Aftermarket front bumpers damaging mounting location?

I've heard that there is a common issue with heavier bumpers coming loose because where they bolt into on the frame for the Tacoma is especially weak.

I'm planning on putting a little CaliRaised Stealth bumper about 77lbs on. Am I safe or should I look into reinforcement? I'm not having a winch installed either.

 

where is this a common issue?

 

i belive that they dont come loose, butt.....when you are getting winched out or doing the winching with the front bumper, the bumper will pull the metal where it connects to the truck.


this is the bracket needed to reinforce it. and there is a video at the bottom
https://overlandoutfitters.shop/pro...reinforcement-kit?_pos=1&_sid=3fafeaa22&_ss=r

 

With no winch there should be no problem with bending or falling off bumpers. For your occasional tug, just use the supplied hook on the passenger side, it is not a great attachment location, but it will do, I prefer a secure shackle.

The bending that I have seen on every Tacoma that has winched often is definitely prevalent, but have not seen one fail, or even close to failing. In my opinion the bracket type reinforcements are probably just hiding or rather covering up the problem of the bent mounting plate. Toyota made the attachment for a bumper, which gets pushed into the truck, not pulled away and thus it is not suitable for heavy pulling without some deformation of the bumper attachment plates. Mine were bent until I removed them completely and welded on new 1/4" plate attachments using 6 bolts, but that was another fiasco.

 

It really has nothing to do with the weight of the bumpers. What your reading online is people bending the frame horns winching from the bumper. The plate will pull away from the truck on a heavy winch pull without reinforcement.

Clamping the bumper to the frame reduces the chances of that happening.

Our reinforcement brackets fully clamp the bumper into the frame reducing the stress on the mounting point while winching.




https://www.bayareametalfab.com/FBR...inforcement-brackets-2005-to-2023-_p_142.html

 

The Caliraised design mounts to only the 6 tiny studs of the stock crash bar mount. Therefore a reinforcement bracket is recommended:



One small obstacle you may encounter is the carry-through structure for the shackle mount may be close to the stud holes:



This may require trimming the flange of whatever reinforcement bracket you get. Easy enough with an angle grinder, but be prepared to do it.

 

I was thinking of this when I read the op

 

You need to look at how the bumper mounts. As JLee said, the mounting point needs reinforcing.

My bumper is by At The Helm and it uses a support bracket back along the frame that bolts through the frame. It reinforces the mounting point on both sides.

 

My custom solution:

This was my inspiration.:
Tacoma Bumper Reinforcement Bracket '16- Current | Rock Hound Off Road

 

Can always beef it up

https://www.tacomaworld.com/posts/8935425

 

While I haven’t had any hard pulls yet, I have wondered about this same thing, not saying reinforcement isn’t needed, just haven’t heard of any bumper attachment failing.

So, the question is: Does anyone have first hand knowledge of someone bending their bumper to truck attachment during winching operations?

 

C4 also makes a reinforcement bracket that I would recommend. Ties into the frame with three additional bolts on each side. (1) through the frame and (2) into it from the bottom.

Tacoma Front Bumper Install by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

 

First-hand? No. But I've seen enough pictures of bent stud plates posted on TW. The frame feature is carried over from the 2nd gen, so there are multiple failures documented over the years. Example from 5 minutes of Googling:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/bumper-mount-deformation-repair.575030/
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/front-bumper-mount-failing.569632/
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...t-much-of-a-build-thread.337259/#post-8935425

 

Close enough, looks like I’ll be adding braces.

Thanks for your Google efforts.

Anyone know if any of these additional braces will work with a SSO slimline?

 

^The SSO frame plate is very thick, leaving no extra thread on the studs to sandwich a brace in. None of the braces works with the SSO slimline unless you punch out the studs and install longer studs.

 

Noticed this during install

Not opposed to doing this for the peace of mind, with longer studs will any of the braces work?

Thanks for your knowledge.

 

^With longer studs they should all work. You may need to trim the front flange on the braces to clear weld beads, but that's just a few minutes with an angle grinder.

• Some of the braces anchor to the sway bar pillow block bolts. That adds thickness if you're already have sway bar relocation blocks, and can cause the sway bar to chafe on the front skid. I don't run a front sway bar so I don't have this problem.
• All of the braces except the BAMF ones may clash with remote resi mounts, requiring trimming or holes to be drilled. My coilovers don't have remote resis so I don't have this complication.
• All of the braces except the BAMF ones require trimming the plastic fender liner if you haven't done it already, since the braces reach all the way back along the frame.

 

My CBI bumper has identical brackets

 

Thanks again for the info

 

Yep, my Victory 4x4 has the same too.