03 and up LC. It's not a big deal to cut but most prefer not to.
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- #35
With the LX he's able to mount the middle section higher so that there is less gap between the bumper and the grill. I was confused on what exactly he meant, but that's what he was referring to.
I'm sold. I'm getting his front and rear bumper.