Body Armor Hiline Series Bumper

I thought about doing the same, but ended up ordering a new bracket instead.

 

Paint's been holding out fine on my body armour rear bumper, but the hardware (bolts, washers) rusted almost immediately. It looks like crap until I shoot a spot of rust paint on it.

 

Getting ready to order this bumper and a Smittybilt 9500 synthetic rope winch. What are my odds on avoiding the need for a lift? Running a TRD OR with stock suspension.

 

Probably going to lose around 1/4-1/2” from what I’ve read.

I just got this bumper yesterday no major issues with it. Welds are not perfect but structurally I’m sure they are good. I added Apex 12k synthetic winch to it last night. Debating on a light or just a removable cover to keep crap off the winch. Probably looking at about 160 lbs added weight, could always press down on the bumper with that range to get an idea. Factory spring rate is 700lbs, I’m going to be doing a lift Eibach pro stage 2, so I can crank in some preload as needed.

 

That’s what I’m thinking. Bumper, winch, and light bar are going in this coming Friday so we'll see what happens. Worst case, I’ll install 5100's and some ome springs down the road a few months.

 

I've had mine on for exactly a year now. Its holding up well, but the light bar lens got cracked last spring. I get complements and questions on which bumper it is.

Before it starts heating up this spring I'm gonna drop the bumper and replace the broken light bar lens with a totally new bar, but this time recess the light bar more so the car wash roller brushes can't beat the crap out of it. Accessing the winch spool has been a bit of a pill with the hinging license plate, so I am going to flush mount my front plate to the bumper beside the spool when my replacement plate comes in a few weeks.

Overall I'm really happy with it -- just ironing out a few of the quirks of doing mods to a truck like this.

 

Been really happy with mine over the last 8 months or so, holding up great. Finish has been extremely durable.

 

I'm looking for a license plat solution right now myself. I was looking at various hinged designs, bought and returned one already that wouldn't work. I might just use the mount that came with the bumper and use wingnuts to secure it and take the plate off when needed. Front plates required in IL. What hinge mount do you have? What don't you like about it? I'd prefer one that stays flipped up when needed...

 

Over the last year I’ve tried various solutions for my front license plate to play nice with my winch. Like you, Texas is a required front plate state. I built a solution from parts sourced on Amazon and Home Depot that hinges / flips the plate up (horizontal) when I want to use my winch, and down when just driving. The downside is that every time I would flip it, the bolts would get looser and it’d eventually flop around. Plus I don’t love how the plate gets in the way when I am paying out or pulling in with the winch at certain angles. So I started making a point of keeping a wrench in the truck to tighten it down after use — but the brush at the carwash really would mangle my plate if I don’t keep it tilted inwards. Now with all the tinkering on my plate, its allowed water to delaminate the stupid thing and I’ve got replacements on order with the State.

My next door neighbor is a cop, so I asked him for advice on what’d be acceptable and not draw the ire of local Police. I try not to give cops a reason to pull me over with stupid fix it ticket non-sense, so my plan for the new plate is to drill and flush mount it besides the winch opening making it follow the contours of the bumper. I figure since I gotta temporarily take off the bumper to fix the cracked lens of the Light Bar, I’d rather do this right for the long haul. It’ll be a PITA, but I know it’ll pay dividends for the next 15 years I plan on owning this truck.

I hope my experience will help you figure out what solution you want to do for yours.

 

That is good info, appreciate it. My bumper is on saw horses in the garage and its going to be warmer tomorrow so I guess I'll plan to figure this out before its mounted. Might take your "lessons learned" and just drill the damn thing now and attach the plate. Putting the bumper and lift on next Saturday. Thanks!

 

Did you do this already; if so, pictures please?

 

What did you use to mount lic plate on it? I have same bumper but didn't like mounted it front of winch.

 

Used these 2.. mount and a backplate just to add strength to license plate.

Kentrol Shackle Mounted License Plate Bracket 80706 , black

$55 Kentrol Shackle Mounted License Plate Bracket 80706 , black

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XRFM92C?_encoding=UTF8

LFPartS Stainless Steel Backing Reinforce Plate for License Plate (12"x6", Black)

$19 LFPartS Stainless Steel Backing Reinforce Plate for License Plate (12"x6", Black)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0764LQJSZ?_encoding=UTF8

How it looks mounted.

 

I just wedged the top of my license plate between the hawse and the Hiline bumper. So there... it's being displayed but I could not give a flying crap if it's not readable and it eventually gets beat up. The state requirement to have the license plate mounted to the front of the truck has been met.

 

Thanks for the links to Amazon. Did you have to drill in to mount it?

 

Nope. You use one of the shackle mounts. Here's a video.
https://youtu.be/RCBEzqqfBtk

 

Thank you for the info and I have ordered one for my Taco. I really appreciate it.

 

I am curious about this also. I am in steel fab and manufacturing. I really like a lot about this bumper and it is on my short list. My major concern regarding these is the very small recovery lugs (seem to be much smaller than all other comparable competitors). I cant imagine some research wasn't done to ensure they are structurally sound, but my eye raises questions. A slightly larger footprint would yield significantly higher strength, as it would be attached to more area not to mention the larger lug would be more sound. Any feedback regarding this would be appreciated.
Anyone tried mounting any light pods in the outer flats?

 

Read the thread here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...nforcement-brackets-2005-plus-bumpers.612276/

I went this route. Had to do some modifying, for the reinforcement brackets to be to my liking. You definitely want to drill out and replace the stock front frame bolts too (look for my posts in the aforementioned thread).

You can start to check out my contributing posts in that thread (Posts #292 and onward)