Help Choosing Front Bumper

I bought the Trail Gear low profile bumper this morning. This project also gives me a good enough excuse to buy a Dremel (relocate turn signals to the parking/corner lights). https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/01-04-blinker-relocation-mod.305152/

Main reason I didn't go for the All Pro is because of the added expense of buying new/proprietary skid plates. Looks like a fine bumper though.

To anyone considering the Trail Gear option, here's a great write up
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ow-profile-bumper-for-1st-gen-tacomas.441752/

 

Exactly, I wouldn’t really want to go cut it all out up to the fender just Incase of some silly fixit ticket. I can see though it looks way better if we just commit and cut that sum bich, and don’t look back, more aerodynamic cut.

 

The colored panel/ core support. If you have a lighter colored truck it shows and looks better when painted black. Purely cosmetic. And there cutting the sheet metal that's down and to the right of the arrow on the pic you posted. That person has cut there's.

 

Ours has the "ARB" front bumper. My wife wanted the truck BECAUSE OF the bumper, which a previous owner installed. I thought she was crazy, and we paid a bit over market value for the truck. That said, when I hit a deer, it saved my truck.

 

Anyone know how big of a deal it is to leave the stock washer fluid reservoir in the normal location? I'm told you can see it clearly once the stock bumper is removed and high clearance off-road bumper is installed.

I was planning on doing the relocation mod, buy the new $30 reservoir that mounts on the other side of the air box, but I checked and I have no room there. It looks like my cruise control unit is sitting there (at least I think that's what it is because it has a cable running to the throttle).

I guess I can always just paint the stock reservoir black. Although I really dislike the cruise control on this truck. In theory cruise is a nice feature to have, but it's hilly where I live and when going uphill the cruise control is very aggressive on the throttle and winds the engine up to high rpms before shifting. It also takes a long time to shift, so I'm sitting there listening to the engine at 3500+ rpm for what seems likes several minutes lol. It's just not very smooth, so I rarely use it. If I ever sell the truck though..

 

Making it stealth by painting it black might be the way to go. There are quite a few paints that adhere to plastics these days, and it fits where it is. (Hear ya on the cruise control in the hills issue, but you might want to sell the vehicle one day, and a missing cruise control would affect price).

 

It might be your ABS system in the way. Another option is to make one out of PVC pipe and mount it vertical to the radiator. There’s a DIY thread somewhere on here. I wouldn’t paint it because you can still see it in the daytime and it throws off the balance (look) of your front end.

 

The ABS system is also over there, but only one bracket is slightly in the way and can be bent/coaxed out of the way. This is an entirely different control unit located squarely between the ABS unit and the air box (so right where the mod guide instructs me to install the washer fluid reservoir). Basically I'm all out of space under the hood. Stupid SR5 package lol

But yes I've seen the PVC L-shaped method and that's certainly a possibility. I suppose I'll wait until installation is underway and start sorting things out as they come up.

 

Just wanted to swoop back in here and give a progress update...

The Trail Gear bumper showed up last Thursday, and since I was heading out on a quick Labor Day weekend truck trip early Saturday, I decided to install it on Friday even though it's not yet powder coated.

The install went very smooth and I did it all myself except for mounting the actual bumper, I needed my girlfriend to help hold it in place so I could get a bolt or two in it. I had it balanced on my knees trying to do it myself but I decided to just ask for a hand.

The support/crossmember piece went on nice and easy, lined up perfectly. The only hassle was mounting the skid plate to the Trail Gear setup, but it was only a minor hassle. You just have to hold the TG nut strip in place while threading the bolts in. It helps to loosen all the skid plate bolts first so you can get everything properly in place with some wiggle room.

Today I'm uninstalling it, spray painting the sections that "need" it (for looks), reinstalling the stock bumper, then dropping the TG off at the powder coater.
Kinda silly to do it as I did, but the bumper came in handy several times this weekend.

We drove up Bald Mountain near Shaver Lake, and we took the difficult route. After summiting, we headed over to Brewer Lake and that route gets very gnarly during the last 3/4 mile. I crushed the factory transfer case skid trying to make it the last 50 yards to the lake's edge, and had a few other "love taps" as well (skid plates, frame rails, drive shaft, rear diff, lol). Needed one tug on the way out, and the TG bumper's recovery point receiver was nice to have.

So now I need to get a proper transfer case skid. But that's a story for another thread.

 

Yep, it will be totally exposed, and just look dumb.

Here's how mine was installed. All I had to do was bend the ABS bracket out of the way slightly, and re-mount it using a riv-nut. I got a reservoir for a 1995.5-2000, and it mounted up perfectly. All I did was drill out the bottom (1" hole iirc) so I could re-use my original pump and fluid level sensor.

The mounting holes are all there, and you can see the old/new location for the ABS bracket just above the reservoir in this pic.

 

@jbrandt I have a cruise control unit where you put your washer fluid reservoir, so that won't work for me. There is no more room under the hood unfortunately. I don't think it's worth removing the cruise control for this mod. You can only see a small corner slice of the reservoir anyhow, so I'll just hit it with some satin black spray paint and live with it for now.

 

That's interesting. Got any pics of your under the hood situation? Bet we can brain storm a solution.

For me, it was less about looks, and more about the fact that it's more exposed to rocks etc... I never really liked its location even with the stock bumper.

 

You can move the cruise control closer to the air box
You may need to drill a new hole.

 

Looking good. Let me know next time your in Shaver area. That’s my backyard.

 

damn that thing is yuge. And I thought I had it bad with my ABS module taking up a bunch of space (where lots of people install an on-board air compressor).

My condolences, lol

 

I truly don't want to sound like an ass but WTF...cruise control isn't for hills and if your running CC in the hills I've got to question your driving acumen.

Just got future reference it isn't for cities, snow, rain, hazardous conditions, or hilly or mountain driving. Please stop using CC in the hills where you live.

 

I'm just talking about highway driving. I understand the purpose of cruise control. In my area, Northern CA, the highways have inclines. So I'll be cruising along at 70mph or whatever, and if the highway starts trending upward at enough of an angle, the cruise control really gets on the throttle to compensate for the hill. Now on that very same "hill" if I work the throttle manually I can still maintain my speed without winding it up so damn hard. It drops a gear, whereas I don't. Hope that makes more sense, but if it doesn't, don't worry about it.

 

Haha, no worries man. It would be a cool mod to do, but I don't think it's going to bug me very much the way it is now.

 

Have you tired looking into Bruteforce bumpers? Billy makes a badass bumper that's built like a tank