Often overlooked by some as just decoration,
front bumpers are in integral part of a vehicle's safety system.
Engineered to enhance the vehicle's safety characteristics, ARB
bull bars are designed to work with the vehicle's frame to provide
maximum frontal protection in the event of an impact. Doing so
ensures that not only the vehicle is exposed to a minimum amount of
damage, but the occupants are protected as well. As an added bonus,
the ARB bull bars look good while playing their part in
safety!All too often, the selection of an
after market bumper is hinged on two characteristics: 1) Price, and
2) Looks. I too fell into that trap when I purchased a front "tube"
type bumper for my 1986 Toyota HiLux 4WD pick-up truck. Granted,
the large, round tubular construction looked beefy and the "hoop"
that was styled into it looked really cool as well. Wasn't this the
ultimate available protection for the front end of my truck?
Apparently not."The
occurrence": While on a trail run on one of Southern
California's toughest rock trails, Santiago Canyon, I accidentally
found myself negotiating a very tough climb out of a wash. I had
completely missed the bypass route and I was committed to driving
through the obstacle at the end of the wash. The one route out of
that section necessitated the need for me to balance a tire on a
small rock, and "rub" my front bumper up an over the top of a
fallen tree. To sum things up, my tire slipped off of the
small rock, and the tubular front bumper took the brunt of the
truck's weight and subsequent impact. The result was one bent tube
bumper, two bent tube bumper mounts, and one creased and dented
left front fender, courtesy of the bumper moving on it's flimsy
mounts. Final score: Bumper: 1, sheet metal: 0.At that point, I decided that a better bumper was needed for
my truck. All throughout the day, I watched as a fellow wheeling
friend in a 1983 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ-60 Wagon tackle all the
obstacles I did, yet at the same time, acquired no damage to the
front of his rig. The main ingredient for this? An ARB bull bar! At
each new rock outcropping I watched as the bumper would take full
front and side hits from rocks as the (locker-less) Cruiser would
attempt an obstacle and come down on the bull bar. The amazing
thing was, the ROCKS were suffering, not the bumper. In all
honesty, a little paint was being scratched off, but the little
crumbling pieces of rock were the true testimonial to the ARB's
effectiveness in surviving the abuse. At this point and time, I was
convinced that I wanted to fit an ARB bull bar to my truck.Construction:
The construction of ARB's bull
bars is unlike any other after market bumper. It is more like a
"system" that utilizes the vehicle's frame entirely for mounting.
The bull bar is not mounted to the body in any way, nor does it
utilize a mounting plate or "subframe" to attach to the vehicle.
3MM plate steel construction is used throughout. Panels are folded
steel in many places, as opposed to several plates that are welded
together. This maximizes strength when fewer welds are needed. The
round hoops that form the brush guard portion of the bull bar are
mandrel bent, to ensure strength. Each steel plate piece of the
bumper is laser cut to ensure constancy and fit. ARB then shot
peens the completed bumper, dips it in phosphate primer, and then
sprays it with black powder coating. Finally, the bumper is oven
baked where the powder coating is allowed to cure to a durable,
long-lasting finish.Features:
ARB bull bars come standard with
a compliment of features not typically found on other bumpers. The
most important feature is the integrated winch mount that accepts
Warn XD-Series (XD8000, XD9000) winches. Constructed as part of the
bumper itself is a unique roller fair lead support plate that
reinforces the fair lead mounting point. This allows the winch to
be operated at severe angles. Two recovery points are included that
allow the installation of shackle/clevises or two hooks. An
optional Hi-Lift Jack bracket allows the use of a High-Lift Jack
directly on the bumper for recovery operations or the changing of a
flat tire.
ARB
includes with the mounting hardware, two plates for which auxiliary
lamps can be mounted to the bumper.
Since the stock Toyota bumper originally
housed the turn signals, ARB provides mounting bracketry for OEM
Toyota lamps (see
below).Benefits:
Aside from the obvious gains in
vehicle protection, winch mounting (and an overall improvement in
looks), the ARB bull bar also has the side benefits of increasing
the approach angle over the stock bumper. In addition, the boxed
construction of the ARB closes several openings in the front of the
vehicle that in the stock configuration, leave the radiator and
underside of the engine exposed to debris.Installation:
I'll preface this segment by
saying "Bring a friend." These bumpers are heavy, weighing in at a
little over 100 pounds. While not unmanageable, handling the bumper
alone can be awkward. The particular bumper for this review, part
number
is
designed to fit Toyota trucks, "1986-1996 IFS Front End" according
to ARB literature. Also noted by ARB is that "86-88 may need some
mods." With that said, installation is relatively straightforward,
requiring simple hand tools. A small grinder or file will come in
handy as will a cold chisel.
The modification noted by ARB is to the
upper front bumper mount. These mounts (one on each side of the
upper front frame cross member) need to be removed to allow the ARB
bumper to be mounted. We simply hit ours with a heavy sledge until
the mounts broke free, cut the remaining metal off with a cold
chisel, and ground down (and painted) the frame where the mounts
once lived.
If
your Toyota still utilizes a front "splash pan", the two front
bolts will need to be removed and the pan dropped a little. The ARB
uses these holes too. Our truck has an after market pan/skid plate
but the ARB had no effect in either it's mounting or
operation.
A
little grinding of some leftover factory welding slag was also
needed on the frame of our truck. Removal of the stock front
tow hook and recovery loop is required; the ARB mounts using these
threaded holes in the truck's frame.The rest of the installation
was easy and ARB even supplies a majority of the fastening
hardware. Also included in the bag of hardware was all of the
needed bolts, nuts, and washers to mount a winch.
Although not needed for such a
simple installation, the instructions supplied by ARB were not the
greatest. At one point, they were a little misleading. No mention
was made to cut off the existing bumper mounts. To make matters
worse, the instructions are labeled "1989 and later Hilux and
4Runner." This created just a slight bit of confusion, but looking
in the ARB catalog confirmed that we had the correct bumper for our
application. A little head scratching later, and we had the bumper
on the truck in about two hours (not including the turn signal
wiring).
As mentioned above,
mounting holes are provided for turn signals. While other ARB
bumpers come with the turn signals, this particular application
does not. The stock turn signals will work in a pinch, but do not
use the ARB mounts. New lamps from Toyota, part numbers
and
will need to
be purchased through a dealer. Some rewiring of the existing
harnesses to the new lamps is required as well. Once installed, the
new lamps fit nicely into the bumper.
I should note that the bumper used in this
review was installed on a 1986 Toyota pick-up with a 1" body lift.
While the body lift left small gaps between the front fenders and
grille, these gaps are not unsightly. A one inch body lift is about
the maximum the body can be lifted when using an ARB bullbar. This
is because if the body is lifted any higher, the brush hoops will
block the headlamp beams. As far as modifying the ARB to fit a
truck with a larger body lift, I would advise against any change to
the structural mounting system of the bullbar.Conclusions:
The ARB bull bar is an
impressive piece of equipment. I am very impressed with the fit and
finish and overall quality. It will no doubt protect the front end
of the truck better than the stock bumper, plus it provides a
stable winch platform with no additional mounts or plates to
purchase. If you are in the market for a serious bumper/winch mount
for your Toyota truck, I strongly suggest that you take into
consideration the investment in an ARB bullbar. Contact Info
ARB Air Locker,
Inc. 20 South Spokane Street Seattle, WA 98134 (206) 264-1669
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