why I like the no airbag 80s

[ginericLC]

Having a little guy who likes to drive is such fun!

 

[ginericLC]

Usually he is a backseat driver

 

[Mr.Bryan]

Dude, nice front bumper. Do you have any more pictures of it?

-Bryan

 

[hatchet]

I installed an airbag switch on my 97 so that my 9 yr old could wheel with me in the front seat. I also bought one for the driver side but haven't installed it yet. It was about a two hour job with some help from the 800 number that came with the kit. My son is very serious about it. and any time I let him ride in the front seat he is sure to open the glove box and turn off the air bag.

Dave

 

[Lars]

Yeah I like the front bumper as well. More info on it please?

 

[AZcruiser]

Nice front bumper, is it custom or can I buy it, too?

Chris

 

[ginericLC]

The front bumper is custom, but I believe the guy who made it would make more. We discussed producing a few to see if others woudl be interested. It is actually just a prototype. We were playing around with their new bender. Originally, this bumper had sidebars and a center hoop but neither of us liked how it looked so we cut them off. Basically, it is 3x5 1/4" rectangular tubing cut to make the uprights. Then the tube was bent, notched, and coped to try to follow the body lines. It is really very strong. When I went about drawing up the design I wanted something that would be strong yet would not get snagged up on rocks. It works quite well. I still have not redrilled the bumper to mount the hooks on the sides rather than the bottom. Currently it is held in place by 8 bolts, 2 top and 2 bottom on each side. The uprights were designed to push out enough that a winch could be mounted. If you were going to mount a winch the lower bar would need to be moved slightly forward to allow for the plate to mount the winch. I need to add some tabs for the big lights and change those holes and I'll run this one.

 

[AZcruiser]

Sounds like there are a few of us interested in it. Could you post more pictures of it?
Chris

 

[ginericLC]

I'll try to dig up some more pics. Won't be until tomorrow at least. I'll get a hold of the guy who made it. That might take until next weekend. He builds tube chassis race cars during the week out of state and is home on the weekends. He loves fabricating stuff for Cruisers. He makes a killer front bumper for early generation 4Runners (that is how I found him). Also, he has access to powdercoating (mine is not) if that is the way you would want it. Do you want me to ask about winch plates? or just as mine is?

 

[AZcruiser]

For me not sure yet. I would ask w/ and w/o winch plates. I work with fabricators here in phoenix but no interestin using his design for my own purposes. Can also get parts powder coated. others maybe not, see if he will price w/ and w/o for powdercoat too.

Thanks
Chris

 

[rpfzj80]

Good point on the air bags! My 11 year old just started driving the 80. Although, my 15 year old daughter is jealous 'cause she's only been wheelin' the 40. Oh well...I'd also like more info on that front bumper. Looks interesting.

Rich