trlfrk's Rocky Mountain Build ('16 silver OR DCSB)

Digging the your tire choice! Nice build so far

Question:

How do you like the Toyo MT in 255 85 16? How are they wheeling on them? Do you feel they provide enough foot print?

 

Love them. They'll chip out if you use the locker much, but I think all tires would. overall very pleased. fairly quiet, good looking, work well in everything.

 

Thanks for the feedback

 

Bumper, Lights, Winch Installed! Hopefully my thought process below helps others think through their own purchase.



I had 3 primary reason for purchasing an aftermarket bumper: 1. clearance, and 2. need for a winch mount and 3. better recovery points. While this truck is not a daily driver, I am very conscious of weight, not because of MPG's-- I just hate feeling like I'm driving tank. I like to be as nimble as possible. Lastly, I like the stock look and wanted it to be as slim and non- bulky as possible.

Given the above, I had two major decisions to make: steel vs aluminum and choosing a manufacturer.


Choosing a manufacturer:
My primary goal was to buy local (i.e., Colorado) if possible. Being able to see where and by whom my bumper is made just makes a difference to me, as does not having to pay a ton of shipping for a product that very well could be damaged or surface chipped during shipping. Not to mention local service should anything go wrong in the future.


Top contenders:
CBI's reputation and design are great. I do love the T3 bumper, and if I would have required hoops or bars, this would have likely been my choice.

Demello -- absolutely love the look of this bumper. Top contender.

I love my RCI sliders and skids, and I've seen Josh's prototype front bumper, but just not quite what I wanted.

Hefty Fab makes -- quite obviously-- the best looking 5th (or is it 4th?) gen fourunner bumper. But I'm not quite as big of a fan of their taco bumper. But this was a contender. Especially body color matched

Insain Fab here in denver makes-- hands down, by far-- the cleanest, sleekest front bumper. Not up for discussion! I'd seen it in person and it is just the one I've always wanted. Being on TW for a while, and reading about others not having a lot of success working with them, I was sad. Well, a year has passed, the communication is still touch and go, but Corey seems to stand behind his product, has treated me well, and produced and delivered the product I wanted. Whether he can mass produce them to compete with the other guys on here I don't know-- or care, really. I'm absolutely satisfied.


Choosing a material -- aluminum versus steel
I considered the scenarios in which a bumper would end up being most useful to me and then determined which material would be best suited to those use cases.

Minor Damage situations ("corrosion resistance"):
The whole point of the purchase is more clearance, which obviously leads to gnarlier trails being attempted. This truck gets used. So my assumption is that the bumper will get scratched. So I needed to determine whether I was more comfortable periodically touching up (sanding, removing surface rust, repaint) scratched steel every year or two, or do I want a permanently scuffed aluminum bumper? All else equal, I' d prefer the ability to "fix" minor damage. Steel wins here for me.

Major Trail Damage Situations ("durability"):
The most likely damage in my case is sliding into, hitting or bouncing off a rock on a trail, not hitting a deer, not getting into an accident. That said, I just can't envision spending on aluminum only to stress it beyond its limit and ultimately needing a new bumper after a bad trail day. Steel wins again.

Weight:
In all honesty, I can't stand the thought of making this truck any heavier. It's barely has enough power as is. And all the other argument (wear and tear on suspension, driving characteristics, etc). Aluminum wins here.


Conclusion:
In discussing options with Corey, and learning that the aluminum version was only slightly heavier than the stock bumper parts removed (stock 38; corey's aluminum: 44) and the fact that aluminum offered the opportunity to exactly replicate the TOYTEC tacoma SEMA build front bumper, I had to go with aluminum.

I am really glad I went with aluminum, as the still would have definitely refuired new springs. Not the end of the world, but not something I was interested in, really.

So I've got the same bumper as the TOYTEC SEMA build, it weighs only slightly more than stock and then I added in the Warn VR10 as well as Baja Designs 30" combo light bar and Baja Designs Squadron Sport white combo fog light replacements. Corey loves Toyotas and does a phenomenal job, including install. The bumper is a work of art.

So in addition to an amazing looking bumper, those lights are sweet. They make a really big difference, and with Baja's guarantee, I am just super pleased.

More pics to come.

I will note that the winch has added a lot of weight, and the truck does drive more roughly now. The springs have clearly compressed and I've lost a half in of lift. Not sure of the solution here, the ToyTec boss 2.5 lift has 650lb springs, but I'm afraid that switching out for 700lb springs would still be pretty rough. I am very surprised that these 650 lb springs were so affected by the addition of 80lbs. Perhaps new springs would eliminate the loss of lift height, but I wish I knew what it would to do ride quality.

 

Hey man, I’m finally getting around to ordering my LB length RCI rack pieces and am prepping for modifying the bed, do you happen to have the other couple pics from this post? I think just the bottom one is working now but it looks like there were 3 others? Or just any close ups of where you had to grind the bed would be cool!

 

Bumper looks killer btw! I’ve loved their design since that SEMA build too

 

It was just the slightest grind at the rear-- see where I circled. You may not have to grind if you don't have bed stiffeners? You probably will, built it wasn't much at all. I wouldn't do any grinding until you get the rack dry fit first.

 

Still love watching the evolution of this beast!

how do you feel about your toytec lift today? Would you still go in that direction or would you have changed and gone to the OME setup?

Nice work sir!

 

Great set up, I am going to do the same with mine for the RCI short/long rack and the CVT tent same size. Question - does this work with the OEM tonneau rails or do I need to remove?

 

Thanks!

hmm..... Now that I have it, I would really like to drive some one else's with a BP-51 setup and a fox or icon set up. I'm not saying I wouldn't go a diff direction, but no real complaints either.

 

Love your truck, it’s a lot of inspiration for mine. I’m in the springs. Ever thought about onboard air? What was the decision making process for you when you chose the boss suspension? I think I’m leaning towards King coil overs but trying to do as much research as possible

 

Thanks!!

I think about air every time I air down just expensive. Honestly leaning toward co2 tank right now...

If you have the money, I'd say kings. more and more systems have on the fly compression and rebound adjustabiity (i.e. a knob) that you can manually dial in the ride you want when you want. I will definitely choose that next time. No complaints with the boss system, except that. And also, since I added the bumper, the springs are much stiffer with a bit more weight up front.