NJC1989

OK, so I'm commuting home from college after a long-long day, right? I'm stuck at a full stop behind some cars at a four-lane intersection ... put on my blinker, take a good lane check (because I love my 4Runner), and start to move into the right lane to get around this backed-up traffic.

BAM!

2001 Kia comes from the rear and takes out the pass. side front bumper! ARGH! PISSED. I've only had my 'Runner for about 6 months, new-to-me 300K+ miles. It had a really nice stock front bumper and chrome valance. Son-of-a ...

Well, it was a 'you should have seen the other guy' moment. My BFG 31"s fused the college girl's tin-can front fender to her driver's door. Serves you right.

But now, hey, maybe when the liability report comes in I can spring for a new stinger bumper with a winch mount and some Hella light space? Yeah! But I need some help.

I have a Smittybilt bumper and running bars (which I could take or leave ...), but I'm looking for a serious stinger that won't let me down through the rest of my many years of 'yota.

Addicted Offroad? Marlin Crawler? Inch Worm Gear? What's the difference? I like the look of Marlin Crawler's, since I don't much like the front hitch mount. Theirs is USA steel, but Addicted Offroad's seems to be really popular here. Any other good ones I should look into? I want something with some nice, thick tubing. You know, for the next fender bender.

Thanks all.

Volcom

I've been very happy with my Addicted Off Road front bumper. It's well designed and made to hold a winch without having a huge decrease in approach angle.

NJC1989

Enough said. That's the one.

I'm guessing that there's only a few makers of the stinger bumpers, now that I've done some more research.

It looks like there's the TrailGear stinger, that seems to be sold by lots of different venues (like Inch Worm Gear), which is just huge, looks like it really gets in front of the headlights, has the less-appealing-to-me single-bend stinger end, and made out of foreign DOM steel.

Then there's Marlin Crawler's, which is USA HREW steel, and it seems like a step-up steel wise, but it still has the wide-diamond design that gets in front of the headlights and sticks out like buck teeth.

Then there's the Addicted Offroad. Seriously, well designed. No headlight interference I can see, nice thick tubes, good fit, with the two-bend stinger end. Makes a very clean front end. Not sure what kind of a steel, but it'd have to be good to have such of a following here. I guess a TrailGear winch plate is used, and then the bars are welded with a template.

I really liked the fact that on Addicted Offroad the guy mentions that you need to reinforce the mounts for winching. I'm sure I would've just gone at it and had a fun story about a flying bumper/destroyed knee or something. I'm a noob, for sure.

I have IFS, so I was uneasy about how it might look, so for anybody thinking the same thing:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f88/...45/index4.html

Yeah, nice.

Volcom, badass 'Runner by the way. Is it locked or just dual-cased? Didn't see lockers in your sig.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

i would also recommend Addicted's Bumper for a couple of reason:
1-high quality
2-he has worked on a ton of YT members trucks, they all seem to be happy



Marlin's stuff is good but they have had production problems in the past(never could get an answer on a shipping date so I ended up going local for my front bumper)

considerations:
-another option to look at would be http://www.badlandbumpers.com/ in seattle
-Trail gear is close is based in CA so shipping might be cheaper

thefallman

just a little tidbit of info for you guys. those tube bumpers are not street legal. you may not get tickets unless u have an accident but go read up on the rcw's and ask around at some point you'll get harrassed over them.

malteserunner

iTrader: (1)

Never had a problem with mine in Commiefornia. I've heard Oregon and Washington have ridiculous bumper laws though.

Also, to the OP, Scotty at Addicted has started to use his own winch plate design in place of the TG piece.

NJC1989

I'm pretty sure it actually depends on your particular jurisdiction, and the specific dimensions of the bumper is most important. I know there was a post on here where I read about it. From pictures of Addicted's bumper, it's the tightest winch mount stinger I've seen in my searching.

I see gigantic steel-block Warn Industries bumpers all day long, and other 'yota's with similar large stinger bumpers parked in the parking garage at my school. There's a tricked out FJ Cruiser with heavy front-wheel negative camber for desert racing (I guess) that I always see parked in the parking garage at my school with a big similar style bumper.

And believe me, I live in a police state and go to school in a police town. There's a cop every 5 blocks. I even got pulled over once for accidentally flicking my brights on at a stop light in town at night, when nobody was in front of me.

So ... I tend to think if there were a real issue, I'd see these guys getting ticketed right and left. I know the only thing that's required legally is that you display a front license plate. That I can just attach to the fairlead mounts when I'm not using a winch.

NJC1989

Awesome, good to hear. He seems like a real straight-ahead guy with good ideas from look at his site/posts here. I just don't get a good feeling from TrailGear, their stuff seems so phoney-wheeler to me. I mean, I'm just looking at their PR and Ads and stuff. That's just the impression I get.

KcYotaChick21

In washington if you have a stinger EXPECT to get pulled over and harassed in small towns, And some bigger cities.. Also Portland Oregon Cops are DICKS about it. They say they are made to run over Cars so they are Dangerous... I would check into your local laws cause it will get you pulled over ALOT, Thats why my truck doesnt have the bumper and Stinger I want haha

ScottyC

iTrader: (1)

FWIW, I have numerous bumpers floating around all over Washington and Oregon. I have yet to hear about any one of my customers getting a ticket because of one.

