1st gen front tube bumper / turn signal opinion needed

I'm building a front bumper for a 04 five lug. I'll have some better pics soon. It's a pretty standard style except I'm doing a couple weld in fill plates, the license plate will mount to the top of the skid plate with 3 dimple die holes under the license plate on the skid plate.

It has 2 light tabs and this bumper will have a standard light protector bar on top of the main tube that'll be flat but will offer the option for a round stinger in the future. I like stingers, but not huge ones.

This is where I'm looking for some opinions regarding the turn signals the guy wants to have on the bumper....

Him and I both know about the turn signal mod to make the side markers flash but he bought these orange ones, so I'm going to add them. I'm going to let him decide tomorrow before I weld the brackets on.

What do you guys think?

#1. without ? just do side marker mod?





#2. or here? kind of the standard place



#3. or here? I thought about doing a round dimple die hole in the fill plate and mounting the light behind it but decided since the skid plate is going to have 3 holes on the bottom it would be too many holes and look too busy, or like a piece of swiss cheese. (even though I love swiss chese)



#4. or here?

 

I'm stuck between #2 and #4

 

Yeah me too. I think #2 will look good and even though I'm not really digging the lights too much right now, I think it'll end up looking good once the black and orange contrast each other.

 

also #4 looks kinda like it could get damaged easily if the bumper took a hit, but that might just be the way I'm looking at the picture

I agree that it'll look good once some paint goes on too

and that I am officially jelly of whoever this bumper is going to

 

Yea #1 all the way.

just do this http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/186115-free-blinker-light-mod.html

its simple.

 

x2 ditch the trailer lights

 

I'm a fan of the dimple-die hole... but get those small round lights and recess them into the bumper kinda like these : http://www.texaschromeshop.com/webstore/store/viewitem.asp?keyword=&idproduct=16834

Only less chrome... and not 25 of them. I think that's the cleanest mounting option if you want them to be on the bumper. Otherwise just stick 'em in the corner lights.

 

i am definatley interested in one of these looks awesome! i like first way you have the blinker!

 

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index.php/builderparts/lights-electrical/led-turn-signal-kit.html

Would these help ?????

 

bumper looks GOOOOD

Cant wait to see it finished and mounted.

I personally would do the corner light mod (KISS)

But if the customer wants those signals, go #2 for sure. Too low and they are vulnerable to damage.

And a couple of ??? from a potential buyer:

Stock skids compatible?

Winch Mount Possible?

DOM or HREW?

Recovery points?

 

#3 is less likely to get damaged Brian..your main bar will hit first before the light will.
It'd be nice to countersink it in the back and flush it with one of the fill plates..but that's just my opinion.
Keep the signal light straight though, so you'll have to notch the fill plate out, then build a bracket in the back that runs parallel with the main bar..so it's even..not turned at an angle to match the line of the fill plate.


My .2

 

Here's the bumper. I need to note also, this guy's truck is a 04 5 lug that most likely will never see any real world abuse off road. He kind of threw a wrench in my gears a few weeks ago when he said he wanted to have front and rear tube bumpers (I did his rear a while back) but drop the truck a few inches. He's calling it a "Nascar Theme".

I'm not into building things too different than the way I prefer to make stuff, so I just went ahead and made him a off road style front bumper. He text me yesterday and said he loves it, so that's good.

He chose to mount the lights down low with a bracket I made (vulnerable off road, I know) and will send me some pics any day here I'm sure. I kept this bumper on the simple side and didn't add a whiole lot of extra bracing since I knew the plans this guy had for the future and how it would be used.

I have a guy bringing me a 01-04 6 lug in a matter of weeks and have plans on keeping a day or two extra and building a fixture so I can build more without needing a truck to build from, which is what I did with this 5 lug one.

Thanks for posting up comments and adding some links to items I didn't know existed guys, appreciated!

 

That looks AWESOME...I like it a lot. What would be the approximate price point on a bumper like that? And will the six lug bumper be similar/same in design? I like how it doesn't use the factory recovery point mounts (the two/four bolt holes on the underside of the frame) Those holes are all jacked up and bent out of shape because of some really rough recoveries in the past

Can't wait to see the 6 lug bumper fabbed up!

 

looks good! possible winch mount????

 

when you fab up the 6 lug bumper one suggestion is to make it compatible w/ the stock skids

 

Looks good. I would do 2 or 3. Definitely not 4 though

 

I have small led light for mine mounted right above the bumper on the grill piece under the light. Don't have to worry as much about breaking em

 

Do you have any pics of this mod?

 

i have LED strips for my turn signals mounted right under my headlights. you can see them kinda in this pic.

you can pick up the pair for $25 at pep boys or vato zone. the LED strips can be cut down to the length you need

 

Man that truck looks good! I like the signals, pretty sweet, and hidden at the same.