Tacoma vs. Deer... Advice Needed

That sucks. To the OP. Im happy with my all pro apex bumper. It makes me feel safer. I drive on a windy dark road everyday covered with deer. Its just a matter of time for me. Those deer change direction so fast.

 

I think about it everyday when I drive into work at 0500. But I still run 60 on a un-lite road towards the end of a island in Hollywood,sc

 

About 10 years ago, I had a Reunel bumper on the rear of my Ram 2500. Got rear ended by a garbage truck, it felt more like a love tap than a crash, didnt even get into the bed. But pushed the bumper down and bent the frame down also. Sorry I don't have pictures of it. But the insurance totaled it out.

 

well I deffinetly need to get one then! That way I can get a 4x4

 

BUT, i have seen countless picture of Tacoma with plate bumper versus deer/other car/wall/etc... and in 9/10 pictures the Tacoma had minor damage and was fixable while the other vehicle was totaled/ wall suffered damage. wile the bumper does transfer force to other parts of the vehicle, all aftermarket bumpers are tied into the frame properly and distribute the force evenly, causing less damage to the vehicle, whereas the cheap stock bumper crumples and allows the engine and other parts to be smashed

also, grille guards are simple metal uprights and don't protect against deer. small tree limbs yes, deer no way in hell

 

also, if you hit something, there is a chance that those crumple zones will put the engine IN YOUR LAP, meaning not only is your truck totaled, your gonna be real dead. no thank you ill take an aluminum plate bumper if you please

 

I split a deer with a boat trailer once. I was going down the highway at night going about 70. I was towing an empty boat trailer, that had an upright metal pole to hold the mast, and saw a deer running along a head of me. Well next thing I know bam deer turned and jumped between my tailgate and the metal upright. When I stopped and looked for the deer/ damage I was amazed to see that the deer was in half in the road trailer fine but there was a nasty mess left behind.

 

Yes for plate bumper! I hate those damn deer, they're like guided missiles lol I've hit four of em in four different cars and each time was spendy. I now secretly hope one of their cousins tries something! Lol

 

How do you insure you tie a HD bumper into a frame properly when the frame is not designed to carry an HD bumper?

Anyway, Like others I'm not saying they will always cause more damage to your vehicle, I said they could.

So get one if you want some of them definitely look cool (some of them) But don't expect it to completely protect in all situations.

 

I know a plate bumper isn't a cure all. But I like the way they look (most of them anyways). Between my deductible and what I'll save paying the shop for a new OEM bumper and sub-bumper it should be a wash (I might even save some).

I understand that it won't SAVE me from future accidents. But if something hits the front end so hard it transfers the energy and ruins my frame then I'm pretty sure the damage would be done regardless of what's on my front end. I will say this damage would be minimal (if not non-existant) if I would've had it on there already.

Upgrading the suspension was already on my list of to-do's. Just got some SAW coilovers and oversized (265/75r16s) BFG at's (with ~3k miles) on off-road rims last night for a smoking deal. Just need UCA's some rear leaf pack (or add-a-leaf) and rear shocks to complete it. Might change the springs on the SAW's to 700# (650 on there now) and swap the preload ring because some dumbass wrenched on them with a pipewrench.

Also stopped by the shop today to talk with my buddy. Def doing a 2011 sport grill and newer headlights. Speaking of which, does anyone know the name or model number of the newer "smoked" oem headlights.

Also, I'm trying to decide which bumper to get, is there a gallery out there that someone has started?

 

I posted about this before, but back in the day we used to purposely try to hit deer in the pineapple fields with my '49 Ford sedan. Game wardens wouldn't bother us, as it was an "accident." We wised up after finding out that after getting hit by a car, the deer would have very little edible meat left. BTW, that old Ford could probably broadside a Tacoma and cut it in half and still keep going.

 

Truck finally made it into the shop yesterday.

Was looking at every brand of plate bumper but most of them were a 10-12 week lead time and with all the options I wanted and shipping they came out to around $1450.

Found a great deal on Amazon Warehouse Deals for an ARB (newer style with foglights)

The more I look at the ARB the more I like it. Hopefully it'll show up in good condition. If not Amazon Warehouse seems to have a good return policy!

I wanted to wait a little bit longer to see if the price dropped, but was worried someone else would snag it before me (a few people posted the link on TW)... Also, I want to have it waiting for my truck when it gets out of the shop.

Waiting for the next time a deer jumps in front of me

 

Thats crazy glad I'm building my own here soon. If I can find time in between working and building sliders lol

 

Finally got my bumper on after some delays… Amazon warehouse deals sent me the wrong one (sent me a first gen model). Luckily ended up getting in on the tail end of a group buy on here. Got the bumper and a Warn M8000 for a killer deal. Like the ARB more and more every day.

Also got my hands on a nice lightly used Icon mid-travel set up (with billet UCA’s) and brand new all-pro expo leaf packs. Just gotta find time to throw it on with my new BFG A/T’s…