Hit a deer. Should I repair or go with ARB?

I'm amazed at how little visible damage there is. You sure the deer you hit wasn't a stuffed animal?

If you've been considering a lift and or ARB bumper anyhow it seems like this is the excuse you need to spend the money.

 

I hit it doing ~ 30 MPH. This photo is from 24 hours post killing the bastard. Somebody took the rack & balls off of it.

 

People are bizarre... The rack... Ok horn hunters are typical. But the testies? Some voodoo crap going on?

I believed you hit one. Just surprised at how little damage there seems to be. Lucy to have hit the corner I guess.

 

I'm still waiting on my adjuster to get the final figures. The shop I've used in the past quoted nearly 4k for oem parts, labor, and paint.


I'm unsure as to what direction I'm going to go here.....ARB FTMFW or stay TOTALLY stock.

If I did go the ARB route it's looking like, thus far from my research, I'd do 6112 set at the bottom clip for the fronts, and 5160's for the rear. With this my goal would be no diff drop needed, marginal lift if any over all and retain what little rake I have with my Leer on the rear.

Thoughts? Jeers?

 

Pelfreybuilt... or relentless for the bumper

 

Lucky! I was praying for a deer strike, my wallet took the hit instead

I went with an Aluminess bumper and synthetic line on the winch. Total weight added at ~100 lbs. Still running stock TRD OR suspenders. Parked next to a co-worker's bone stock truck it's sitting a bit under an inch lower (I also have sliders).

Time to start saving for the lift but I can run this setup for the time being, and the ride hasn't really been compromised.

 

No idea about anything suspension related, but please do yourself a favor and get the ARB. They are amazing; a friend had a similar incident and he used his insurance money to upgrade to ARB. He has a modest lift, I want to say OME with 285's. Before it happened, he loved the stock look but now he loves his ARB. It's amazing how the ARB feels and looks like it was made to be on the truck; installation is nice and easy as well and if you ever want a winch you'll be set.

 

Happened to Robu, he went Pelfreybuilt IIRC

@robu

 

I drove my new Taco from the dealership straight to the shop for the ARB-Warn-and complete set of Pilfreybuilt-2" lift on front,shock as well and sliders. I live in the Ozark Mountains and grill guards,at minimum, are a must due to deer. I hope the extra beef on the front and sides might help in case of a collision with other objects.
Good Luck!

 

Looking at your pictures, I would suggest that you only change the bumper out if you are worried about this happening again. The damage to the bumper itself is only a small crack on the bottom edge, which is very easily welded by any hack of a body shop. The "dealer expensive" part of the repair is actually the damage to the fender, which is bent... but a *competent* body shop should be able to twist that back into shape.

It doesn't really look like you even need any parts for this repair. Maybe some tabs on the headlights that got broken off, but that's just plastic and easily repaired.

 

Yep pelfreybilt is the way to go!