Hidden winch bumper comparison

Looking to purchase a hidden winch bumper along with a winch pretty soon. Trying to figure out my options before all the Black Friday sales come out. For my comparison I added the hoop to all the options, and powder coating unless otherwise noted. Seems like the options are:

• Warn 10044. Cost is $772.99 including shipping, weighs 75 pounds, and the biggest thing going for it is that you don't have to cut/modify the stock bumper to install.
• SOS Concepts in steel. Cost is $760 including shipping if you use the current sale they are running. Weighs 69 pounds.
• SOS Concepts in aluminum. Cost is $880 including shipping but that does not including powder coating. If I went this route I would rattle can the bumper myself to save some money since it is aluminum after all.
• SSO. Cost is $1016 including shipping, weighs 40 pounds. This does include a a 20" Heise LED light bar though. I am not familiar with this light, is it any good or just a gimmick selling point?
• Relentless fab. Cost is $885 including shipping, weighs 75 pounds.
• C4 Fabrication. Cost is $724 including shipping, weighs 75. No option for powder coating here.

Does anyone know if there is going to be a sale anywhere for the Warn? I like the idea of not cutting, but aside from that it does't stand out much against the others. I know @C4 Fabrication has said they are not running any BF sales, plus they don't have an option to powder coat. Anyone know if @RelentlessFab is having any upcoming sales? SSO doesn't seem to be a vendor on here but I wonder if they are planning an upcoming sale.

I really like the SOS in aluminum for weight savings. Right now @SOSPerformance is having a 20% off Black Friday sale through 12/1. Unless someone comes up with a better deal on anything else I'm thinking that is going to be a good compromise on weight and price unless anyone has a good reason not to go aluminum? With any of the options I'd be adding some version of a frame brace anyway.

 

We will be running a 20% off sale for all Tacoma Lo-Pros on Black Friday.
The big difference between the Warn and other options is that Warn does not offer any light bar options. Also the Warn bumper sticks out the furthest and reduces ground clearance where none of the other brands do. Also the Warn bumper does require cutting the plastic, although I'm not sure where because they don't actually point it out in the instructions. It just says "trim plastic as necessary".
One of the big things to watch for with these bumpers is what you want the fit and finish to look like. Out of all the options you mentioned, Warn's fit and finish will also not be the greatest. Beyond that its a matter of budget and lead times. The biggest benefit to Warn is that they are typically in stock and ready to ship where most of us other small companies cant provide that luxury right now.

Heres a screen shot from Warn's instructions where it mentions trimming.

 

Good to know about your upcoming sale, thank you. Will the 20% apply to any light bars included with the Lo-Pro bumper as well? Also, are your front bumper frame support brackets similar as offered by SOS that will strengthen the bumper where it bolts to the frame? Why no powder coat option? If you had a powder coat option your price would be super competitive against everyone else...

 

I've been looking at the c4 lo pro. I understand but hate the lead times on all these steel parts, bumpers, racks etc. Its the only reason I haven't ordered one. Part of my fucked up head believes that I'll die before the part comes in. I cant buy concert tickets for the same reason. Dont know where I'm going with this. Bottom line, I like the C4 fab

 

SSO has a sale for 100 off, I just bought mine for 629.00 shipped. You can buy them bare metal and no light bar or just the cutout for a light bar. If you go with the non cutout in bare metal you can get it for 598 shipped.

 

Is there a coupon code? I don’t see the sale...

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/southern-style-off-road-100-on-598-taco-bumper-winch-ect.568024/

I ordered about a week ago and it was still active.

 

I believe 20% will include lights also, I have a meeting with my marketing guy this evening to iron out all the details. Im not familiar with the SOS brackets, but yes ours are designed to strengthen the frame up front where the bumper mounts to the chassis. They also help disperse the load down the frame rail through some extra hardware instead of completely relying on the 3 mounting studs on each side. Here is a link to the install guide so you can see how they function: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...t-frame-support-bracket-install-guide.467667/

We do not offer powder coat because we do not have the equipment or space to do it ourselves and there are no affordable companies local to us that can do bumpers for a decent price. If we offered powder coat, the price of our bumper would go up so im not exactly sure what you mean by the competitive price comment.

Our products are very high quality products made by skilled professionals. You aren't going to see better finish sanding and better consistent weld quality from any of our competitors out there. Also our fit, finish and clearance is better than most other options and we also offer the most custom options as far as light bar cutouts, custom text options and bull bars. Those are the reasons why our product is sometimes higher price than others.

 

We have tried hard to cut down on our lead times. We were at 8 weeks for a while and now we are at 6. There was a moment for about a month where we had lead times down to 3-4 weeks but our sales numbers climbed quickly and we jumped right back to 6-8 weeks.

 

SDHQ has a hidden winch setup also. Reg price $530
www.sdhqoffroad.com/products/16-current-toyota-tacoma-sdhq-built-hidden-winch-mount

My build page has pics of when I installed mine. Skip to post#15
www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2017-low-speed-high-drag-dclb-build.513845/

 

I'll be dead in 6-8 weeks. Congrats though on a seemingly successful business. I'll eventually be ordering from you. Hopefully

 

I was totally sold on the SSO bumper until I saw that SOS was doing an aluminum version. Goal is to have something functional and light. Time to pull the trigger with the Black Friday sales!

 

$800 Canadian coated ready to go. Apprently install is similar to Warn and can easily go back to stock.

Flex-it Fabrication I don’t think he has a website but I found him on a B.C. Toyota page

 

I like the idea of not cutting too. Gives you the option of pulling it off and selling it should you ever want to changes things or just get some of your money back.

 

First off thanks for putting this together @littlefish I like that you gathered a lot of the options under one thread.

Does anyone know the weight of the aluminum SOS bumper, and with this being a low pro bumper why choose steel over aluminum?

 

You kind of answered your own question, if your considering the weight of the aluminum that’s why you want it for less weight on the front end. I ordered a SSO and didn’t even think about aluminum because it only weighs 55lbs, so with a winch I’m only adding about 100lbs to the front, instead of ~200lbs or so for a full bumper.

 

Straight from the horses mouth in another thread.

I ended up ordering the SSO with the BD lightbar. I think the lightbar inside the bumper looks way cleaner than adding it behind the grill. I called them and they are having a Black Friday sale of 15% off, and that included the same percentage off the lightbar. It's a better deal then buying the light separately directly from BD, even with their upcoming sale.

 

Here’s the C4 with a winch. Aluminum option would have been nice, but upgrade the shocks and good to go

 

I asked them this question and they stated 28 lbs. I was going to order with the current promotion, but was turned off by their $120 shipping and $100 "handling" charges. Seems unreasonable with SSO ships theirs for a flat $49 shipping charge.

 

Curious....I just went on SOS as if I was buying a stripped bare bones low pro (am going to buy , but will call it in next week) and NO "100 dollar was anywhere to be found? I went to the point of totalmcharge and just needed to input a card n7mber. It is 670 before any discount.