Tube Bumper Fuel Economy

Great info! So you had stock bumper when you changed tires and you saw loss in mpg but once changed bumpers there was no noticeable difference?

 

great info! how do you feel about the Trail Gear bumper in general?

 

Correct.

I like it a lot. I did a write-up that I hope has all of the pertinent information I couldn't find online when I was shopping for a winch bumper:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ow-profile-bumper-for-1st-gen-tacomas.441752/

 

Areodynamics and fuel efficiency on a 4X truck !? really ?
don't expect any bumper design to compensate for a truck's shoe box drag effect. Lol

IMO round tube diffuses air flow more effectively then a flat plate bumper could.
No annoying whistle/wind noises with the AP bumper even at 100 mph.

Added weight is a more viable consideration
and something one has more ability of controlling.

The All-pro tube bumper weighs less then most plate bumpers could.
125 - 130 (ish) lbs stand alone...
add a lite weight winch, lights and misc. and do the math.

An M8K winch utilizing synthetic rope instead of steel cable
keeps that weight lower then most other heftier, over-kill winches would.
An 8K winch is all the 1st gen Tacoma needs.

Tell them 1 ton chevy/ford drivers to extract their own slugs.
Unless destroying yer own rig garners yer interest !? Lol

AP tube bumper = 125 - 130 (ish) lbs.
M8K without controller or rope: 33 lbs.
Controller and cables: 6 bs.
Synthetic rope: 2.5 (ish) lbs. (dependant on length)
Alloy Hawse: .50 (ish) lbs.
Hook: .50 (ish) lbs.
Aux. lighting = 10 (ish) lbs.

TOTAL winch/bumper/misc. weight: 185 lbs. (approx)

^ you'll likely need stiffer coil springs up front to support that added weight.
but that may be dependant on which engine/weight the truck has.
I do know the 5vz will need use 650lb coil springs in support.

No matter what bumper is installed...
the truck's body itself is shaped like a shoe box.
Not air drag/flow efficient by any means.
And so... should not to be considered a miserly fuel use vehicle period.

Anyone buying a truck
and then having fuel mileage consumption concerns after the fact
shouldn't have purchased a truck in the 1st place (especially a heavier 4X).

Besides most people read their fuel mileage wrong anyways
because they added taller tires and ignored their gearing.
So the Speedometer / ODO accuracy is likely a false read.

Instead /or additionally an MPG concerned individual
should've purchased a more fuel miserly, areodynamic car. (DD)

My AP tube bumper has held up well since 2004
And has seen lots of difficult trail use and abuse.
But one should realize it wasn't designed to be a sledge hammer in the rocks.

If that's what one is hoping for...
good luck finding a bumper that handles your abuse.

My AP tube bumper has served me well since 2004
I feel it was a worthy investment over the years.

Good luck in your choices OP

 

Tube bumper mpg. . My wife drives a pryius that's how I get mpg gains on my truck.

 

Well the trailgear low profile is 70 lbs lighter than the AP (as you say its 130ish) so the added weight to the front with all accessories is a littler higher than 100 lbs. Considering the stock bumper and stuff is around 30 lbs, only around ~70lbs more than stock.

And yeah if you buy a truck you know you aren't going to get great mpg, but you can try to squeeze as much as you can out of it. I'm not going to deliberately go from 24 mpg stockish on highway to 14 mpg because its a truck.

 

Fuel mileage was never my primary concern with my truck as I knew I was getting a 4x4 pickup for daily driving AND recreational purposes, so I knew off the bat that my fuel expenses were going to go way up compared to the sedan I had before. That said, it still is my daily driver (for the time being) so MPG's are of some importance to me. I'm not looking for hybrid numbers obviously but I'd like to stay in the 16-20mpg range (city/hwy). So far that's about where I sit, used to be a bit better before I added the roof rack and sliders. My rear plate bumper is actually about the same weight as the stock one was, that stock bumper is f***in heavy

But front bumper and bigger tires are going to wait until after I am able to afford a second vehicle, hopefully in another year. Even more important to me than MPG's are keeping the miles off of my first gen.

On the topic of the Trail Gear tube bumpers, I've heard that even though they bolt right up, there is some cutting to be done to make them look clean after they're on, including relocating the windshield washing fluid reservoir if I remember right? I guess it gets exposed and looks bad if you don't.

