Any tips for 1st gen ARB bumper?

I never understood this crap.. every time I needed to order more of those little square nut things, I had to call 4WP and tell them to order it. It was a pain in the ass.

 

I may have extra capture nuts and stuff; I sold my Tacoma with ARB bumper on it and have the baggy full of extra nuts and bolts.

Will need to audit the bag.

 

I'm sure someone will need them at some point, I ended up mangling mine to the point of being unusable after removing the bumper a few times. I think I have a few extra but if you have any more, I would happily take them.

 

Will this model fit an 04 taco?

 

Mini thread revival.
Got mine on yesterday.

A- My included splash guard doesn’t line up so that’ll be fun to solve, bolt holes to the three skid bolts are like 1/2” off.

B- I couldn’t get a torque wrench on the inner M10 bolts, did you guys just get em as tight as you could by hand? (Also didn’t know torque specs for the underside chassis bolts that bolt through the tow points, a 19mm and a 17mm so I just gave em a gentle uggadug with the impact and double checked with a wrench and they’re nice n snug)

 

For the tow/recovery points, I'd just use factory spec torque (90ftlbs)

 

Ah thanks, I didn't know what it was haha. I'll check it tomorrow before I leave

 

Tried installing mine today on a 2004. The included instructions are worse than terrible.

questions:

1. The chassis extensions. I used the original bolt holding factory crush cans on to bolt the extensions to the frame. Do I need the “rectangular packer” (not mentioned anywhere in the instructions but I see it on a version first attached in this thread)? Where does it go?

2. NONE of the supplied bolts appear to actually fit the threaded side of the chassis extensions, where I’m supposed to bolt the impact absorbers to the chassis extensions. I have the

$13 m12x1.25 mm self-locking nylon insert hex lock nuts, pack of 6

m12x1.25 bolts, and they are to spec, but they get less than a full set of threads into the chassis extensions before binding. Should I just run them on with an impact and be done with it?

3. maybe I need to loosen everything up a lot more, but my impact absorbers are about 1/2” too narrow to “slide” the bumper onto the rails. The bolts are loose, just not crazy loose.

I’m about ready to scrap this POS, honestly, so any help will keep me sane and from doing something stupid. With winch is a huge pain lifting this bastard on and off when crap doesn’t fit.

 

@01x4 just recently installed his. I'm sure he can advise.

 

I can snap some photos tomorrow that could help. The instructions are a bummer, I watched a couple videos that sort of helped and looked at a few threads here, but just went for it in the end. Only issue once all was said and done is the splash guard doesn't line up well so I'm going to drill my own holes in it.

*A ton of the hardware that comes with it ends up as leftovers. As for the rectangular packer, if you mean the stainless rectangle pieces with hole in center, those were unused on mine and I haven't seen anyone else use em. Also I used bolts that came with the kit to put the chassis extension blocks on. (Most annoying ones to tighter since that cutout space is tiny) Only bolts I reused were where the original tow hooks/tie down were.

Couple links that might help in the meantime. I'll try and elaborate more tomorrow.

https://web.archive.org/web/2018020...ionswest.com/equipment/tacoma/arb_bumper.html

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2001-tacoma-arb-bumper-installation-help.653784/page-2

And this video is kinda helpful, at least for some visuals if needed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD2cjIZ7C6Y

 

Did you....go through the instruction manual found on page 1 of this thread?

The install is easy, just need to organize said bolts to make it easy to use what you need.

Here are some pics when I installed mine -

 

Awesome, thank you. Reading and watching now.

 

What @Kwikvette said, lay em out :



Oh and this part is annoying

 

Yeah tightening the bolts inside the chassis extensions is tough.

My biggest issue at the moment other than alignment of the mounts not being wide enough for the bumper (going to loosen mounting bolts even more tomorrow to hopefully resolve this) is that none of the supplied bolts actually thread into the chassis extensions. I HAVE separated the massive loose bag of parts. I have

$13 m12x1.25 mm self-locking nylon insert hex lock nuts, pack of 6

m12x1.25 bolts that are in spec according to my bolt/nut thread checker, so they’re the ones that are indicated for the task of bolting the impact absorbers/mounts to the chassis extensions but they simply don’t thread. I’ll dick with it more in the morning.

 

I'll check mine today to see if I can help. Weird they won't thread....Have you tried any other bolts from the bag of goodies just to see if they thread?
(I believe I used the m12x1.25x35 for the chassis extensions.)

 

Tried all that were m12. I believe I have a m12 thread chase so I’m going to see if maybe weld splatter or paint overspray got in the threads. Crossing my fingers.

 

Nice Truck! What sliders, rear bumper and tailgate replacement are those?!

 

Here's a snap of mine. I can't remember the lengths, which was which, right now. (That's not a double washer in the outer bolt btw, just a reflection on the surface) That outer bolt doesn't protrude past the welded nut on the inside of the chassis extension fwiw, if that helps with length.

The other shot is the inside of one side of the bumper, where it slipped onto the big brackets.

*Mine brackets too close together at first, I just loosened em a bit, got the bumper on then snugged them before removing the bumper again.

Last shot is what I have left over. (I haven't drilled the underside of the blocks yet because I don't have a winch yet.)

As with anything with crappo instructions, you're on your own, this is what worked for me and what I interpreted as the right way to mount it, so far it hasn't flown off.

 

Thank you

Sliders were custom made per my request by @GHOST SHIP

I wanted a tiny bit of cab protection, but mainly I wanted to follow the lines of the Trail Gear bumper I had -









The tailgate replacement is a long discontinued Wilco Tire Gate -



You can barely fit a skinny 33" tire underneath after you bend the arms with a BFH. Was better to carry with the Wilco.

 

Meant to say skinny 32" tire, running skinny 33's now