(FEELER) What are the tackiest Tacoma mods in your opinion?

^those are hilarious

 

No one has mentioned offroad bumpers on trucks that don't offroad. Thoughts?

 

That's the problem most men with tool boxes don't have tools in them. It just looks "cool".

 

They have the toolbox because they ARE the tools...
Get it?? eh?? eh?

 

I carry everything I need inside the cab, no reason to take up precious bed space

 

I've got one because I like to back up into shit. When I get off my ass I'll have another so I can drive head on into shit.

 

I used to want one for that exact reason. I thought it would be nice because 1. It looks great and 2. It is protective and I hate getting rear ended when I'm at a red light and I back into things too

But when I voiced that I was quickly told that an offroad bumper would only do more damage in the instance of a wreck because it would not give and bend the frame instead. The exact words were "It's for hitting rocks at 2mph". The stock bumper is supposed to give enough to where it doesn't bend your frame.

So again... Thoughts? Does anyone disagree? I would like more info if there is still hope of getting one for protective reasons.

 

I think if you're in an accident that's bad enough to bend the frame with a steel bumper, it probably would have bent the frame with a stock bumper as well. My personal opinion is that it's better to have the stronger bumper.
I've seen head on collisions with after market bumpers, and the trucks looked a lot better off than the other car, and I couldn't see any frame damage, but then again, I wasn't looking close.
I say, if you want it and feel like it's a good idea, do what your gut tells you.

 

You are pretty much right imo. I just have a use for a more utilitarian bumper as I use my truck for work and for work around my property quite a bit. My previous comment was more geared towards aligning with yours. I don't have a want or need to hit things at ramming speed, just to protect my truck from things that a stock bumper couldn't, i.e. rolling logs, winch cable rubs, and being able to easily hook up d-rings, etc. I also like having excuses to build things.

 

Well what I was thinking was that it would take a smaller impact to bend the frame on a steel/aluminum bumper than on a regular bumper because one conducts the impact straight to the frame while the other absorbs it. Kind of like how heat conducts through wood vs metal. But like you said, I am no expert.
I do agree it just seems common sense that the offroad bumper will protect the body more though. How do you fix a bent frame?

Oh I see, that is nice. I live with parents/in dorm so I'm not at that stage yet of working on large property. I don't do much of that but I DO back into things occasionally.. You built yours?

 

I've had both an auto body guy, and a good friend who is a claims adjuster with Progressive (No, he can't get you Flo's number) answer that question for me.

Both told me exactly what you are thinking - the armored/off road bumpers are typically solid mounted. Being strong enough to jack the vehicle with don't have the flex or give that is engineered into a bumper that can pass 5-20mph crash standards. It becomes a rigid mounted extension of the frame.

The bumper and bracketry in a stock bumper is designed to collapse and absorb impact. O/R bumpers are designed to support the vehicle for sliding on and off stuff, pulling/towing, and a stable winch platform. You lose that small hit "give" that you would have with a stock bumper.

 

Bitter truth. I figured it would be better at small collisions (5-10 MPH) in the fact that it wouldn't be enough impact to bend frame.

So it is WORSE than stock for getting hit at 5-20.. What about 1-5 (This would be backing into things or getting bumped in traffic)? or What about higher speeds like 45?

 

Unlike old rigid car frames, modern frames designed with crumple zones. And while the bumpers are also designed to crumple, they are not what saves the passengers in a collision. Frame absorbs most of the impact, so if you are in a collision hard enough to crumple the frame, chances are, the OEM bumper will not have much effect vs off-road bumper.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crumple_zone

 

Good info, thanks. Didn't know frames were made that way.

 

Most cars nowadays are unibody, not straight frames, except for trucks

 

The thing is that at low speed collisions the steel bumpers will transfer more energy to the frame.

The bumper cover/bumper combo on the truck stock is designed to dissipate energy as much as possible by deforming. This can absorb most of the energy in a small accident.

However with a plate bumper there is extremely little give so all of that energy is transferred to the frame.


It also depends on what you hit. If you hit something with some give like another car that has give it's whatever. If you hit something without give like a concrete barrier or something it might be worse.

I'm not going to pretend to know what speeds it will be better/worse to have one bumper or the other but there is probably a zone from very low speed to medium speed where a metal bumper could tweak the frame whereas stock it would be fine. It might also transfer more energy into you making your injuries worse.



OT The tackiest mod is pretending your car/truck is a model up. Especially on mustangs and shit. We have a guy come to the body shop I work at and he has a base V6 mustang. He tried to make it look like the shelby cobra with fake vents all over the place. He even put fake air vents over his back windows. He also put a V8 badge on the back. Such a loser lol. He always smashes his car up and when he does we ALWAYS get calls from people reporting our courtesy car for driving like a douche. Cutting people off/road raging/tail gating all in a fucking Kia.............

 

That sounds awful. However, consider this: I buy a base/SR5 4x4 Tacoma, add a locker, add the interior extras, and add my own suspension that is 2x as good. Color match everything, blah blah, the point is say it is in name alone NOT a TRD OR, but in every functional way it is equal to or better. Do you think it's tacky to have TRD OR stickers or TRD emblems on it? (Disregard the fact that most people think stickers are tacky)

 

If you're going to sell it with them on then yes. Otherwise do what you want.

 

If you did it up with TRD parts it's not tacky. As long as you disclose that when you sell it or whatever.

Even with aftermarkets I wouldn't say it was tacky. Strange but not that big of a deal imo.


The TRD OR package isn't that special to be honest. What's really tacky is when people try to imitate a model that is double or triple the price of what they have. The dudes V6 mustang sells for like $20k and the car he tries to imitate is $60k. It just makes you look like a huge *** at that point lol

 

You mean like this guy?