Body Armor Hiline Series Bumper

Nothing wrong with products from China if its by a company who cares about their quality. Warn has certain winches made in China, same Warn warranty and same Warn quality. People need to understand that China doesn't inherently make lower quality products, it's all up to the company bringing the manufacturing to China to decide the level of quality they want done with their product/s. Basically, does said company want cheap manufacturing, or do they just want cheaper manufacturing than what they're currently getting elsewhere.

 

Yes, and that is why the bumper weighs only 60 pounds, not 80 pounds as I've seen other's elsewhere report.

I ordered and received the Hiline bumper yesterday. It's overall thicknesses other than the winch plate/support mounts is definitely 1/8". As reported in the above post, the welds are not stellar. Chyna quality definitely.

However, it appears stout enough for what I plan to do with it. I don't expect it to knock down trees like a tank would. I am a little concerned about the corrosion resistance of it, especially living up here in Maryland where they too liberally salt/brine the roads during winter. Guess I have another item to Fluid Film every fall, along with the rest of the 'Taco's frame.

 

Looks great!
I put this on over last Christmas, but I did not take off the the front like you did, only the grill. It was easy and removing all that plastic makes me nervous. I used synthetic rope on a 10K Smittybilt and was able to install by myself using a floor jack! I put the solenoid pack behind the grill, in front of radiator. Dropped my factory suspension about 1/2" if anyone's interested. Left fixed that right up.

 

I just got done removing the OEM bumper bits, trimming (that damned oscillating saw will get away from you if you don't have a firm grip on it), relocating the P/S cooler, and applying the molding for the trimmed bumper plastic. Had to stop early because needed to grill up some steaks. Tomorrow morning I'll mount the light bar in the bumper and then bolt it on.



The new bumper has a slight cut out for the tip of the TRD Off Road tow hook, but there's not enough clearance to use the hook. I am going to see if I can invert the hook, though I don't think it'll be useful in that configuration.

Another thing that is weird; when I was unbolting the hook, a little bit of clean water came out of the frame above it. The water wasn't dirty or rusty. I had Fluid Filmed the hell out of the frame last fall. I am wondering if the Fluid Film's coating inside that area of the frame actually kept the water clean from contamination/corrosion; once it settled in there...

Another finished picture tomorrow.

 

Clean water could be from the A/C condenser?
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rust-on-frame-with-a-c-drain-mod-fix.444138/

 

That is very possible. I need to get around to performing that reroute of the drain tube...

 

Yes, thanks for that. I didn'

 

Got -r- dun!

I love these 'Taco's. They're built like Lego's. Easy to disassemble/reassemble them.

Very please with the installation of the Hiline bumper. It weighs 60 pounds. Truck didn't even lose any height in the front end. Which makes me happy since a winch (once I can find a deal on one) is in the future for the truck. I'm liking that Badland Apex that Harbor Freight has, but am waiting for a coupon or for it to go on sale.

Gotta zip tie some shackles on it now



Side boob:



Lotsa space for a winch, on the hidden winch plate



I'm going to be a kriminal and run the bumper without a plate for awhile. I like the new look without it.

 

I saw some comments re: license plate mount so...
I used the license plate mount supplied only, I trimmed it a bit and mounted it askew from center and bent the plate ever so slightly. And, I left the light bar hole empty so I can shove my XXL ham hands in there to engage/disengage the winch clutch. The plug above the driver's shackle is for the winch remote. Also, I bolted a piece of shiny stainless under the BA4X4 cut out for super coolness.
Not sure how to install the kitty litter yet, more to come!

 

I'm pulling off this Hiline bumper next weekend, so I can coat the inside of it with RP-342 "BLACK" Military-Grade Rust Preventive Spray; then I will be installing my new Synthetic roped 12K Apex winch.

All of this steel in front of the truck will rust prematurely due to the brine and other crap Maryland loves to put on the roads here during the winter. I decided to at least expend a whole can of the RP-342 on the insides of this bumper and the frame mounting points. I do Fluid Film the rest of the truck every fall, but this bumper will require a little more rust proofing. The outside of it I can easily touch up. I just don't want to have to work on the inside of it yearly, other than a quick hose out.

