i have been mocking up a fiberglass winch bumper for my 4runner. yes fiberglass! here is the finished product. now keep in mind that this is the first run and its not perfect by any means. however it can be modified easy. this is a proto type of what could possibly be a mass produced bumper for all gen 4runners and tacos.
as you know theres arb plate bumpers shrockwork plate bumpers and the you have tube bumpers from tons others
both arb and shrockworks are 700 and up
how strong is it . ive stood on it hit it with a sledge hammer and still nothing but scratches
so unless your the type of wheeler that uses trees like bumpers on a pinball machine fiberglass should be fine for most of us

 

I like it. Kind of a desert racer look. Do you have pics of the back of it? How thick is it?

I think that would be a weight reduction compared to the steel bumpers too.

 

its 1/4 inch think in most spots. it only 32 lbs
i modeled my winch plate after trail gears winch plate minus the receiver mount.
ill throw some more pics up soon

 

Looks nice! I would rock one if I still had my 2nd gen. Although I think I would go with a tube first, it's still a nice look.

 

Looks cool as hell!

 

How can you add recovery points to it? how will it hold up to a winch?

 

You swinging with a sledge is nothing compared to your truck hitting it, truck weighs a lot more than you or a sledge does.

only a 1/4 inch thick........ hmmm most of my stuff is 3/16 other parts are 1/4........ hmmmmm I'll take 3/16ths steel

looks cool, but It wouldn't hold up to my abuse.

 

looks like it would be better for desert racing, not so much rock crawling...
i could see some serious issues mounting up a heavy winch that's pulling your 3500 pound truck up hills...
i'd do something like that for desert racing, then embed some offroad lights in the actual bumper. it would look super clean.

 

ummmm
the winch will be mounted to the winchplate mounted behind the bumper so that kinda solves the whole " winch mounted to fiberglass wont work theory"
lol
i forgot to mention that
thats what holds the bumper to the truck
the winch plate is made of 3/16 inch steel and mounted to the frame via 4 grade 8 bolts
its got 1/8 thick supports to keep it from twisting or bending
its kind like the trail gear winch plate

 

1/8th seems kinda thin for something thats going to be pulling the entire weight of your vehicle...
and 4 bolts? i thought it was 6 o.0
well, now that we know of this information, it's safe to say the bumper will work

 

Guarantee the runner weighs more than 3500lbs.

In-bedded lights would be cool

trail gear is 1/4", that doesn't look beefy enough for a winch..........

1/8th is thin for winch supports......


what thickness is your home made skid?

 

3500 at the least, lol.
i don't have a home made skid plate o.0

 

still wondering if you will be able to add recovery points and have you made considerations for body lifts and SASed rig's?
I like the look of the glass just thinking about the other issues needed for a solid bumper also if you do start selling them whats your projected selling price? years it will work on? will you sell just a shell so person A who buy's one can fit it to his/her own needs design?

 

Hitting it with 5 lb sledgehammer is very different than a 5k lb truck coming down on a rock! It looks good but if you actually wheel than i doubt this is really effective. I know if it was on mine i would have shattered it. And 1/8 for a winch support? My bumper is almost 1/2" thick where the winch mounts

 

winch support is 3/16 thick not 1/8
read
as for wheeling my junk i do!
as for the 5lb sledge vs the 5k truck on a rock well i dropped my rear bumper ( marlin crawler ) off a huge rock and bent it. its still bent. my front bumper almost never gets damage and if the fiberglass breaks hmm lets see owwelllllll sand it and put it back together no biggy

and by the way just so everyone knows
i KNEW this whole fiberglass thing would be a lightening rod but i did it anyway just to see how much it would cost and how well it would hold up that being said ill be wheeling next mth and we will see what the bumper can take
if it gets destroyed owell if it holds up maybe im on to something

 

it looks good, but my concern would be if you were to every get in an accident, that wouldn't withstand anything in an accident. i know, no one PLANS on getting in an accident, but shift happens. good work though. my truck is getting a make over as we speak, both front and rear. not sure what its gonna be made out of though.

 

Looks good. I think it is important to remember that swayclevland did specify that this is not designed to take on trees and rocks. It is intended for someone who wheels moderately and isn't in the habit of using their bumper as a pivot point. Yes I agree it is not designed for huge strength, but it is not advertised as being meant for that. My $0.02.

 

the fiberglass work looks great.

the winch plate is gonna get a bunch more passes of the welder right?.
put a reciever hitch w/ a clevis tow rope to an anchor point and do the back up test...curious to see what happens...

 

Looks good man. I definitely share some of the reservations people have stated, but with that said I think you have reasonable expectations of the bumper and like you said you're just trying something different. Innovative ideas come from thinking outside the box, if you don't try something new we'll never make things better.

 

Looks pretty good, I personally like the looks of a plate type front bumper over an all tube bumper. I bet it's quite a bit stronger than a stock bumper so you have that going for you.