TJM T15 Bumper (2nd gen)

I finally got to install my T15 this weekend along with the 9k winch. Overall, I'm very happy with it. I'll start with some pre-mount pictures.








This is on the inside of the passenger side wing. The bars that protect the headlights are welded on top of the bumper and continue through the top, where they are welded to the inside of the bumper.






Main hoop weld


High lift point, inside


High life point, outside


Winch, from the inside


Fog light, inside


Fog light, outside

in my opinion, not having closely examined any other aftermarket bumper, the quality seems pretty nice. The welds are generally good, and the powder coating seems pretty tough. The winch mounted very easily with plenty of room and the holes in the bumper are in the right places to reach the clutch and spot to plug the corded controller into. I was disappointed with the way the fog lights mount though. They are pretty difficult to get into place and it is generally a poor mounting design. I broke 1 mounting tab on the passenger side light and two on the driver side. Loctite superglue did the trick however, and I just didn't tighten them down so much the second time.

 

Price and which vendor you buy it from?

 

TJM??

 

TJM Bumper

Bumper looks great! Price-wise, how did it compare to buying an ARB?

 

TJM = ARB lol, sell like almost the same shit

 

I know that, but I believe the OP found the TJM bumper quite a bit cheaper than an ARB. TJM also not smart enough to put a recovery point on their bumpers...

 

Now for the install...

Taking the OEM cover and bumper off was not a big deal, but the TJM directions are lacking here. In fact, they are lacking everywhere. Parts are referred to by their part number and there is really only one or two useful pictures. Once you get started though, things fall into place and you don't really need them anyway.

The bumper sits on a large main bracket that replaced the aluminum OEM bumper. You don't have to support the full weight of it while bolting it up, but you need a second person to line the bolt holes up.


Pictured here is another support bracket that bolts into unused holes in the frame. It is mounted very securely.


This was really disappointing, however. This is a bolt hole behind the three main holes on the front of the frame rails.


Inside the yellow circle is the area you are looking at. The bumper has angled brackets that sit inside these curves and bolt up to them. As you can see 2 pictures above, my passenger side bolt holes did not line up, not even close. This bracket is not sitting on the curved part of the frame either, though the driver's side was. I know my truck had a front end fender bender before I got it, but it seems to me that the only way this issue could've come up is if the space from the OEM bumper mounting surface to this bolt hole was incorrect. That would be a hard feat to accomplish. For that matter, in my case it would've been stretched, not compressed. I loosened everything up and tried to get the bumper to come over but it wouldn't, so I don't have a bolt in that spot on the passenger side. There are 6 other bolts holding it in place on the passenger side though, so I'm not loosing any sleep over it.

Aligning the bumper with the fenders was pretty easy. It probably took ten minutes to get it "good enough for government work." After that I trimmed the wheel house liners with kitchen shears, which was also very easy.

They give you a power disconnect switch for the winch also. To mount it under the hood, I had to switch the hot leads (they install a very short hot lead on the winch, which isn't long enough to get behind the grille, and a very long one to run from the switch to the battery.) The ground cable was plenty long to get to the battery post.

I was also disappointed with the fog light wiring. They include a full harness if you don't have OEM fog lights, but it was my understanding that there would be factory connectors for OEM lights so there wouldn't be any splicing. We ended up having to cut the ends off of the harness and splice them into the factory wires. Not a big deal, really.

 

I believe they have a legit reason as to why they don't put recovery points on their bumpers. Boils down to liability I believe. Probably the same for TJM.

http://www.arb.com.au/getting-started/ask-arb/recovery/Recovery_points.php

 

Liability and it sounds like they're trying to completely engineer a recovery point that will cost even more money. Regardless the reasoning, it seems like of silly to have an off road bumper that you can't recover from or do a 2 line pull from.

That article or letter you linked to was a good read though.

 

At the end of the day, I'm very pleased with it. The winch is easy to get to, the powder coating is nice, the welds are pretty clean, and it's mounted very securely. The fog lights are also awesome. They have a super wide beam and are so bright I was driving without headlights on the other night. I can't comment on how it compares to other bumpers, but my approach angle has definitely improved. Also, you can't re-install the big aluminum skid plate, but the smaller black one goes back on fine. With the bumper and winch, I added 220 pounds to the front end. I feel this bumper is more then sufficient to handle any medium sized bipedal or quadrupedal mammals, and provide a lot of added protection in a head on collision. It is also air bag certified.

And the fog lights come standard. The synthetic line, huge hook, wireless remote and disconnect switch are also standard with the winch.

 

They are about the same price as ARB. TJM also has a bumper that looks just like the ARB if that is more your flavor.

 

All I can say is call Chris at TJM

 

Hey Guys, were a full on TJM dealer. I can attest to the quality of their products. Their winches are some of the nicest I have seen or used and like mentioned come standard with Synthetic line and a wireless remote along with being 100% sealed and extremely durable. Their other products like tow straps, hi lifts and recovery kits are also on par with the larger brands if not nicer. We love their stuff. The Tacoma bumper is a relatively new addition but the TJM bumpers we have installed in the past are also very high quality! If you guys are looking for any of their stuff let me know

 

PM sent

 

Here is a much better picture of the finished product. I sent TJM an email about a month ago regarding the bolt hole that would not line up, haven't heard back yet.

 

The truck looks great MDFM31! We are excited to see the bumper and the winch on the road.

TJM USA

 

To be honest we have egg on our face on this one guys. A recovery point and a jack point is standard issue with our bumpers but it got missed on the first run of Tacoma bumpers. It will be included moving forward.

TJM USA

 

I wouldn't call your Tacoma the same as a Honda Ridgeline. The manufactures both call them trucks, yet we know the Honda is not much of a truck. Nor is ARB the same as TJM.

TJM USA

 

Thank you for your continued support SDHQ!

TJM USA

 

Thanks for making awesome products!