To ARB or not ARB and a 2010 Tacoma

Last Monday (Labor Day) I was driving home on a two-lane highway when a Dodge ½ or ¾ ton truck fishtailed from hitting the gravel shoulder on a slow curve. I was driving behind three vehicles doing 60mph and the driver of the Dodge drifted off into the shoulder and started to fishtail twice and ended up slamming his rear end in to me.

I saw him fishtail and it happened so fast that I was able to veer left enough he hit my passenger side headlight area. I have an ARB Summit bumper and an OME Hvy lift kit which I believe kept the engine from being in my lap from the collision.

I am writing this because of what could have gone very badly for me. I live n Montana, where we have plenty of deer,elk,moose,etc that could cause major damage to your vehicle.

I had the OME kit and ARB Summit on my Truck a few years ago. I have often wondered what would happen when an animal got in front of me, but the 2010 Tacoma horn seemed to have a tone that did scare animals away from the road saving me from an impact. Otherwise my truck was stock

When the truck slide into me, which seemed to be speeding but I have nothing to prove it, the 16yr old kid, who is ok, just a concussion, hit my front end and for lack of a better phrase, he got a yard sale.

The Dodge was rolled three times, once in the air and two on the ground ripping the truck to pieces.

I didn’t jerk the wheel but slowly turned toward the center of the road as if an animal was in front me, hoping to miss the sliding truck, but ended up being struck by the what I can only imagine the back half of the bed. I was slammed to a stop instantly and luckily my seatbelt held on and I saw my steering wheel airbag and side curtain bags deploy while hearing an enormous crash knowing I wasn’t able to miss him.

The aftermath was purely damage to the vehicles by what ever God you prey to and I was able to get out of my Tacoma with no injuries and the young kid was able to climb out of his destroyed truck laying in a ditch a few hundred feet away with only a bump on his head which ended up being a concussion, but was in sever shock.

I am posting this only for what I believe to be what the ARB bumper saved me from. I am attaching pictures of my front passenger side head light area, that left my light bar untouched in the center and may still work. My passenger tire/wheel that was ripped off from the A-Arm and new CVJ’s. The rest of the truck is completely totaled with frame and body damage.

There are a lot of choices of what to put on the front of your truck, but I wanted to show what the ARB was able to do for me.

We were both was extremely lucky that it was only damage to the vehicles, but both vehicles are totally destroyed.





And what happened to the the Dodge. That is his bed to the left of the truck in the grass mid picture



Again, I just wanted to show what I went through and not to persuade anyone toward a brand, but to only show, what I believe to be a quality bumper.

Also, my new tire with the CVJ's that was ripped off.

 

wow glad you walked away! ive an ARB on my 09. and its a solid unit

 

put an ARB on my '13 a few years ago when I deer decided to FAFO, I've hit 5 or 6 more since then and the ARB doesn't care.

 

Dumb question but was the engine still running after the crash?

 

Glad both of you walked away

 

The engine did stop. It was a manual transmission, but it would be curious if it was an automatic. The bumper literally took the impact. My light bar may still work.

And thanks to all for the walking away part.

 

Crazy! Glad you’re ok!

 

ARB is what I run. They're tough bumpers for sure.

 

ARB are one of the only aftermarket bumpers that are crash tested. Quality products for sure. Glad to hear everyone was ok after such a bad accident.

 

Official crash tests are around 39mph into a wall. (not something people realistically do)




That provides zero data on two vehicles going towards each other crashing, which is effectively a ~140mph crash.
Which is a bit much for stock parts, compared to any metal front bumper whether that's ARB or anyone else.

 

This seems to be fairly definitive, regarding ARB’s crash/protective capabilities.
https://fb.watch/mWgA051vaa/?mibextid=CFlI8D

 

Glad you’re okay OP, and I’m sorry to hear about your truck. Thank you for sharing your story, I’ve got an ARB on my ‘13 and it’s always reassuring to hear stories like yours, as outside of deer protection, to be protected as you were provides great peace of mind.

 

You misunderstand the test entirely.

Crashing into an immovable barricade directly simulates a head on crash into another vehicle that is exactly identical at an identical speed. So a 40mph head on barricade crash simulates a head on collision with another identical vehicle at a speed delta of 80mph. Both vehicles have energy absorbing crumble zones thus negating the 2x factor in a head on collision. It is industry standard that one vehicle into a wall, with only 1 energy absorbing crumple zone in effect tests the same as using 2 vehicles and 2 crumble zones. A 140mph delta crash should not occur, because those speeds would be reserved for a divided highway where head on crashes are unlikely. The only valid critique of this test is crashing into vehicles of unequal mass. Since this test is designed to simulate a head on crash with the same vehicle, crashing into a much larger vehicle would result in significantly worse results, and crashing into a smaller one would result in better results (for the test vehicle).

 

Dang, glad you’re okay OP

 

One thing to add to the old "oh shit" bag is a set of led road flares. They are pretty inexpensive and working for the County, I gave some to the Sheriff's Dept and the DES are they now are using them in case of road incidents. There are a lot of different brands, but they usually have a magnet on the bottom to stick to your truck, have different flash modes, and even a white light in case you need to work in the dark.

$33 Tobfit 6 Pack LED Road Flares Emergency Lights Roadside Safety Beacon Disc Flashing Warning Flare Kit with Magnetic Base & Hook for Car Truck Boats | 9 Flash Modes (Batteries Not Included) (6)

https://www.amazon.com/Tobfit-Emerg...dp/B07K3YFMVH?keywords=LED+Flares&sr=8-7&th=1

They are the orange pucks on my truck.

 

Especially in low visibility conditions.

 

I added 6 of these to my roadside safety kit. If you get good ones, they are very bright & visible a long way.

Handy tip -- invest in lithium primary (non-rechargeable) AA or AAA batteries for these. That way, the LED flares will be ready-to-use and full-brightness even 10-15 years after being stowed away in safety kit storage in a vehicle that may regularly cycle to extreme temperatures (high or low) on a daily basis.

 

Yikes! Glad you walked away and the God protected the two of you.

Also happy to see the ARB helping out the situation. Sounds like you went with that option for the same reason(s) that I did...animal strike. It is one of the only bumpers tested for such a scenario, and is built accordingly.

 

I read this as your message count is this, made me chuckle.

 

This. Its why I went with ARB.

Vehicles can be replaced, people can't. Glad everyone made it and thank your for sharing.