 

I watch mileage pretty close as a hobby. stock I got 15 city and 19-20 highway.
The addition of a relentless fab front and rear bumper changed that so now I get 16.5 around town and 16.5 on the highway. They have only been on for a dozen tanks of gas but the mileage has quite repeatable.

I suspect the highway mpg can be improved by (finishing the bumper install) trimming the fender wells that show, moving the windshield washer reservoir, and adding trim pieces to join bumper to remaining fender well.

 

Then you'd better keep it in it's original factory form.

Because altering anything is an deliberate act. Lol

I understand wanting the best fuel efficiency and performance that can be obtained.
But don't expect great results if yer modifying yer truck without an understanding
of how your mods will affect your performance and fuel consumption.

Most everyone I know that buys a 4X
wants taller/bigger tires after just day one... (image I'll guess)
and if done... is just the beginning of the downward spiral. Lol

I installed a Dakota Digital speedometer/ODO calibration unit
to ensure my speed, mileage and fuel consumption is accurately measured.

But I never really cared what the fuel consumption was...
'cause it is what it is.

If ya wanna play... you'll hafta' pay

denial is not a river. Lol

 

Yeah I totally understand. I know it all comes with a price and having a prerunner I would never modify it as much as I would a 4x.

Just if someone said after getting their tube bumper they lost 5 mpgs, then I could say it's not viable for me at the moment to do this to my DD but maybe someday when I don't drive it as much I can. Nice to know multiple angles about something before throwin a lot of cash around

 

I am happy with getting anything over 10 mpg .

One of these days I need to weigh the unladen weight I bet it is in the neighborhood of 4000 pounds

The other day I removed 600 feet of 1/0 that was 200 plus pounds that I forgot was behind the seats

 

The front end of a truck is already un-aerodynamic as hell. The only loss you might experience would be when accelerating in stop and go but even that would be negligible since tube bumpers are like 120 lbs tops.

 

I don't think anyone's bought a taco thinking that it would be a gas-sipper, but as some others have said, when i started the thread i wanted to gain a better understanding of the difference that a tube bumper might make. no one data point will make or break a decision. but knowing what to expect, and making a well-informed decision is the way i approach most things.

in the end, i'll add the bumper no matter what, but i'd like to know if a cross country road trip is going to cost me more because i just put a parachute on the front of my truck (i don't think that's going to happen).

 

That's exactly why we're here sharing information about how these modifications affect fuel consumption. I don't expect 50 MPG out of a 4WD truck but I also don't want to be like my friend who was bummed that his 4 cylinder automatic Jeep Wrangler gets 11 MPG so he bought a Chevy Duramax that gets 11 MPG towing the 11 MPG Jeep.

 

The time span between 33s and tg front bumper is huge so take this with a grain of salt, I don't record mpg religiously but the 33s with bumper was a huuuuge killer


Also about that little hook on the passenger side on the frame rail, only use it if you absolutely have to because someone (probably my dad) used it to pull something (probably tree stumps) and actually bent my frame a little bit. Theres some pics in my build, but the TG bumper bolts into that part of the frame rail so we had a hard time getting that thing straight again.

 

This weekend 4wheelparts.com is paying the sales tax and free shipping on certain things. I know they sell the TG low pro. Like I said before, I got my front TG Low Pro from ORW. But I bought my TG sliders & rear TG bumper from 4wheelparts.com. Plus Black Friday is a week from today and Cyber Monday the following Monday. Great deals going on! ORW I think is having a 20% on Black Friday. This message is for OP also. Good luck!

 

I'm going to have to make up my mind soon! If ORW is having 20% I'm going to have to buy it

 

All-Pro Baja has been ordered. I probably won't get it until after christmas as the skid plate was backordered and i let them know they could just ship all at once to save on costs seeing as how i probably wouldn't get to it before then anyway. I've got some time off after christmas, so i hope to get it mounted up after then. this is the only change i'm planning to make at the time, so i'll add my data to the pool when it's all done.

thanks for the lively discussion

 

You're gonna owe us some pictures as well.

 

I try and try to like these other bumpers, but to me, the ARB continues to be the quintessential Toyota 4x4 bumper.