Opinions on aftermarket front bumpers

So my truck surged entering the garage . ..

Body shop qoutes almost $737 to fix this. Deductable is $1000.

I have decided to invest in an aftermarket bumper. leaning towards the fabfours vengeance. Its lighter and claims to sit "high and tight ". Im not interested in the heavy winch bumper and winch. Local 4 wheel shop in town has it for 1100.

Any one install these yet?

 

$1000 deductible Yikes!!!

I have found that while aftermarket bumpers may slightly help with body damage they themselves get damaged as well. You either have to fix the truck or buy a new bumper.

that said, The fab four bumper looks like it will be an easy install.

 

No body damage... just screwed up the plastics. The plastic bumper is so cheap on my truck. Thats why i was thinkn about the steel bumper.

 

It weighs in at 65lbs....wondering if ill need the OME coils to compensate the weight .

Any experience with these??

 

Seems like a pretty high quote IMO. Ask around other body shops.

 

The CBI T3 bumper looks good good to me. I'm considering purchasing it so I can keep my factory fog/DRL lights.

http://www.cbioffroadfab.com/products/3rd-gen-toyota-tacoma/t3-front-bumper/

 

I've got a 2013 DCSB TRD. I've also been searching for a bumper replacement but can't seen to find one that will retain factory skid plate and fog lights. Also I have a towing package and I worry about blocking airflow and causing overheating of the transmission. Like you I'm looking to protect the plastic front bumper and don't really need a winch. I'm going to watch your thread and see what comes.

 

C4 Fabrication gets my vote. Not based on experience, but looks wise etc. their products are some of my favorite

 

Here are some photos from www.PureTacoma.com
http://puretacoma.com/?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=13

We didn't use coils to compensate the weight, by the time you shed what weight you had originally, then add this you should be fine. That's why they made the Vengeance series - for people that don't want a winch and it's weight...
The owner isn't a mechanic and installed himself. Feel free to call us if you have questions. 512.234.7873

If we can match, we will.... Good luck.

 

requires some fab work under both headlights, cutting plastic and such

 

Fab Fours has a bad history with Tacoma bumper design flaws and oversized bumpers. Toyota is not their primary business and it shows. I would highly recommend looking at CBi, I think you will find many of the other brands are much more tucked in or low profile.

 

UGH! I need something plug-n-play!

 

You could try posting in the 'wanted section' of the for sale forum. Perhaps someone that installed an after market bumper has removed a black one. Just a thought to save you a few dollars... might be long shot though...

 

On that vengeance fab bumper are we stuck with only using those 2x...2x2 fog lights? or possibly mount one larger one in there?

Also was kinda thinking instead of the 2 2x2 lights in the corner...why not some steel mesh or such? and just keep the light bar. Not really digging how u can see stright through the corners on that bumber.

One more thing....it says it mounts using factory bumper mounts. Well does that mean it's just for show?? Or can it be bolted to the frame to withstand say.......a deer at 40mph.

 

Good idea! But I already got the wife talked into an aftermarket one. I would hate to let her know I can fix it way cheaper . .lol

 

I'd actually like to know about this, as well. I'm unsure about getting an aftermarket. I want to be able to accidentally hit a small tree trunk that my ground guiding friend missed while creeping me through some tall grass without giving a damn about the bumper itself. As long as my frame holds fine.

Even with the lightest weight, most durable material bumper; Can it actually withstand a tougher impact than factory like they're supposed to if it's factory mounted ?

 

I'm in the same boat...put plates on my 16 DCSB and ran into someone next day. Nice guy, but he locked em up because a civic in front of him did...I digress.

Anyway, because wifey has 2 incidents on insurance, no way I can file. I'm about a week away from pulling trigger on the MBRP Modular. Here's a thread with some pics:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-mbrp-front-modular-bumper.454042/

 

@d5industries Please keep us posted if you end up going with that bumper. I'd love to hear a review of it.

 

@bigtotoro I put it on this weekend. I'll post some pics a bit later. Here are a few observations:

Overall, it took me about an hour to get it on. I messed with it for about 2 hours total though making sure it was centered (OCD).

First thing I did was to remove the fog light bezels and unplug the fogs. Not necessary to remove lights/housing - easy to cut around.

The template that comes with the bumper is paper. They say to use for one side, then flip for other side. I didn't like that idea, so i ended up tracing it onto a piece of vinyl, flipping it and tracing again. The vinyl template is superior for cutting vs taping paper template on.

Bumper goes on as follows:
1. Main bumper piece that everything bolts to.
2. Two side bumper pieces that connect to main.
3. Front plate that ties it all together.

Don't tighten ANYTHING until you have it centered.

My only complaint about the install was the front plate and hardware. The bolts used are pretty soft and strip easily. Don't force it and don't be afraid to loosen and/or remove bolts and try in different holes. Finally got it on and used impact driver.

I really like it overall and will be mounting light bar and led fogs this week. I'll get pics up as soon as I can.

Pics:

 

Thanks so much for posting that, @d5industries. I love the look of the tubes and wish more off-road bumpers used them.
What kind of LEDs are those? And were they hard to install?
Also, you mentioned the bolts being a bit soft. How do you feel like the overall strength of the bumper is? It worries me a little that it's not a single piece.