Apogee Production V2 Bumper and Dual Swing Thread

We're... somewhat back from the dead!

Well, with the release of our V2 rear bumper we've definitely noticed some good, and bad comments. We get it, we've spent forever trying to get this out. However, now that it's here, I'd like to address the changes and features. Starting with...

OEM Hitch Integration: This was a huge talking point of our V1 bumper and our own hitch. In our pursuit of better departure angle, we thought it was a good idea to have an integrated hitch, mounted higher up in the bumper. This brought on a bunch of challenges, and ultimately criticism from the peanut gallery. With that being said, we worked the kinks out, and yes... It worked! Well, for our new V2, we stuck with the tried and true OEM hitch, which makes installation a breeze and keeps the weight lower. If it 'aint broke, don't fix it!

Improved Angles: We've tried to keep the departure angle in mind on the sides of our bumper, while still maintaining the BSM capability and location. This was a tricky one. By no means are we marketing this as a high clearance bumper, but for the features included it does a great job.

New Standards: For the first time since launch, our micro-tex powder coat is standard on all products. In addition, all 3rd Gen Tacoma rear bumpers come standard with BSM bracketry and cover plates. We are proud to have our bumpers 100% USA Made.

Dual Swing Outs: This was the biggie. We know it's been years since this was last documented. After months of trial and error testing, our dual swings are STOUT. They can easily handle a 35" tire with strength to spare. (Yes we are aware of our website saying otherwise, we have corrected this). We have a universal mounting system with various accessories to come, but also the ability for you to mount anything to your hearts content! All hardware/bushings/latches are heavy duty but replaceable. Once again, this bumper set comes fully loaded with powder coat, BSM bracketry, mounting for parking sensors/license plate lights/hitch plug as standard.

Price Point: We've had a chat at HQ about this since the bumper's launch. We're offering a rear bumper for the 3rd gen that has dual swing outs, BSM and parking sensor compatibility, powder coat, and all OEM accessory compatibility. Compared to a lot of standard clearance bumpers on the market, we thought that the proposed "intro pricing" was acceptable for the features. But we will do you one better. We have a discount code for both bumpers. Use code NEWYEAR200 for $200 off of the dual swing bumper set, and NEWYEAR100 for $100 off of our standard V2 bumper.

Photos below are of our prototype test mule:

 

So, what if i WANTED and integrated hitch? Ia that an option? I personally, want the hitch gone and out of the way.

 

Criticism from the peanut gallery? Those words should help with advertising and sales.

 

We understand that some people will still want to remove the OEM hitch. This bumper can be used without a hitch but would need some frame spacers, and then obviously there is no provision for towing so this would be for a select few only we're sure. In the future we are hoping to make a high clearance version that would have the built in hitch. The majority of our current customer base prefers to utilize the OEM hitch so that is the version we decided to make first.

 

This was meant to be a light hearted comment but when posting online we understand things can be taken in different context than what is intended.

As a manufacturer it's always difficult to balance what all the different customers want and we know we will never be able to please every single customer, as each one has unique wants and needs for their trucks. We do the best we can to make the best products for the market. We are planning on expanding and offering more options as well!

 

We know the price of the swingouts is higher than some of our competitors, however, we do offer the OEM blind spot monitor integration which we don't believe is available anywhere else! And as mentioned in the original post, our bumpers are designed and made in America still! Keep an eye on our website though, we've been bugging management about the price and we're working on getting it lower!

Also, accessory mounts for the swingouts will be coming soon. We are aiming to have mounts for hi lift, multiple rotopax (the gates will currently fit a standard rotopax mount flush on the gate), and traction boards (maxxtrax). We're open to other ideas as well!

We've also done some more testing and the swingouts are more than sufficient for larger tires!

 

Swingout pricing has been lowered! The updated pricing is on the website and the new years discounts are still active! This is a fantastic time to get the swingout rear bumper at an incredible price!!!

 

So I recently built a similar bumper for a coworker, no swingouts though.

In your previous thread you talked about extensive stress testing but that was when the hitch was integrated with the bumper. Changing to using the stock hitch only leaves you with a total of 6 mounting points(I assume).

Was stress testing done to simulate a recovery scenario from those points? I refused to include one because I do not have the R&D budget to prove the 6 mounting locations is strong enough for a 20k lbs recovery scenario.

 

The previous version of this bumper was also mounted using the OEM Hitch hardware. That bumper held up great in all of our simulated and real world scenarios. We have no doubts that this version will hold up great as well!

 

I think I wasnt clear. Ditching the OEM hitch gains you more mounting points. This version keeps the OEM hitch so less mounting points. I was wondering if you guys did simulations on the frame to bumper connection for these high force and wierd angle scenarios WITH OEM HITCH SETUP

You are left with the two rear most bolts on each side then the middle two that bolt the hitch to the bumper.

Not trying to do any harm here, the bumper looks great. I just like seeing different peoples design intent.

I also made the assumption that we mounted it the same way, I could be wrong.

 

I just finished installing a V2 on my gen3. I had ordered this almost a year ago, health issues prevented me from getting to it. Discovered a couple of missing parts. Riley @Apogee Offroad literally got me said missing brackets the next day before noon. Then I discovered that the very late 3rd gens utilized 4th gen BSMs. As much as I'm inclined to hate what I consider to be nanny state features, in my dotage (yeah I'm old) i've come to appreciate that technology and did not want to be without it- one of the reasons I bought this bumper. I contacted the crew at Apogee, they had heard of this but had not seen one yet. Still, they came through and within a week I had adapters that worked perfectly to install the 2024-ish BSMs and they work as they did on the OEM "bumper."s

Sounds like a sales pitch and maybe it sorta is, but I appreciate good customer service and want to give it its due when I encounter it.

Oh yeah, pretty happy with the bumper in any case.