Plate Bumpers after impact with pics?

It's a DIY.

 

Got hit a while ago, finally got around to putting up the pics and video. The guy that rear ended me got under the bumper and actually hit the spare pushing it against the rear diff and bending the mounting point. SOS bumper just got some scratches.

 

Tacoma meets F150

F150 cited for making illegal uturn, in a curve, crossing double yellow on two lane highway bumper to bumper stop and go. Decided he wasn’t going to wait in line anymore.
Tacoma traveling oncoming, no traffic, 50 mph. After entering curve three seconds from reaction to impact. T boned in the middle of his T bone move.

 

Yep, definitely need to get real bumpers for my new 2022. My old 86 Hilux had a real steel step bumper on the back. Got slammed at a traffic light by a drunk. Sheared a couple bolts on the right side but barely a scratch on the bumper. Their car had to be towed away. Can't believe they put such flimsy crap on autos these days.

 

For better crash safety ratings. For the car and pedestrians.

 

Saw these in a Facebook posts the other day, the pics arent mine so I dont know the story behind them:



Looks like a Fab Fours bumper

 

That fantastic fab four quality. Looks like the tubing did fairly well, but the main part of the bumper crumpled like a soda can.

To avoid being a biased hater, I just pulled up the fab fours website to look at specs on that bumper. They claim that they are using 11 gauge US steel and the bumper weighs 65-85 lbs. (source)

I'm used to companies stating steel thickness in inches. So to the google I went to find comparable thicknesses (FWIW, I'm fairly certain that my Husky garage cabinets are 22 gauge). I believe most bumper manufacturers / fab shops utilize 3/16 steel in the main bumper piece (and some use 1/4 at mounting and recovery points). per google=

Gauge Fraction Decimal mm
11 1/8 .125 3.175
7 3/16 .1875 4.7625
(source)

For some reason, I had 250lbs in my head, but another google search shows the ARB bumper at about 170 lbs. That's more than double at +/- 100lbs over the fab fours junk. You will not find that fab four garbage anywhere near my truck.

 

Need I say more?

 

Good to know. I thought all of their products were made using cheap/thin metal.

Looks like their "Premium" bumper uses 3/16" steel and weighs 160 lbs.....but it is still UGLY. For less money and a much more aesthetically pleasing bumper, I'd get the ARB.

Well, I did get the ARB.....so....maybe I'm a fanboy. I also really like the Demello. ARB and Demello are the only two that I have actually seen with reinforcements behind it. Those are the two I would choose, but I suppose there could be other options.

 

IMO if you're only doing water and mud then you can get away with lighter steel or aluminum, at that point the bumper is more for approach angle. If you're likely to hit stuff then go heavy duty.

 

Consider the unintended use as well. You are more likely to hit another vehicle or animal than anything else. The cheapness of the bumper posted above likely increased the damage significantly....sort of like a brush guard. If the driver had opted for a heavier duty bumper, or even left it stock, it is likely that there wouldn't be as much damage to the rest of the vehicle.

Obviously, I can't say that with any certainty because I don't know the full story (or even what the driver hit). But I am fairly confident that the Fab Fours bumper caused more damage than it prevented.

 

I disagree with the "likely increased the damage" compared to stock argument. A stiffer/stronger bumper will force other parts to be damaged more, but some of those "other parts" will be the object you're hitting, unless it's comperably indestructible (large boulder). I think more components will break by being hit by the parts of the bumper, but the damage in the specific impact area might be less.
Basically i think if you hit something hard enough that your plate bumper will bend in, if you crash the same with stock components you would be just as badly messed up just differently.

 

Hard to say without seeing what they hit.

What I CAN see in that photo is that the metal tubing that "protected" the grill area appears to be unbent. The flimsy metal used in the main structure of the bumper clearly crumpled inward. This in turn, forced the tubing into the grill that it was supposed to protect. It also appears to have damaged the headlights, radiator support, hood and fenders.

My guess is that the factory bumper would have resulted in damage to the bumper and bumper cover. Probable that the hood gets tweaked and the grill plastic is broken. Fenders, headlights and radiator support would have likely been spared from the repair list.

So we can agree to disagree.

 

There is no real way to settle this with out doing a controlled crash test stock and with a plate bumper. Would be cool to see that.

 

I clipped this prom queen who decided she didn't have to look left when turning left.
My Body Armor 4x4 took the impact and absolutely destroyed her car.
Beleive it or not, my truck was not totaled, and her insurance repaired mine to exactly how it was, including a new body armor 4x4 bumper lol.








It was a ford fusion.

 

My bumper after a static impact/collapse.
Was extremely bound up/high centered, and was trying to winch up an obstacle with the passenger side wing up against a wall. Thought it would push off, but wasnt the best winching scenario going on with the truck in a trail it shouldnt have been on in the first place. Something had to give, either my truck breaking free and up, or the bumper. Insane amount of leverage all the way out on the wing won, and I think almost any tube/plate bumper would have collapsed without some sort of engine cage/shock tower tie in to support the wing section.
Overall just interesting to see how it bent, lotta force thats for sure