ARB for 2012 Tacomas

So do you have the 886 on the 5100's?

 

Correct, the 5100's are at 0", with the ARB and warn m8000 with regular steel line I get about 3.25-3.5" of lift

 

Sounds like you are happy with that setup? Did you do anything else on the front or just the shock/spring? UCA, diff drop?

Do you know if setting the 5100 at 1.5" lift causes any problems with the 886? I don't really want/need 3" of lift.

 

I'm very happy with the set up, the problem you're gonna have is with 886's and 1.5" on the 5100's you're gonna have like 4.5" of lift, the 886's give 3" of lift on their own, if you bump the 5100's up it'll add to the lift the 886's are already providing

 

really disappointed in the ARB design for 2012's... looks terrible. I was highly anticipating it since i've owned 2 other ARB front bumpers for other vehicles... but after seeing this one i'll be passing on to another company. Shame really because ARB's fit/finish and quality is second to none.

 

Does anyone know of pictures of the 05-11 bumper on the 12? I know the Oakley truck had one but the pictures I saw don't show the details. Any decent pictures out there of the gaps/fitment?

 

Glad I checked in here as I was getting ready to preorder. I am tempted to order an 05-11 bumper and make it work. It looks like I would have to be dealing with gaps with either. I just dont know what it is but something does not look that good about the 12 bumper.

 

I've been talking with importers of Aussie goodness and the word is that because of movement of the bumper (and give of front end components) that the lip of the cut piece of stock bumper is getting stuck under the ARB in off road situations.

 

that just looks terrible. i cant believe ARB would put out a product that looks half done. NO bumper should stick out over 2 feet from the headlights.

 

Almost looks like it might decrease the approach angle since it sticks out so far. Glad I started building them instead of waiting on one of these. I don't think this is one of their better looking products, jmo

 

Almost identical angles.

I'd love to see exactly how they mounted the ARB on the Oakley 2012 truck (ie how much custom fab was needed) as I personally prefer the 2005-2011 bumper to the 2012 bumper.

Anyone want to be a guinea pig? I'm a little short on funds and ability.

 

Any one hear anything on these?

 

A little birdy told me that there are about 40 arriving in the US any day now. Those are already spoken for, however - another shipment is due in mid January.

 

It looks to me like it just doesn't have any sort of filler piece between the bumper and the grill. I don't understand how the 2011 - prior bumper won't work, since the mounting points are the same. What would have to be modified?

 

I am not sure I would put much faith in these photos. They are not the production bumper.

I will wait until I see the production one until I say yea or nea.

 

Honestly, I don't think thats the 05-11 bumper on the oakley truck. Some of the angles look wrong, and it fits the front end too well.

I think that was an early prototype and they just didn't say as much.

 

^^^^^Looks like it is.....

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/253084-12-arb-rocktek-rear-bumper.html

 

I've ordered my 2012 ARB through Big Country Customs in British Columbia. There was an order still on the boat of about 60 of these heading our way last week. BCC figures their dealer should be shipping it out by early next week.

 

I don't know look at the size of the head light hoops on the 12 one. THEY ARE HUGE. The ones on the oakley truck look smaller and better. More like the older ones.

 

Well I received an email from ARB use in regards to a few questions I sent to them. I'm really not quite sure how I feel about these new ARB's. I think a lot of people are going to go with a different aftermarket bumper for these new Tacomas and ARB will lose a lot of business. Customers just simply won't be happy with this product. Here is what I wrote to them.

Hello,

I'm emailing with a question regarding the 2012 ARB bumpers for the Toyota Tacoma. Does the 2012 ARB require me to cut my front bumper like in the picture attached to this email? How much further does this new bumper sick out compared to the 2011 models on the trucks? Is there a reason why this bumper was designed this way over the 2005-2011 models? Do you have any further pictures of the bumper you could send to me?


Their response:

i've attached a couple pics of the new 2012 Tacoma bar to this email for your reference. To answer your questions the bumper actually sits in the same position on the front of the truck in relationship to the approach angle. The updated nose for 2012 hangs further forward at the grill as well as having an extra piece of trim below the headlamps. We designed the new bumper so that the upper deck surface of the bar has the needed clearance to allow the section of factory bumper to neatly tuck behind it. It was deemed impractical to build an complex upper section in steel to work with the updated headlamp assemblies and new body work as the planes of contact would have been effectively parallel and would have required large gaps to avoid the bumper damaging the plastic components during flexing situations. By sectioning the plastic bumper cover (which is very easy to do given the light weight nature of the material) the plastic bumper can tuck behind the steel bumper vertically which allows for much tighter tolerances as the frame and bumper move independently under the body. Clarifying further, the middle section of the bumper is virtually identical to the old bumper at the face and underneath, but has been shortened on the top deck to accommodate the different bodywork. This does give the appearance of hanging further off the nose of the truck, but in reality they are very much the same as there was no reason to reinvent that section of the bumper. ​

Finally, please keep in mind that many of the photos on the web are "spy" shots of the ARB owned 2012 Tacoma that is still fitted with a prototype bumper. From that fitment we made a variety of changes, most notably altering the upper "rack" of the bar to lower and move it rearward to improve the appearance and visual flow of the bumper. The red truck in the photos is an off tool sample of a production bar and we believe shows the bar off very well, both in the photos and in person.

It almost sounds like they took a lazy approach to designing these bumpers. I've already ordered one and put a down payment on it so its too late for me to change my mind. I'm hoping it will look better in person but I'm skeptical.
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