Best Deer Hunting Weapon is a Toyota Tacoma- upgraded bumpers

This thread isn't really about hunting with your truck- it is about the aftermarket bumpers and modifications after the fact.

...But the memes about hunting deer with a truck are too funny not to make the joke. I had the unfortunate luck of hitting a 4 point deer on my way to work one early morning in August and it messed up the driver side of my bumper and the support underneath. Fortunately I did get a few seconds slammed on my brakes and that helped slow me down, so it wasn't as bad.



Up until this point I was not really putting any money into my truck and just driving it as my daily without any passion for the TACO...it was just a truck and waiting to die- I know, I know...it's heresy to say that here.

I knew that I did not want to drive a truck that was this badly damaged because it looked bad, the wind noise was unbearable, and the headlight was not properly fastened anymore. After spending some time searching the internet for what I would need to get in order to fix this to stock it was going to cost about 1.5k in parts. I had already replaced this bumper once when I got into the four car pile up a few years back and I really didn't want to go through that again. Around that same time a few years ago before I purchased the stock bumper, I had made the mistake of purchasing that cheap off-road bumper that was a big conspiracy theory on this forum a few years back- no shock it was total crap and I was able to return it. All that to say I was at a crossroads of dropping some coin on a real quality aftermarket bumper, trying to get it fixed to stock, or just leaving it as it was.

I will admit that I was discouraged after seeing how much bumpers were after shipping. I eventually ended up just going FULL SEND and went with buying a quality aftermarket bumper. I ultimately decided to go this route because after peeling back all of the damage, I realized that it was going to be a lot of work to try and get the front to be stock again. Also, to come full circle, I was starting to get into the TACO again and just taking care of and having some pride in my truck and wanting it to look good!



After much searching I ended up going with Rough Country because of their cost to quality ratio, customer service, and overall look. I mean take a look for yourself:



I really ended up going FULL SEND because I bought the front bumper, rear bumper, a 9,500lbs winch, and running boards! These items came really fast on a pallet to my house. I also bought a few other items to finish the look and upgrade! I was able to assemble everything by myself with common tools.

Here are all of the parts that I ordered to fix and upgrade my truck (prices may have changed):

• Front Bumper (2005-2011 2WD/4WD Toyota Tacoma) - $799.95
• Rear Bumper (2005-2015 2WD/4WD Toyota Tacoma) - $599.95
• Oval Nerf Step (2005-2023 Toyota Tacoma 2WD/4WD) - $249.95
• 9,500- LB Pro Series Winch (synthetic Rope) - $399.95
• Winch Cover - $20.95
• Raxiom Super White LED Halo Projector Headlights; Black Housing; Clear Lens (05-09 Tacoma) - $287.99
• Raxiom LED Tail Lights; Black Housing; Red/Clear Lens (05-06 Tacoma) - $143.99
  
• Raxiom Axial Series LED Third Brake Light; Smoked (05-15 Tacoma) - $38.69
  
• Tacoma 2005-2011 Front Bumper Hood Grille Grill Replacement With TOYOTA letter Matte Black Generic - $105.88

I will also talk a bit about each of the items and my experience thus far, because it was a large purchase and I did a lot of research. The front bumper and rear bumper were powder coated and packaged very well. The metal was 3/8" thick and very solid- did not feel cheap like that other bumper. There was some hardware missing but I was able to pick up some replacement nuts and washers and got a rounded up refund from Rough Country after making a quick phone call. The customer service there is very good and I could tell that they were knowledgable. The bumpers come with off-road cube lights and there was an issue with one of the mounting screws not tightening and they just sent out an additional two pack of lights no questions asked and let me keep the one with mounting issues. The Oval nerf steps were lightweight but still felt solid. However, I will say that at stock riding height I do not use them to get into my truck- I just step up into the truck. Overall the installation instructions and process was very smooth and not difficult to do by myself.



The winch was quality especially with the synthetic rope. The instruction manual was worse than Ikea so some guess work had to be done. I got a cover for it to keep the elements out, even though it is outdoor rated, I want it to last as long as possible. To use the winch I have to pop the hood and reach behind the grill to remove the neoprene cover and plug in the controller- overall not too bad.

The headlights felt cheap and there was some slight quality control issues that I saw with the mounting holes and the lens adhesive oozing out on one side. I was still able to install them and they look good and work as advertised. I will have to wait and see if they actually last more than 1 year. The headlight beams were not adjusted from factory so I did have to manually adjust them which just takes some patience and hand tools.


I also got rear and 3rd brake lights and those were better quality feeling somehow even though they were from the same company and line as the headlights. One of the nice things about these lights is they are direct plug and play and no special fuse or modifications is needed. They are also very bright and so far have held up nicely.

The grill was the cheapest item that I installed on the truck, but it fit and looks nice. I did not want to go with the stock grill and most of them as well as the nice aftermarket ones were really expensive for what they were. It came with an adhesive gasket, but that did not stick and I just threw it away. I read the common bad reviews that it creates a whistling noise without the gasket, but I do not hear that when driving- it could be because of the wind deflector I have on the hood. The company sent me an extra grill and didn't want it back so I have one available if anyone wants one like it- just PM me.

Overall what I was most dreading was my MPG after the weight and aerodynamics changes. Surprisingly, it did not affect my MPG..I still get 16mpg! Since I have gotten back into the TACO spirit, there are some more modifications that I have made since this and plan to make and will start posting guides on those soon.

 

Looks great! That deer knew you needed an intervention and gave his life to get you back on track.

I may have to disagree with you on the best deer hunting weapon though. I had a 2010 jeep grand Cherokee that was a champ at killing deer. Helped get pretty good with body work and painting too. LOL

 

I creamed a deer at 55-60 MPH with mine. ~$5k damage in 2013. Never had a chance to touch the brakes, just held on for the explosion of plastic.