why NOT an ARB bumper?

does it have sealed mod to keep dirt from getting in the cubby?

 

I'm guessing it's also 3/16.

I didn't do anything special to seal it. You have to cut the door outer shell to fit the box but it still opens/closes the same way. On the inside, the box is open from the top which is great for me because the 2 locker solenoids fit right on top of the unit -- it's a bitch getting your hands up there to connect everything, but I've only had to do it during the initial install, locker install, and later when I removed the bed for other work.

 

Aye. For $230 + tax & shipping, to have the protective coating fail on a steel part in just a year or two is unfortunate. TBH they could probably do better with just a coat of quality primer & then one or two finish coats of satin black paint.

 

Speaking of the CO (Coastal Offroad) rear HC bumper specifically, my issue wasn't so much the overall 3/16" plate thickness as the fact that, from what I can see, the mounting plates where it attaches to the vehicle frame are also 3/16"? I don't see the use of having 1/2" external recovery points on a bumper if the actual frame attachment plates are only 40% as thick. The comparable BAMF rear-bumper frame mounting plates are an absolutely massive 1/2" thick all the way through.

I also don't like the sharp, triangular "knife edge" angle on the CO HC bumper. I know it's there to improve departure angles & clearance but I don't really need that and it's more of a knee/shin hazard when frequently loading & unloading the rear cargo area.

For front recovery, ARB has stated somewhere that in their engineers' opinion it's not possible to design a front bumper attachment for the Taco's frame that can take more than ~10-12K-ish pounds of recovery force, so they opted to make a separate bolt-on unit that is rated for up to 18,000 lbs of force. (From any pulling angle within the steering sweep of the front tires.)

Separately: while I respect ARB's choice to use their "house color" orange-red on their recovery point I find it extremely pretentious & attention-grabbing. I spray-painted mine satin black.

 

we make a bracket to use the factory arb plastic pocket to fit either Diode Dynamic or Baja Designs lights

 

Yeah I recall reading that as well. Ive seen it myself in person with big winch pulls. I think a lot of folks underestimate the forces involved. Especially with the shock loading of a snatch recovery

 

Are you running two skid plates or something?

 

Yes, ARB skid plate that came with the bumper and the OEM skid plate.

 

Anyone know if there’s a point to running a bug deflector with ARB bumper

I used to but
1. I don’t think it really prevented bug windshield strikes
2. I’m not sure if the front top bar of the ARB bumper basically accomplishes the same purpose by disturbing wind around it



also, has anyone put grip pads on their front bumper?
I’m thinking of doing it. Hopefully it doesn’t cause issues like water sitting underneath.

would help working on the truck where I’m on the bumper a lot



I put some of this stuff on my rear bumper where I stand on it and it works great

only obvious issue I can think of is it getting too close to mounting points for future mods like winch, lights, etc

 

folks with ARB what aux lights are you running?

ordered HELLA 700FF
plan is figure out how to wire with high beam on
Headlight Services headlight harness might change things I think it’s switched different

seen lots of folks run them without bumper
But not with

lot more justifiable price than $700+
trophy truck lights.
anything is better than nothing. Can always switch later. Less of a pain if they get stolen.

seen posts about Hella rallye 4000 but that’s $300+.



I assume they would bolt right into the small two holes on the farthest wide out edge of the bumper.

given other folks have ran 7” aux lights
And the 700FF is probably 7” > 500FF 5”
been out a while, many used, good reviews
Seems can’t go wrong

 

$203 Nilight 9" Round Offroad LED Driving Lights with DRL 2PCS 140W 15560LM IP68 Spot Flood Combo Work Light with 12AWG DT Connector Wiring Harness Kit for 4x4 Jeep Truck ATV UTV SUV

https://www.amazon.com/Nilight-Offroad-Driving-Connector-Warranty/dp/B0B74ZQ3R5?th=1 is what I currently have on my 09, i like them and they are independent of the high beams

had these and they were great. have them om several other vehicles, had them on my 1990 toyota truck, have a pair on my cheap wheeler/beater. also can be wired indepent of the lights.

