Bull Bar/Brush Grille

Hello. I have a new 23 Taco trail edition, that I want to mount a brush guard on. The problem is that ever shop I have talked to says it’s a risk to put anything on, as it may interfere with the sensors in the grille that allow for the automated cruise control adjustment. Does anyone here have the same truck and successfully mounted anything on the front?
any insight would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Welcome.

Your sensors are mounted in the grille. As long as you don't have your push bar in front of the grille, it's fine. Most bumpers and guards accommodate the sensor array.

Example: this below picture is right at the limit but still ok.

My radar sensor is on the bottom of the grille (in the same spot as the OEM heritage/Pro) and my brush bar is a couple inches below that. You can be either a little below or way above. As long as there's a cone of visibility to the sensor, you're good.

 

You cannot place metal in front of the sensor. Depending on the sensor placement (Pro grille vs Toyota logo grille) and the proximity of the metal to that sensor, it may or may not work.

On a side note, what do you want the bull bar/brush guard for? They typically only mount to the sub frame structure at the bottom of the truck. This means there's very little resistance to forces and they commonly cause more damage in minor front end fender benders.



Note how the hood was contacted by the guard and not the offending vehicle.

 

Wow, that’s for the info so quick. Man that’s a sharp looking bumper! What brand is it? My grille is the heritage one that says “Toyota”, and the sensor array is visible just below the lettering.

 

Do you have a picture or website link of the product you want installed?

 

You’re right! I’m not going to put one on at all.

 

Get yourself an ARB front bumper. You won't be disappointed. They can take a hit from a deer to a camery or tesla and still remain intact. The deer or tesla, not so much.

 

Its a knockoff of the Body Armor hiline.



The reason why most of us say bumpers are better than bull bars or brush guards can be best described in my horribly crude paint drawing.




Most bumpers mount straight backwards to the frame horns. The plus-side is that energy gets delivered right in line with the frame rails. The minus is that you will need to remove the existing aluminum bumper (hidden underneath the plastic faring) and in some cases, cut body panels. Most bumpers can not be uninstalled without purchasing and replacing body panels, including the one I bought.

Most guards and bull bars mount with a J-shaped bracket that wraps around the body panel. The pro is that it is an easy bolt-on job that takes less than an hour to install, and is completely reversible. The con is that even a light impact is going to create a lever effect that bends the guard backwards and tweaks the frame. In most cases, a tweaked frame equals a totaled truck.


... To be fair, both bumpers and guards will tweak the frame in moderate to severe impacts. However, at least the bumper protects in light impacts, while most guards do not. If you leave the truck bone stock, it will show visible damage on light impacts, but will only wreck the frame on severe impacts. Its all a trade-off on what you want.


I hope this helps clear the mud.

 

Beautiful diagram. +A

 

Made by Vangard. Absolutely love it!

 

Installed a SSO slimline with heise 20 in light bar this afternoon. Hardest part is convincing yourself to cut the bumper and it’ll be ok. Just need a winch to install in it. Just showing some options.

 

After reading this thread, I decided not to install a grille guard myself.

 

This is my fav. Super clean

 

These are pure junk and cause more problems as Bertw192 said.