To ARB or not ARB and a 2010 Tacoma

ARB's claim is mostly marketing bullshit. The federal standard for the last 41 years is a factory bumper has to withstand a 2.5 mph frontal impact and a 3 mph corner impact without causing damage that will disable the vehicle. 2.5 and 3 mph without disabling the vehicle. Whoopty friggin do. But apparently people eat that s$%t up. And to anticipate the ARB fanboys objection ... stop with the crush thing nonsense. That is what and all it does. It's worth 2.5 mph and after that the energy transfers to the frame rails just like literally any other bumper.

 

Me testing the ARB bumper to prove the internet wrong.

https://youtu.be/0sWWlrkJmRs?feature=shared

OP I’m glad you walked out ok.

 

When I bought the bumper, I talked to a bunch of people about the bumpers they used. In Montana front bumpers almost rival the animals I see in a week driving to work. From 1 ton ranch trucks, personal vehicles (tacos included) and I h have a buddy who installs bumpers, lights, and electronics on the our LEO vehicles.

Most big trucks have enough metal on the front to kill a building, some home made, others bought what they could afford and not always what they wanted, people with animal strikes were a mixed bag being they had to replace parts because of other light weight metal parts (light weight bumpers on SUV's and 1/2 ton tucks) after or "that deer bounced off me like a tennis ball".

When I got to a buddy with an ARB like I had on his 2nd gen taco, he had 3 deer strikes, an antelope, and the bumper still looked new all while going 60+ mph on the Hwy. The construction was solid as a rock compared to a lot of others that were prettier and had more places to put light's. So I got the OME suspension lift and the bumper. I had always wondered what hitting a deer, elk, moose, would do. Instead I was hit by a Ram with each of us going 60mph in the opposite directions.

As for Fan Boy's? If you have been in my situation, in my seat watching what I did in good ol movie slow motion style, seeing your air bags go off, and the aftermath of the yard sale that kid went though in the 1/2 ton truck. People on scene from civilians, Fire and LEO on site all agreed that bumper did it's job and and then some. The passenger side of the ARB folding like it did ricocheted the 1/2 ton off me and he barrel rolled once in the air and then rolled two more times on the ground. I highly doubt that is what a stock bumper would do by a long shot.

And if you have and came out as lucky as I did, good for you. Me, I waiting for my OME Nitrocharger 2" Hvy lift and new ARB bumper for my new 23 taco and finish typing this while drinking coffee out of my ARB bumper coffee cup. Enjoy the smoke steel

 

Those are pretty sweet, defiantly something to look at. Do a head on collision test for at speed, no one in the vehicles please. And thanks for the vid

 

No need for a wall of text making yourself feel good about your purchase. I never said they weren't heavy duty or very good bumpers. The point is their advertising that says they meet crash test standards, what that actually means, and how people misinterpret that. They didn't test them on elk, cows, and Corollas. They design them to meet the 2.5 mph impact standard. Fanbois inflate that to "good for deer and Prius strikes". They do happen to be good for that, just like some other heavy duty options, but that isn't the claim.

 

Before purchasing mine, I watched a video where they took a sand bag that was the weight of an average kangaroo and suspended it like 30 feet in the air. They dropped it on the bumper and checked for any deformation or cracking.

They absolutely "DO" test the bumpers beyond 2.5 mph impact.

"Fanbois gonna fan....haters gonna hate."

 

It's not crash tested for the bumper, it's crash tested to be compatible with manufacturer installed safety systems and not adversely impact occupant survivability (crash test rating).

Australia has very strict aftermarket part safety standards.

 

This. ARB's claims to careful crash testing have to do specifically with the bumper's not interfering with airbag deployment, which is accomplished through mounting brackets that are designed to absorb impact with a characteristic time/velocity curve that resembles the stock bumper closely enough to preserve the OEM airbag deployment impact thresholds & timing.

Obviously the ARB bumper can withstand 30-50mph impacts with all kinds of heavy things with far less damage than the stock bumper/front end. In many cases when hitting smaller animals like deer (<=200 lbs,) coming away with hardly a visible scratch.

 

If anyone wants to get into the details, ARB's bumpers are advertised as and tested to be compliant with Australian Standard AS4876.1 2002- Vehicle Frontal Protection Systems.

I did quite a lot of research on ARB's claims and the standards backing them before buying mine.

It's absolutely more robust than stock gear or even a lot of other aftermarket steel stuff - my own "testing" has shown that - and given how much road time my truck gets I would rather know that the airbags and crumple zones are going to work as designed. If I hit another car or even an obstacle on a trail or course hard enough to need airbags, I would much rather they work and I walk away even if it means the truck isn't turbo invincible nuclear bomb proof.

It also means if I whack a deer or skid into a jersey barrier I have a better chance of driving home even if the truck does need repairs.

 

My buddy said, they were designed for kangaroo sandbagging in Australia like two days ago. That's funny

 

ARB stands for "Anti Roo Bumper"

 

When that kid shwacked me with the back ass of his truck... Front crumple zone, check. Airbags deployed, check. Nothing wrong with sticking to something that probably saved my ass

 

@Rabby it’s ironic that I found this thread while researching ARB bumpers. I live in Maryland but I’m on a road trip and I’m currently in Montana. I never considered getting a front bumper before but after several near misses here in Montana this week with animals and drivers hugging the double yellow, I started researching bumpers.

When I first got up here, I noticed that everyone here has bumpers on their vehicles. I was trying to figure out why and then after almost hitting a few deer, one elk and one cow…I figured it out haha

ARB seemed to offer the most legit protection, and then I find your thread. Funny to see a story from someone in the same place that made me start looking.

Thanks for sharing your story.

 

What ever you go with, do your homework and get a quality product. Last thing you want to do is skimp on what could save you money in the long run. Good luck