So...I ran into a fellow 4Runner enthusiast. He has an ARB bumper on the front of his truck, and ran into a guardrail at about 40 MPH...

He got a new bumper, and gave me his bent one. I figure it's metal, even though it's some really tough metal, and it can be bent back, right? So, I took it over to a repair shop that has a frame straightener, gave the guy $100, and asked him to get it straight again. He called me back the next day, gave me the bumper and my $100 and told me it was just too hard to fix.

He had me take my stock bumper off, as well as my passenger fender


Now, I'm back to square 1. Anybody close to the Tampa area want to give it a shot? I think we'll need a torch and a welder...and maybe something to pull on it with. I'll bring the beer!!

 

post up pics. maybe we can give you ideas

 

Find a shop with a young, enthusiastic tech. maybe they'll take up the challenge.

 

get a second opinion. Find a good ole redneck buy em some beer and bet in a night he'll fixer for ya.

 

where's the pics of the bumper?

 

why would he take the fender?

 

Bumper tweaked to the passenger side interfering with the fender?

idunno

 

so he gave you a bumper for free? or was the fender the "barter"?

its way hard to match the factory paint color btw, so that fender is always gonna be off color

w/ the bumper, i have straightened out many pieces of metal with 2 cars and a hand winch
(pull e-brake on both cars, attach pull points on the bumper to the winch, and winch her up

i got a setup if you wanna see

 

I would like to see any setup you might have. The fender was taken off so the bumper could be "mock fitted" without damaging it. I've since put it and the stock bumper back on. As far as the find a redneck thing...why do you think I posted this in the first place?

Oh...and, I don't have any pics of the bumper. It's a regular ARB bumper, and from looking at it, you can't really tell it's bent that bad. But, when I tried to fit it, it wouldn't work because it's bent! I thought about hooking one side of it to a tree, and the other to the back of my truck, and pulling really hard...but, it's such a heavy bumper, I'm not sure if that would work. I think I need a torch and a welder...

 

Pictures of the damage!! Lets see exactly where it would need to be 'bent' back....

 

I'll take some pictures this weekend, but, as stated before, just looking at it while it's on the ground it doesn't look like it's bent.