Bull bars or brush gaurd

I've got an 09 tacoma and I'm looking to get either bull bars or a brush guard. Anyone have any suggestions as far as what looks good on em, pics and prices would be appreciated

 

Check out the Avid off road front bumper guard. It's more unique, tougher, and there's a group buy going on right now.

 

Why not get a bumper?

 

I understand price but bull bars cause more damage usually as do brush guards

 

Another great option. There's an sOS bumper group buy so you could get a bumper shipped to your door for 680, then sell your stock bumper and make some money back. Then you're only spending a couple hundred more than a bumper guard.

 

Hmm. Hadn't really thought of that. How hard are they to put on?

 

My brother and I put a pelfrey one on in about 45 min

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/sos-concepts-group-buy-2.426382/unread

 

Also I don't know about the condition my front bumper is in either. Went to put a trailer hitch on the rear and half my bolts were rusted out, had to re tap the holes and had to get one bolt replaced. Ended up cutting that bolt out cause it was rusted on and couldn't even break it loose with an air gun or a 3 ft breaker bar

 

Just realized that you'll have to beef up your suspension if you go with a new bumper. Those suckers are heavy. If you want to keep stock suspension, I'd just go with an Avid Bar.

 

Yeah definitely don't have the money to do that yet. My budget is around 540 solid.

 

Then here's my recommendation.
http://www.avidoffroad.com/cart/ind...12-2014-toyota-tacoma-front-bumper-guard.html

EDIT: Here's the one for you.
http://www.avidoffroad.com/cart/ind...r-guard/toyota-tacoma-front-bumper-guard.html

 

Hmm I like those. How do you think it would look on my front end with the black bumper?

 

I think it's look great! Plus you can get it in bare metal and paint it whatever you like! You could make it more unique and paint it white if you don't want the stealthy look.

 

If you're running stock front suspension a steel plate bumper will affect the height and probably the ride. Not sure what you're looking to do with the guard, but I opted for the Avid Off Road like @EatSleepTacos recommended. It's tougher than your standard cosmetic bull bar and, in many cases, can actually minimize damage to your front end.

However, it will not guard against red light running full size pickups (DAMHIK)

 

That is completely sound advice. SOS is a tried and true vendor on here. Yes, 680 is for a no frills bumper, but it's still a plate bumper that you can mount a winch in, get recovered from, etc. Powdercoating is a bad idea IMO for armor anyways if you plan on using it as armor and bang into stuff offroad. You can't exactly touch it up as easily as some spray paint.

 

It'd probably be thrashed to hell, which is why I'd spray paint it. It all comes down to opinion. To me, the ARB is way too boxy and bulky. I think of it as more of a work truck bumper rather than an off road bumper.

Anyways, that's not the point of this thread and we're getting off topic.

 

Quit paying the mortgage, put the kids on a steady diet of rice crispies and borrow the money to buy winch bumper and lift kit.

 

Not hard Love my SOS stuff - front, rear, sliders and skid

 

Here's an AVID for comparison: