grill guards ANYBODY OUT THERE????

looking at my options on grill guards. tending to lean towards the heavy full coverage ones my son put on his jeep. want to mainly just have the protection against All those Darn deer that come darting out! let me see any of your guards /pics, & any advice. oh yeah, & how easy or hard they are to install to a 2016 front. don't really want to cut & chop my front end much. thanx

 

Are you talking about a plate bumper?

 

I got an Aries Pro Series Grille Guard on my 2016 and I love it. It came with rails over the headlights but I took them off. It also has an option for a light bar but I don't have a light bar on there. I had it installed at the dealer and it took them around 2.5 hours. I was going to put in on myself with the help of a friend but I got impatient and just had it installed. According to the instructions there is no drilling needed and they didn't mess my front end at all.

 

That looks great but also expensive...

 

Have you thought about getting just a new bumper with full hoops?

Vendors such as @Pelfreybilt @RelentlessFab may be able to tell you some of their options.

 

It wasn't too bad, the guard was cheaper than the nerf steps I got.

 

How about this...

 

You need a full replacement bumper if you expect to gain any real protection against an animal strike. A bull bar or 'grille guard' that bolts on and sits in front of the factory bumper is no more than a false sense of security and widely referred to as a damage multiplier.

 

@fishcommander , here's what he means by that

Grill guard


vs bumper




Taken from here

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/off-road-bumper-on-stock-tacoma-pics.190108/page-3#post-4106402

 

I think there would've been more damage without it but plate bumpers are clutch

 

J

Looks like minimal damage, and nice to be able to compare the two.

 

Thought I had a better pic but this is the only one I have on me right now. I have the black horse one...got it from autoanything.com for $240. Step 1 of the installation instructions should be light the instructions on fire. Once I figured out how to put it on it went on pretty easy.

For the price I'm really happy with it. Looks and feels way more expensive.

 

Absolutely no regrets

 

Seeing grill gaurds for $800+ vs full hoop from sos conceots for about the same, no contest. Already tagged a deer at 45mph, it only scratched the powdercoat.

 

westin 600.00 autoanything on sale. You can also mount a winch with extra bar. Love mine

 

I just went on the website and priced out what you said and it came to about $1750...

 

Are these mounted sturdy enough to the frame to even consider attaching a winch?

 

I just did mine again, its up to $1000 now. I powdercoated my own and went steel instead of aluminum.

 

Anyone who thinks a grill guard or steel bumper is going too protect you from a deer hit,has never hit a deer while at speed,they do nothing but cause more damage too rest of the truck when grills themselves smash up against your truck.

 

I wish I could find the pics. But a member here hit two cows at speed it totaled the truck but he sold the bumper to another member here and he still runs it. A plate bumper can take a hell of a lick before it starts bending
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/plate-bumpers-after-impact-with-pics.379600/