Ditto - ARB

 

anondrao: Have you noticed any excessive flex in the bumper when winching? I've seen some of the work the guys do at agressive, and I wouldn't trust it on my rig, plus Ive heard some bad stories. NOt trying to knock them down, they know what they're doin for the most part. How much did that cost you??
I had mine made by a pro welder I know, charged me $400 for the bumper and sliders.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...84008460ZHuTPz
http://community.webshots.com/photo/...84008376zqygng

These are some ok shots of mine. Welded to the frame in mulitiple spots, backfilled and crossbraced.

 

nope... no flex... it's welded to the frame and braced well.

Haven't heard any bad stories. are they of recent work of theirs?

my ˟˟˟˟'s holding up really well.

 

I am currently running the tacoma prototype of a winch bumper made by bpi fab in Denver... I believe their website is www.bpifab.com

I ran the ARB for a while and HATED the aproach angle.

 

I always wonder why people say this, at least those who ditch their ARB when doing the fabled axle swap on the earlier rigs. The hanger for the leaf springs ends up in the EXACT same place as those two vertical "fins", with any more than 1" of drop in the hanger it actually is LOWER at those points.

Oh ya, I've got an ARB and I'm definitely keeping it.

 

The main problem I had with the ARB was the horizontal piece below the winch mount... it would hit a rock and not slide at all. the BPI bumper I have now will slide right up whatever I come against.

 

ARB all the way!!!

 

The appraoch angle to the ARB is very low degrees. This is the disadvantage to the ARB bumper. It is square, and not sloped, which means you push against rocks, and stop. With my bumper, I can push against a rock, and slid up until my tires catch and pull me up and over. I would never use an ARB for serious rock crawling, but they are great products made very well. And though the bumper is stout and very functional, I dont think its as functional as it could be if it were tube or sloped.
Also, in regards to the spring perches: They are sloped too, so if you push against them, the tend to slid up over rocks, until your tires can catch. Unless you slam the front end into something, you're not going to bend anything. Thats also why Toyota's work so well in crawling. They dont use odd shaped or square perches. Its all triangle shaped.

 

I have never hit the piece below the winch mount on my ARB after some pretty good wheeling, but I have ground the poop out of the fins that are below.

It is somewhat annoying when I think that I shouldn't, but the fins are strong and just allow me to run up things. I don't know how I could hit that part on my bumper because the fins stick out farther than that piece.

 

the arb for the taco doesn't have those fins. my skidplate is what limits my approach angle for the most part. but it would be nice if the bumper was slanted more, especially on the sides, where i wouldn't be hitting my skid when going up something. it has slid up rocks though, on the side...

ARB is a good bumper.

 

We have a TJM 17 bumper, Warn 9000 winch. Hasn't failed...yet.

Lee

 

thanks for all the replys,

Mine is a 94

Keep the pictures comming