Well my buddy is selling his black grill guard and brush guards off of his 96 4Runner SR5 and he is selling it to me for 250cdn. Well here's an idea of what it looks like:

(I know its on a 2nd gen but it what it looks like)


What do you guys think? It's for my Desert Dune Limited

 

No. First of all, grill guards suck. Second of all, that one in the picture looks alot cheaper than other G3 grill guards.

 

I'm curious why grill guards suck??? It all depends on the metal used and its mounting points I would think.

 

I'm curious as to why they suck too...I am thinking about getting one for my '95. Details on the "suckage?"

 

On minor fender benders, they are fine. But ANYTHING more than that... you will double the body dammage from not having a bar out front at all. My buddy had a manik on his taco and some old woman pulled out right in front of him, he had time to jump on the brakes, but boom boom... and it hit the hood, as well as both the side pieces. Then the brush guard has to be replaced on top of that. I wouldn't go as far as they just suck period. I used to want one... til I saw the TJM/Arb/badlands setups these guys were running.

 

As Toyota states in the owner's manual, a brush guard may interfere with airbag deployment in an accident. That's a potentially high price to pay in a vehicle that's already rated a bit low in occupant protection during frontal impacts to begin with.

Not to mention that they weigh a ton which will contribute to premature OEM shock absorber wear.

Looks good, though, and it IS a great deal given the value of the Northern Peso. Go for it and sell it on eBay!

 

I wouldn't have my runner if it weren't for the guard that used to be on it.
I bought it at an auction. Some lady had hit a post pretty good (look at my avatar) and the only things that busted were:
1) the grill guard (removed)
2) a headlight (replaced)
3) the grill (replaced)
4) the bumper (replaced w/ used 91')
5) the hood (replaced w/ used 91')
6) the engine fan (replaced w/ Flex a lite)
7) the radiator (repaired)

I'm into my 94 w/ 87000 miles on it for under 5K. I can tell you if it weren't for the grill guard this thing would've had major engine/driveline damage and I wouldn't have given it a look.
It's simple physics if you hit ANYTHING hard (unless you have the arb/tjm) it won't matter what's on your front bumper.
I say go for it.

 

Airbags?! Heck I don't think mine is even equipped with crumple zones! I say go for it too, it looks pretty good and allows for some more lights if you'd like. I've seen a couple wrecked trucks with that type of grill guard, and the bumpers seemed to take most of the impact. Post pics later!

 

That's debatable. If the airbags use accelerometers for sensors (which I've heard it does) then a bullbar will cause the airbag to trigger sooner because the bumper won't crumple and absorb the energy. All the energy will be transmitted to the frame faster and will trigger the airbag sooner. Of course does that mean the airbag will start to deflate when a head finally reaches it a split second later? Only the crash test engineers know that. It's an acceptable risk for me, considering I don't have any airbags in my 4runner.

As far as the stock shocks, I don't think many people keep the stocks for long. I was the exception though since I kept mine till 130k.

 

I will take the opposite and say that brush guards/bull bars do help in some cases-- and im not talking about some cheap 12 guage hot rolled steel pile of junk from jaos. My mom had a brush guard on her 90 runner which saved her life-- she hit a 7 foot buck going about 65 mph, however, the guard was so strong that it split the deer in 3 pieces and the horns came through the passenger side of the windshield and narrowly missed her face. The bar was some custom job made with 2" heavy guage square tube and the main bars attached to the frame were made of 9/16" thick plate steel with 3/4" grade 8 bolts to hold it in place-- the force of the buck sheared the grade 8s!!!!!!! I shudder to think what would have happened had it not been there. they can serve a purpose, but most of them are just for looks and "attitude"

Tim

 

OK, good bad whatever. All I know is that Manik sucks! They wobble like crazy to the point of breaking the supplied top brackets. If you hit something, ANYTHING, the brackets will bend and cause the sides to rub the fender. Yeah it looks good, people will comment, and you can put lights on it, but it's just for looks. Vato, if you're going to put some 20s on your rig, I don't think it will look good. Then again I don't think 20s will look good.

 

Hey Vato, tell your friend nice cover-up on the front license plate!

 

20 suck.........but 24 don't........brush guards suck.......bull bars don't.....The dent in my TGM came from a stump that would have left a brush guard indent in your radiator. They will effet approach angles.I know people that have had to tow their trucks because of brush guards getting hit in parking lots. If you stay on the street and want some bling then get a chrome one other than that I would just use the center protector