ARB Bullbar Advice

Just looking for opinions on installing a ARB Bullbar or other 'heavy' front plate bumper on a 2.7l 5spd '96 taco excab. Will the added weight be a major hindrance? Think it will kill my gas mileage? I will not have the winch on it for quite some time, as I will be hunting for a used one.

Reasons I want one: They look bad-ass, protection from animal strikes, use with hi-lift jack.

Any opinions or suggestions on better similar front bumpers will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

1) I had my ARB first installed on the same truck you have (96 3RZ Xcab, see sig). I did not notice a difference in mileage/handling/etc afterward nor did I see a difference in weight.

2) Here is my Hi-Lift mounted on the ARB. I designed/made the mounts with my friend at NHOR fab.


3) Yes they look badass:

 

nice rig man, looks damn good. did you end up ordering the bullbar or picking it up somewhere? and where do you get those black rockcrawler rims? i've been looking around for new rims and cannot seem to find nice looking plain rims like that, i hate embellishments on truck rims.

gotta love the 95-97 front end, although headlight replacement is a hassle (worth it). i need to get the headlight replacement that take h4 bulbs

Thanks for the pics/ advice!

 

Might keep an eye out in my vendor section, I'll be officially listing my front plate bumpers for the 96-04's soon, and offering a GB soonafter. Mine is more agressive looking and higher clearance than the ARB, and will be customizable as to what options you would want; full top tube, no top tube, fog light recesses, receiver mount, etc etc.

 

I've been considering your stuff for some time, but of course you did not yet have the front end for my truck yet.. any idea when you will have finished your first first gen front end? And do you offer discounts if you order a front/rear bumper at the same time?

 

Its already done. One has even shipped to Canada already, just havent posted it on TW for everyone to see yet.
There's going to be a group buy on it, and I'll offer a package deal for front and rears together as well.

 

Thanks. I ordered it from 4by4connection.com. They gave me a deal so the bar was under 700 new, shipping was extra.
The H4 lenses are IPF.
The rims came with the truck when I bought it so idk what brand they are, but I think they're sweet being plain and all. You should be able to find some simple ones though pretty easily.

Go with relentless fab. His work looks great and these bumpers are going to be sick! Just add the bar on top like the ARB..I think that looks better than just the plate bumper.