Bumper Mount Deformation - Repair?

Over the past weekend, my winch was used heavily to recover people and drag them up a hill. Unfortunately, that has done a number on my bumper mounts.

Here is the driver's side. Notice the bend in the mounting plate, and the gap forming between it and the bumper.



The passenger side is even worse.



It has resulted in quite a gap where the bumper should meet the headlights.



And because of the angle, it is rubbing the underside of my fenders.



Worst of all, it's allowing the bumper to move. If I grab the front hoop, I can wiggle the bumper up and down... not exactly inspiring confidence. I need to get this fixed!

I know @RelentlessFab @RelentlessFabrication makes a bracing plate for their bumpers to prevent this exact thing, but I'm not positive it will help, or that it would be compatible with my @Icon_Adrian remote reservoir mounts.

How have y'all fixed this?

 

I honestly think that you need these to help support the pulling of the bumper...



@RelentlessFab not to distract from the thread, but any way that I can order just those supports to help tie in and brace my not relentless front bumper?

I already have this type of brace, but more would be better I think?
Not My Picture, just got it from @greeneggsnspam

 

This...
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...t-much-of-a-build-thread.337259/#post-8935425

 

Well that also works...

 

its on the list for me...

 

Would def be pretty nice! I have the reinforcements like the second picture I posted, but am going to add in the top style reinforcements as well.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ath-fab-12-15-front-bumpers.521370/

@At The Helm bumpers include this brace similar to relentless. Fairly certain I saw he has sold just the support brackets indivdually. It is mentioned that there is some interferance with the king rr bracket but no one has mentioned Icon that I have seen. I can let you know about that in a few weeks when I get mine mounted.

 

You should also look into getting your bumper mounts welded back on. There are reinforced mount mods for that in TW.

I believe it was from Relentless where I got my bumper braces. Its been 4 years so I don’t remember exactly.

 

I currently have the relentless style with a relentless bumper. The issue is the frame not the bumper.

 

Yea, that metal is just way to thin for the bumper supports and needing to tie it into the frame more is needed.

 

Thanks. I've found a set of the Relentless braces locally, so that will be part of my solution. I'll have to modify my Icon RR supports to fit.

There's also these: http://sosoffroadconcepts.com/weld-on-frame-brace/
I may need something similar to that, as well.

 

Looks like fun. Hopefully I won't need to go that far, but it might be necessary.

 

Just ordered a set of frame braces from @At The Helm, and per him "Includes frame tie-in brackets and grade 8 bolts. If running remote reservoir shocks, modification of shock brackets may be necessary."

I have not had this issue, but when I get a winch or need more pulling like Saturday, this will help support the bumper even more now.

 

We need to talk to Alex about this, he's got the fancy plasma cutter now

 

I have seen some bumper plates that come in the path of the Icon Reservoir Bracket and the fix/modification is pretty easy. Some bumper plates will simply sandwich the reservoir bracket and some will require drilling a hole in the reservoir bracket in order to incorporate it.

 

Good; neither of those sound like a real problem.

 

Reservoir mount is thin. I just drilled through it.

 

Good to know! That’s my plan, too.

Thank you for posting the photo.

 

researching to try and figure out

want to ask

is this necessary? Does it fit?



so, the video says:
-the stock bumper mounts are weak. Replace it with theirs that are stronger. But it requires welding.
It claims theirs are beefier, potentially including studs. Which brings the question, does that mean their studs are too big to fit a steel bumper designed to bolt onto a stock truck

1. why is a side brace not enough

2. does anyone know how this pertains to ARB bumpers
ARB being reputable, I would hope it's not a concern.
If I recall, mounting my ARB front it came with additional parts to secure it. It was not simply "couple nuts onto the front studs"

https://images.carid.com/arb/off-road-bumpers/pdf/arb3423030-installation-instructions.pdf

it comes with triangular side brackets for example
Not sure if beefier other company side braces would fit instead, or be necessary in place of what the ARB comes with if they do fit.

 

Complicated answer - "it depends"

It depends on how you intend to use your truck. I use my winch a lot, and as you can see in the older posts, I needed to flatten my frame horns and weld in a reinforcement plate. I like the design in the video better, especially with the cross tube, but it hasn't been necessary yet for me. I did add a side brace and I immediately noticed a big improvement.

I am still using the Toyota studs. I don't think they've cracked... but honestly I should check them specifically.