$45 Nilight Led Light Bar 2PCS 7" 51w 5100LM Red Round Spot LED Light Pod Off Road Fog Driving Roof Bar Bumper for Jeep Truck ATV UTV SUV

https://www.amazon.com/Nilight-5100LM-Driving-Hunters-Warranty/dp/B00MDFOP1K?th=1

 

Was skeptical of Amazon but NiLight is kind of known
cheaper, possible LED. Looks good

and says lumens and higher power…

sketchy part about Hella 700FF besides blindly trusting the brand
1: they don’t say the lumens…
2: for some reason it’s 55w despite a harness to battery which makes no sense. 55w is a sedan headlight.
Thicker gauge and off road typically means 80-100w more power not 55w. Maybe it can be changed

I think 700FF takes H3
If with thick enough wiring replace the 55w with higher watts is possible could be a good cheap way to get more light light out of them

 

and they are a very nice upgrade to the arb bumper

 

I've got Cibie Super Oscar aux high beams mounted on my ARB bumper. Wiring was done via a Stedi aux high beam harness.



Details here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/a-non-enthusiasts-tacoma-build.667560/page-6#post-25264613

 

I run a pair of the 9" NiLight spotties on my ARB. Pretty much a knockoff of the ARB lights as far as I can tell from pics. But without the insane price tag

 

I think I own likely 15-20 pairs of their lights of all of those I've had 2 take water in, and every time they have warrantied them, with minimal work on my end they often just want proof I purchased them and a picture of the water in them. but yeah originally got my first set of cheap pods because they were cheap, and I needed additional lighting for a wheeling trip and they had like a sale like $13 a pair, figured if they made it though that weekend id have gotten my money, one of those pair is still in use on another car now. one of those pairs was one of the only ones that took water in but it still functioned, opened it up cleared it out re aligned the gasket and put some silicone in the pinched spot and hasn't leaked again. nilight is my go to cheap light as they function well, and if they get stolen its not like im losing out on a pair of like Diode dynamics or something similar.

 

that looks good. I guess that confirms not only 7” fits but 9” as well nohomo

glad to know they’re working well and that I’m not the only one with doubts about $700+ for two pods on a regular vehicle…

last time I wheeled at night was finding a spot to bed down; light output wasn’t an issue, aiming direction was. Because of the terrain. I think a scenario where only a movable swivel light would do anything. Managed with a flashlight.

to my surprise during install, a connector I had taped and capped off to “I’ll wire this another day” had gotten so much sand in it. Cleaner and air helped but shop air 100psi might have helped more…

only issue so far doing wiring
Did it quick and dirty to get things on and out of my way. Shitty squeeze tap connectors.
Once it’s all done another day gonna go back in and improve on it for better routing, disconnects if needed, and water sealing. Left slack in the wires to leave enough length for improving later.

Only upgrade I know of right now is step down NSPA krimpaseals and I’m running out of them. Maybe acquire some better shrink tubing too if I can find an assorted kit of RayChemDR25. Local hardware store shrink tube is probably better too.
The shrink ratio on my kit from Harbor Freight is not very good.

that’s smart. Going to look for tamper proof hardware. $85 Hellas would be less of an issue stolen but also too small to make a claim and rather just upgrade the hardware to avoid issue

 

Tested inner and outer far holes settled on inner
Outer looked odd. But who knows maybe outer blocks less grill airflow with minimal vertical ARB bar blockage.

before bolts tight mockup
Outer


Inner smaller holes

now to figure out how to activate with high beams instead of only a button

 

got it working
Followed instructions for high beam toggle
It lists another option for interior button, may see about adding that later

hella site shows an HD harness for $40
Maybe that’s different and for stronger bulbs as whatever came with the 700FF did not look HD and was around 20gauge wire for most if not all of it…

Truck has beefy and ceramic plug Headlight Services harness that hopefully is fine. Found 12V with DVOM at main beam socket white wire when high stalk toggled on and connect Hella signal to that.

anyone know what size 05-11 ARB fogs are to put yellow LaminX film?
Assuming universal and round
Websites say PN regular fogs 6821201 but don’t say diameter

might take mine out before aiming and measure the lens or sneak a tape in there, so the surround doesn’t interfere with accurate measurement

 

Looking for biggest ARB bumper thread to ask related question
maybe here

For those who also run it,
have you had any issues with the signal markers?

IIRC, the wiring that came with it was not very good, unless that was my doing. Been a while.
The connections are quick taps that struggle to bite into wire. At this point, I have intermittent issues that stop when I squeeze them.
However, even if I do that, one of my parking lights has stopped working.

1. It looks to be sealed beam and not serviceable. Not 100% sure. As in new unit, not new bulb.
2. I run them often for safety. The bulb is likely small. It probably burned out.



Curious to know if anyone's ran into this, and what they did.

Supposedly there's an LED one. In theory this would mean less power draw, longer lasting, quick on, and no need to replace.
Unfortunately the the website does not seem to say anything about what is what, regarding part numbers to actually try and get some.