My current bumper design is still based on the TG winch mount, but I do have a new winch mount in the works. No time table on it as of yet though.

I buy my steel locally here in Greeley, CO. No clue if its imported or not. Its priced fair and bends great in the bender and has been plenty strong for bumpers.

As far as the winch reinforcement is concerned. I recommend the reinforcement no matter what bumper you run. Some companies will tie into the body mounts on the 90-95 rigs. I do not do this. If you have ever seen one of these trucks that was in an accident, you will notice how easily the frame and body mount can bend. It can do the same thing when winching. Because of this, I don't tie into those mounts because they will bend.

The front section of frame on all 84-95 trucks and 4runners is only .090 wall material. That is less than 1/8". You need the reinforcement on any bumpers on the market.

NJC1989

KcYotaChick21,
WTH? So if I stop over in Portland or Seattle on a road trip I should expect to get a stern talking to/some kind of ticket? I'm really sorry to hear that you can't get the front bumper that you'd like because of some crazy legislation. It's a bumper for Jay-sez sake.

I just can't see Addicted's bumper even being an issue in any way. It's so tight and clean. Those underbite looking bumpers on those old sedans stick out as far.

From looking around though, I'm pretty confident I'd be fine here, and where I plan to move in the next couple years (MONTANA). I see people without front license plates even, all the time. With HUGE stinger front bumpers, running 40"s, flat-bedded, the works. I just saw a Tacoma coming home today with an absurd fabbed stinger.

In NorCal, maybe the cops wheel too.

NJC1989

Scotty, thanks for that. Like I was saying, I haven't heard that info. about reinforcement from any other manufacturer. Maybe they expect you to already know or figure that out on your own ... ? Well, I didn't know. Now I'll avoid that flying-bumper trick by getting the proper welding done. So thanks.

Will your new winch mount be a departure from the TG design, or along the same lines? I may wait it out because, seeing your work, I'm sure it'll be pretty awesome and worth the wait.

I don't much care where your steel comes from so long as you have a good opinion of it, I don't know jack about fabrication. But if you did find out it was USA, then Marlin Crawler wouldn't have any marketing advantage over you at all. They really make that fact seem important on their site.

VSU_4runnin

i just got a marlin... first impressions are its great, high quality, and very sturdy

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/m...rd-gen-209577/
fits much better after some tweaking (then again it is built as bolt on for a 2nd gen), just dont have any pics cause shes in the shop now for body work. the folks over at MC were great, answered all my questions, processed my order the same day, and even though they were 3 weeks back logged got my bumper built and shipped out in less than a week

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

myself and several other trucks run around PDX with a stinger equipped bumpers with out issues from the fuzz

thefallman

Hey,

I was just putting up a FYI. i personally only know of a few people that have been bothered by cops about the bumpers, and those were people who are idiots and have junk rigs that look like driving dented trash cans. SO basically its like speed limits, in most places they arent going to mess with you, if you have your stuff together and are being safe. But if you get in an accident or something expect at least a chat about the bumper.

NJC1989

Hey, lookin' good! I don't doubt at all that the MC bumper is sweet, or that they're great people to work with. I think their rear rock-crawling bumper is second to none. For me personally though, I don't like the wider diamond design of their front bumper, with the bars in front of the headlights a little. On the MC, they made the bars small, too, which I think would look funny on my '89 4Runner. On yours it looks pretty sweet, though.

ScottyC

iTrader: (1)

For the record, I have no idea whether Marlin's tubing is USA steel or Chinese steel. But, I will say that in order to keep costs down and profits up, you go with the cheapest steel you can get. With that being said, I don't ask what my steel is when I order it. I doubt that they do either. And, I also seriously doubt that my supplier knows.

This is a global economy now. Its not just about us vs. them like it used to be.

I have never had a problem with the quality of TG's steel or products. I run them on my rigs and have installed 1000s of their parts on other rigs. Its good quality stuff to be completely honest. Someone may have an issue from time to time, but I could say that about all companies. Even my own unfortunately.

Example: I have to ship out a 2nd bumper for a customer today. It seems that I welded on the main tube offset 1/4" to one side. So, it sits a 1/2" further to one side than the other. That is a quality control piece that I missed, and I was the one who built it for him. I take full responsibility for the screw up, and will ship him out a new bumper immediately. No questions asked about it.

VSU_4runnin

scotty, i believe this: http://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=60158.0
is where all the hullabaloo about steel comes from. Marlin is certain of where their steel comes from. I dont doubt you make a rockin product, i just think something is to be said for chineese steel vs. american steel in strength and purity

poynter

Sounds like great customer service to me. Wheres he located Ill take the slightly off one!

NJC1989

Yeah, that's it. I don't know the difference in carbon levels between Chinese vs. American made steel, but there Marlin makes the case that the USA is more resistant to damage -- I think mainly to make the case that their HREW steel is every bit as good as DOM steel which has been marketed as stronger.

However, in Marlin's tests ... it seemed to me that theirs wasn't a whole lot stronger than the foreign DOM steel. Maybe that's just to my untrained eye, but I did take statistics and can read graphs.

It's a good piece of marketing, really. Until I read that on Marlin, I hadn't even thought about different grades of steel being used.