I was checking out 4x4Labs.com today, he is a vendor over on Pirate and noticed that he built some really nice, albeit expensive bumpers for landcruisers and low and behold he had a really nice 3rd gen 4runner on his web-site. So i e-mailed him and told him to check out yotatech.com and this is the e-mail i got back, sounds really positive for future 3rd gen info and work....

"i try to stay out of the forums. i have a vendor spot on pirate. my bumpers
are up there. if you want to post stuff up there on your list, pics from my
site or whatever, please do. i have all kinds of stuff for 3rd gen
4runners. we do high end conversions of all kinds and and specialize in
rear bumpers.
check out http://www.4x4labs.com/images/4Runner/
that particular 4runner in those pics got all kinds of stuff in addition to
the bumper. we put gears, arb's, chrome moly axles, locking hub conversion,
race runner coilovers, total chaos a-arms, OME rear springs, supercharger,
17inch wheels with MTR's, and pretty much every other trick in the book. he
is a search and rescue guy that has a couple of search dogs. anyway, it
turned out real nice.

the supercharged '98 we're doing now is the other side of the coin, we
ripped out the IFS and put in a straight axle and leaf springs for rock
crawling. we're swapping in a landcruiser FJ62 front axle, a marlin early
t-case conversion with the low gears, 63" chevy leaves in the rear on 38"
swampers. it's uh, large you might say. when i get pics i'll forward them on.

if you want to tell your list, my bumpers start at around $1500 (up to 3k
depending on what you want) the one on the web site is about 2k.

later, and thanks for the interest

-luke@4x4labs"

so the summary is killer bumpers, killer work, Straight axle 3rd gen on 38's with a yota axle!

 

Holy cow 1500 for a bumper! that seems very high to me. I wouldnt pay that.

 

RockWare quoted me $1,200 for a bumper nearly identical to those a few other members have here. That included a tire carrier, gas can mount, and Hi-Lift mount.

 

They make some awesome stuff.

I believe somebody at CO4RJ was asking why not use the old style cases and a crawler to get a Toy axle on the new runners.

Regarding the price, you've gotta pay to play.

 

no sense in overpaying unless you want to play less.

 

I am just getting sick of people griping about price when they have no conception of the time and craftsmanship that goes into these bumpers. Paying someone else to build a completely custom bumper for your rig is expensive, period. You end up with something that is worth every dime when it is done.

You may not pay it, but that does not mean people who do are getting ripped off.

 

Sweet stuff, indeed. However, when I was checking out the pics of the $2000 bumper, I couldn't help but notice that the guy had TWO PAIR of the $300+ JAOS Mudflaps. Must be nice to have money to burn...