2018+ brush guard

Anyone running a brush guard on a 2018+ Without TSS interference?

Hit my second deer today, probably gonna order one for some added protection. Did a number on my headlight/grill at around 35 mph.

thanks!

 

Brush guards typically increase damage. Take your insurance money and buy a steel bumper with a hoop. Brush guard would just bend back and smash what’s behind it.

 

I had one from TrailFX, before I bought the C4 hybrid. No issues with TSS... But I agree with above. Brush bars will destroy what's behind them. They're only good for "brush".

 

as stated above, they will only cause more damage. they really are just for looks. (30+ years in auto collision repair, inc insurance side). Ski

 

I beg to differ, while most brush guards cause more damage, I feel mine might be better than most at surviving. I attaches in 4 spots behind the front bumper with brackets that plate the frame back to behind the rad. support.
Install instructions :https://www.westinautomotive.com/images/ePIM/original/75-462388.pdf

 

Thanks for the input y’all. I’m just gonna bandage it back up with some used parts. I have a high ($2500) deductible, and I can’t really have it sitting in the shop as I use it for work.

The fender is bent in a little bit but I think I can get it back into alignment with a little elbow grease. Everything else is just plastic (headlight, grill, grill surround).

 

i will start off with maby i'm wrong, basic physics says anything that slows an impact by even a fraction of a second lessons overall impact to anything behind it. i can see that maby a brush-guard bends differently then the bumper so something might get damaged that possibly would not have if not for the guard however the guard takes some of the force meaning it lessens the amount of force left for other parts. the only way to prove that it would actually add to damage is to duplicate exact crash with and without a brush-guard. again maby i'm wrong, but the math does not support the theory. now i would wory about a brush-guard not allowing the airbag and or crumple zones work as designed.

 

so... how much of your brush guard covers this area?

 

I concur with getting an actual new steel bumper rather than a brush guard. Brush guards really don't add the kind of protection you are looking for in that type if situation and a often referred to as a damage multiplier.

I would look at something like the C4 Fab Hybrid Bumper or the Victory 4x4 Front Bumper or the Mobtown Front Hybrid Bumper. There are a bunch of other options from other companies but these ones look the best to me.

C4: https://www.c4fabrication.com/product/2016-3rd-gen-tacoma-hybrid-front-bumper/
Victory 4x4: https://www.victory4x4.com/product/VT3FS.html
Mobtown Offroad: https://mobtownoffroad.com/product/2016-2020-toyota-tacoma-front-hybrid-bumper/

 

I'll give you that one, It would just cover the head light. My only hope is to steer into the deer and take it in the middle.

 

And I'll give you that your brush guard is more substantial than the typical bull bar or brush guard. But it's intent, as designed by the manufacturer, is a location to mount a winch, and in "controlled" cases, push on something (tree, brush, rock, another vehicle)... not absorb a strike at freeway speed.

Even full plate bumpers will probably be dented by hitting a deer at 35+ MPH. The physics involved with hitting a stationary object at speed are immense.

 

100% this. A brush guard will more than likely do more damage to your front end with an actual impact at any kind of speed. A full plate bumper will still be dented and damaged but will do much better at protecting you and will likely keep significant damage to a minimum compared to a brush guard / bull bar or your regular plastic bumper.

 

Maybe go back to pipe bumpers of the 70s/80s?

 

ARB summit probably provide the most protection if thats you main concern
https://arbusa.com/toyota-tacoma-2016-on/bumpers-protection-equipment/summit-bumper/
thing weighs 170lb though

 

None of hybrids are 300lbs... They are all listed at 115-150lbs. And none of them would cause you to "need" new suspension.

 

None of those pipe bumpers had an weight of 300 lbs...at least the ones I seen, they deflected deer pretty well though.

You must be from the LEFT coast.

 

You definitely dont know what ur talking about when it comes to the weight of these bumpers, even the huge ARB bumper is about 1/2 of 300lb, hybrids are about 130lb

 

You're cute

 

I see were your going with this, but I think that if I hit something at highway speed on the upper part of the guard( especially headlight hoops) hard enough to bend it, what it bends to is probably going to be just as damaged as if it wasn't there. The center is 3/16 plate bolted with 6 grade 8.8 m12 bolts in shear (~43,000lb to shear). When that bends all hell would break loose anyway. My point is mainly that everybody hates brush guards, but if you do your research and actually know what you are getting and don't expect to get something outrageous from it ( I don't expect it to save my truck from a deer at hw speed, maybe just reduce the damage a little) you can find something that fits your needs.

I forgot the *while*
As in *while* most brush guards cause more damage...

 

I was more so comparing it to the Brush Guard or Bull Bars. If you get a high hit on one of those the whole thing is going to be backward and do a ton of damage. At the very least the full plate bumpers only the piece of tubing that the direct hit would be pushed.