I'm expecting a new born! please help

So I'm expecting a kid due in Nov I already have a 3 year old and I'm planning on being fully prepared armor wise when the new one shows up. I need idea and suggestions on what to get done to this truck to make it as safe as possible for me and my family. I already and going to custom fab my own front bumper sliders and rear bumper so nothing will hurt my family or my truck but what else do I need? Any opinions will help thanks

 

How about a full exterior roll cage. Got to be on the exterior because interior space has to be already allocated.

 

I will have to look into that I knew I didn't want a roll cage inside taking up space but exterior might be a good idea thanks man

 

Not sure if the OP wants to put an external cage on his fairly new 2014 with a new born in it. In the case of an accident, less energy (from an impact) will be transferred into the body (as its supposed to), so the remaining energy would be passed into the passengers, cargo, etc... not exactly the best with an infant. The same applies to aftermarket front and rear bumpers, in a small collision it will probably aid in saving your truck from damage, but in a higher speed accident it WILL transfer more inertia/energy to the rest of the vehicle (passengers). Crumple zones are integrated into vehicles for a reason... just my .02 cents.

 

Get a Volvo......... but on a serious note, what's the intent? Daily driver? Off road? I agree with Madmax702, plus you can't avoid/prepare for what you don't know might happen.

 

Adding a bunch of armor will actually put your family at greater risk when in major accident due to directing energy from the collision into the frame instead of the crumple zones of the body.

 

Intent is obviously a daily driver but an explorer toy for the family to enjoy camping and off road and what not so the armor is more for that but I also want to protect the newborn as much as possible if an outside roll cage won't help I don't intend to get one so thank you for that insight but I will have the front and rear bumper along with sliders for the constant off roading we will be doing. Just want to kno if there is anything else that might help protect both the truck and the new born

 

Several people have already pointed out that plate bumpers will do more harm to your fam and will not protect them. Sounds like you are trying to rationalize the purchase of bumpers to a spouse or someone else.

 

I have a plate bumper and I can swear by it in an accident......I got hit my a dodge 3500 going between 35-45 when he hit me and because if the plate bumper my family was able to walk away....was even able to drive away.

 

Best thing to do is not take a young child offroad man. No brainer there. I just had a kid. She won't be coming in the mountains with me until she is big enough for a normal seat and the airbag.

A new steel bumper is going to transfer more energy from the collision to it's occupants. So while steel bumpers are great for deer they can actually cause more sever injuries in a collision with something solid like a head on with a tree. Yes, sometimes in the right circumstances and lower speeds a solid bumper helps but there are major collision reasons why bumpers now dissipate energy by crumpling rather than staying in one piece.

If you have to take her offroad because you won't listen then anything you'd do to protect the occupants of a normal truck, like a exocage, is what you'd want to look into.

 

EXOCAGEFTW!

In all seriousness, if you concerned for family safety leave it stock. Vehicles are designed to crumple and absorb energy from impact. The more crap you hang on them, the worse they are for high speed crashes. Great for trails though.

 

Yup. Toyota spends millions of dollars destroying Tacoma's to figure out how to make them safe. Welding on some more steel to the front and back isn't going to make it safer to the occupants unless you truly believe redneck engineering can beat that research.

Sliders and bumpers prevent body damage and give you good recovery and jacking points. Armour protects the trucks transmission and engine. Nothing you do short of an exocage is going to help the people inside stay safe if you go off the side of a cliff.

 

Crumple zones are built into the frame as well - the divots in the frame are clearly visible. The fender aprons are pretty much just along for the ride. The only thing you lose with an off-road bumper is the aluminum crash bar.

In side collisions, sliders help transfer crash forces to the frame, so the B-pillar doesn't take the brunt of the impact.

 

There's an excellent video on youtube from GM. They crash I think an old and then a new Impala head on to show how much technology has improved and how much safer cars are now today than 40 years ago. More steel doesn't always mean safer.

 

You are missing the fact that solid steel bumpers transfer more energy directly to the truck than a stock bumper. Yes, there are certain situations where solid bumpers and the frame make you safer. In general though the more energy dissipation there is before the impact is transferred to the frame the safer you are. The energy from a collision has to go somewhere and that little bit of soft metal on the bumper goes a long way.

Great video. This is about the 8th time I've shown it on here lol:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMK1WZjP7g

 

^It's an exaggerated video. The Bel Air didn't have a ladder frame like most other cars of that era. Instead it had an X-shaped frame that was particularly weak in the passenger area.

 

So you're telling me safety has gone backwards over the last 50 years

Sorry, if solid steel made vehicles safer than that's what the NHSTA would recommend. It doesn't. If a vehicle is solid steel and hit a tree all of the energy from the collision is transferred to its occupants. That is not safe.

 

Ask any fire fighter that has been around for 20 years. They will tell you stories of older soild steel vehicles where the car was found in great shape in the ditch and the occupants all had broken necks.

 

I had a 1980 Chevy K10, took it offroad a lot with stock everything. Truck took impacts like crazy, no damage, I was beat to hell though haha.

 

All I'm saying is if the Malibu went against a Caddy or Lincoln (i.e. something with more conventional construction) from that era, the difference wouldn't have been as dramatic. IIHS picked a particularly weak vehicle in the Bel Air. The "occupants" of the Malibu also owe much of their survival to the airbags and seat belt pretensioners.

You might have noticed the "moderate overlap" test shown in the video has been superseded by "small overlap" tests, which the Taco isn't designed for (notice the stock aluminum crash bar isn't well-supported in the section front of the wheels). A full-width plate bumper will offer better protection than stock in small overlap tests.