 

Bought this same bumper no hardware is it just the oil cooler that need to be moved back or is there more to it?

 

its been a while, but I think that's all. The hardware provided works to relocate the cooler, but it's kinda weird. Also, the line to/from the cooler is supported by a mount bolted to the frame. I had to remove the bolt to move the line back with the cooler, but could not re-install the bolt. I would have to come up with a way to drill/tap a new hole to re-mount it. Looks like a real pain so, i just left it. Hasn't hurt anything but I just need to do it. I'm sure Toyota mounted it for a very good reason. good luck!

 

Has anyone done a hard pull with the Hiline bumper and a mounted winch? How has the frame horn mounting points held up? Any bending?

I'm looking at these two possible frame reinforcement options. Anyone have experience with them for the Hiline bumper we have installed?

https://c4fabrication.com/collectio...nt-bumper-frame-support-brackets-3rd-gen-2016

https://www.bayareametalfab.com/FBR...inforcement-brackets-2005-to-2021-_p_142.html

 

Curious about your tire position while parked in your garage? Manual trans without parking brake engaged?

 

No, I just bump that curb so I have enough door opening without denting the Mrs.'s car.

 

Have you mounted the bumper with the Apex winch installed? Curious if there were any fitment issues...

 

Yep just move the oil cooler back an inch or so with the provided spacers/brackets. It was a little tough to get it moved back but not that difficult.

I've done two winch recoveries with this bumper, one self (got stuck in snow, alone), and one a tandem recovery of an SUV that was sliding off a cliff. I pulled that one from the front with my winch, and a suburban pulled from the rear with a recovery strap, the idea being that we were trying to pull the SUV nearly sideways because both the front and rear were at risk of going over the edge as the gravel road crumbled beneath him.

The SUV recovery was probably maxing out my 10k winch and it handled it like a champ. No noticeable issues with the mounting spots, haven't seen any weird angles, nothing bent, etc.

 

Yes, I just finished mounting it late this afternoon. Been waiting on the cosmoline to arrive (which it did yesterday - finally). I pulled my BA Hiline bumper back off my truck, cleaned the inside portions of it, and then applied two coats of cosmoline:





The 12K Harbor Freight fit inside of my bumper with no major issues. A couple of minor ones which I will point out. There was easily enough clearance for the winch and the control box on top of it, I did not have to trim that center grill support that is right above it. About a half inch or so clearance:



When they say this is a hidden winch mount bumper, it is indeed truly hidden. I cannot see the line being spooled back onto the winch, unless I'm on my hands and knee's peering into the hawse with a flashlight. I am going to have to remove the LED light bar and reposition it on top of the bumper; below the round brush bar, so that I can see the line being spooled when I'm using it. I thought I was going to be able to see the line being spooled from on top, but no, it cannot be seen.



Also, there are four bolts that are used to fasten the winch to the Hiline winch plate. Each bolt came with a washer and a locknut. The Hiline winch plate is like .278 or so in thickness, I couldn't use the lock washers because I didn't think the bolts was getting enough thread bite on the square nuts that are in the base of the winch. So I just used Loctite on the bolts and torques them to the spec'ed 33ft lbs.

Regarding the opening in the Hiline bumper for the aluminum Badlands hawse, it seems that the bottom of the opening is almost danger close to the synthetic rope as it's being pulled through. I will remove the hawse when I remove the whole assembly (to remove and remount the light bar) and file/grind down the bottom opening just a wee bit more, just for my piece of mind.

 

Thank you for posting your experiences with the winch and your mounting points on the truck. Makes me a bit more confident. I still would like to get a little better reinforcement of the front horn in the future. I had actually ordered the FBRB brackets from Jerry at Bay Area Metal Fab but then cancelled it a short time later, because I discovered that there was not enough available thread to install it on my Tacoma's front frame horn bolts. Below pic is the available threads on the frame horn bolts with just the Hiline bumper attached:



Naked frame horns:

 

This is awesome, thanks for the notes and pics! Helps me out with deciding on the Apex or not Also, good to know about the bumper's winch opening. I've got a Factory55 Fairlead on the way so I'm wondering what difference, if any, brand will make on that.