new bumper on the 4runner pics

[tom4bren]

The issue that I would be concerned about is winching off-angle. A lateral load on the winch or even a tow point could deform the metal if it isn't braced adequately.

& all this time I thought you were a 'straight shooter'. Time to reappraise my assessment?

[ZEUS]

Winching hardly ever happens straight on so I am still a straight shooter just a crooked wincher!

[tom4bren]

Winching hardly ever happens straight on so I am still a straight shooter just a crooked wincher!

crooked wincher - ninny snapper

Yer gettin all sorts of interesting nicknames lately ... wonder which is gonna stick.

[ZEUS]

crooked wincher - ninny snapper

Yer gettin all sorts of interesting nicknames lately ... wonder which is gonna stick.

I still like Dub's "Whiny Sniper"

[pbkid]

PB-KID--- I love your new front bumper, but it seems a bit pricey at $1250. The off-the-shelf ARB Bull-Bumper can be found a tad cheaper. Still, your custom front bumper is nicely designed and very functional.

Here are some on-line websites that you may find interesting for your Toyota, as I use them quite frequently for parts for my '78 FJ-40.

Check-out:

www.Man-A-Fre.com

and

www.SOR.com (Spector Off-Road)

cool, thanks for the sites, ill add those to the list of stuff i reference for the new 'toy' (the yeti).

and the 1250 seemed steep to me too. until i started shopping around....

my second choice was a company out of texas called Shrockworks but they were asking $1400 shipped... without install.
and as you know from your FJ, custom stuff can add up very quickly.

so, ill give you the breakdown that i went through to help it make more sense.
i shopped custom shops first, and found a few that i wasnt willing to pay for because either they were 'unstylish' or very expensive. and it came down to "Shrockworks", "Armorology" and "ARB".

so, shrockworks- $1400 PLUS install? dont think so.
armorology- (original quote was 1400 also, but ill explain it more later)
ARB- $850 shipped, plus $500-600 for install totaling $1400- (because ARB doesnt make a bumper for a 4runner, they make bumpers for tacoma's and apparently there is some significant modification to make it fit the runner.....ARB quoted me 5-8 hours depending on the shops experience with their bumper)

so, since armorology was nearby (about 2 hours away) i gave them a call to talk to them more. and they informed me that they were booked out 3 months...

i called shrockworks the next day and they were booked 8 months out!!!!

and ARB of course would ship immediately but to be honest with you, i think ARB is really ugly on the 4runner which is already a VERY square vehicle. i was looking for something to break up the lines (more like what i ended up with, or shrockworks which is very similar to mine)

(sorry for the long explaination, but what better do we have to do? )

so, i called the armorology shop back to schedule something 3 months out
and they informed me that they had someone cancel and they would build my bumper if i could get it to them the next week. which made me really happy.

i took my runner down to them the next week and got to talking. we changed some designs on the bumper and ended up with a price closer to $1000 installed. i added the re-inforced stinger and the polished aluminum skid plate to protect the bottom of the radiator, and it totalled $1250 after everything.

so, long story short, they built me the most 'complete' bumper, with the design i liked... within a reasonable amount of time.

[pbkid]

oh, and FYI- this is the original bumper i designed mine off of.... for this exact design they quoted me $1400 with the re-inforcements for the winch.