Should I uprgrade my suspension for steel bumper?

What’s up everyone, I have a 2020 tacoma with Fox 2.0 front and rear running 33” tires. I want to install a c4 front steel bumper as I am going to need it to protect my front end from animals. Do you guys have any input on if my current suspension will hold it ok or should I upgrade to 2.5?

 

Depends on your style of driving whether you will want additional oil capacity in your shocks. That’s what larger diameter shocks are for.

If you are not a spirited driver offroad, just start with increasing the preload on the existing coils, so that your ride height after the bumper install is where you want it. If the truck’s handling feels too sloppy, you could bump up the spring rate by 50 lbs., e.g. from 600 to 650, and/or have the shocks tuned.

If you are a spirited driver offroad, you will benefit from 2.5’s regardless of bumper.

 

If you hit anything going faster than 30mph a heavy steel bumper isn't going to do anything but total your truck. All the energy from the impact will go straight into your frame and crumple it. If you want animal strike protection you need ARB. All other steel bumpers are made more for recovery and low speed impact protection. They are the only ones I know of that have crumple zones built into the bumper, meaning if you hit something you simply replace the crumple piece leaving your truck and bumper still reusable. They are literally built to smash animals at 60mph and keep going.

Ironman4x4 has a bumper that is crash test certified but I don't know if it works the same way as ARB.

Also without a winch you might be able to get away without spring upgrades depending on how much other weight you have added to the truck.

Here is some a thread showing impacts with steel bumpers -
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/plate-bumpers-after-impact-with-pics.379600/

 

I installed a steel bumper after hitting a deer, only because it was cheaper than replacing and paint color-matching the factory bumper cover.

From past experiences with steel bumpers, it will be plenty — much better than OEM — for a stray dog, or for a minor traffic collision. But all bets are off if I hit a deer (or bigger animal) at speed.

Note, just switching to 2.5’s doesn’t compensate for added weight in itself. You can have 2.5’s that are valved softly and run them with 550 lb. springs, and you can have 2.0’s that are valved firmly and run them with 700 lb. springs.