my 85 4runner that i will be picking up tomorrow (woohoo!!) doesnt have a rear bumper. should i go for the stock rear bumper? any ideas?

 

if its going t obe a trail rig, then i would jsut wait and get a nice bumper that can handle offroading... if its jsut a commuter car, then just get a stock one...

 

The stock rear bumper on 84-89 4Runners mounts to the body, not the frame, so if you want to do anything with it at all don't get a stock one

 

How about a Sir Michaels Roll Pan! Ok maybe not.

 

once you take the bumper off on the runners or the trucks, it pretty much is a rollpan

 

Yeah, don't put anything there at all if it's just going to be a DD. If it's going to be a trail rig, hold off until you find the right bumper to be fabbed up for it. As soon as I bought my '89 last spring, the first thing I did was take that fugly rear bumper off. It DOES just look like a roll pan....looks fine that way and passes insepction...for me in PA/NC anyway.

~Shawn

 

technically, you are supposed to have a rear bumper... unless your vehicle didn't come with one stock.....

my truck didnt come with one.....

i think 4runners had them, but most cops wont hassle you about it... and if you get hit anyways, the stock bumpers crumple and still screw up the sheetmetal..... heres a pic of my truck.... if you look, just has little pads on the rollpan, no bumper....

 

No, on 84-89 it doesn't. See the brackets in this pic. It mounts to the frame with brackets just like the truck bumper does. I tore my stock one up the first hunting season. So I got a piece of 3x4 1.4" wall box steel and modified the stock plastic end caps and made one that lasted forever, yet looked stock. Welded a receiver hitch to it, made brackets out of 5/8" plate. Bullet proof.

 

Well the stocker on my 88 mounts to the body so I don't know what you had going

 

Get one of these. Im building one for my 2nd Gen Runner.

http://www.allprooffroad.com/bumpers.htm

 

half of you are right, and half of you are wrong. In 1987, they switced to body mount style rear bumpers. 86 and prior had frame mount bumpers.

 

Yeah, I couldn't have told you the years, but I knew there were both. I had frame brackets when I went to have Schaeffer fab up mine. If you have the brackets, hang on to them. I put a BL on mine after the bumper was made and we looked into getting new ones to make an adjustment to move the bumper in tighter to the body. Thought they were going to be $20 but turned out to be $100. Needless to say we're going to cut up the ones I've got.

Mike

 

Oh yeah... heres my bumper

 

Maybee in Cali you are supposed to have one, but I remember in the 80s the rear bumper was an option not a standard item for the trucks. I'm not really sure about the 4runners.

 

Nice bumper BLKNBLU, I am building one that is alot like that. I just got the mounting brackets welded on today, I used 2x3" x.120 rectangular tubing and it will have a recessed Reese hitch mount built in. So far cost is about $120.00 including the hitch. I will post pics as soon as I can get a digital camera.

 

Actually, you're wrong too..

84-5 had frame mount step bumpers with tow hitch. These were mounted to the frame.

Beginning in 86 (I'm 99% sure it was 86, but Cougar may be right), Toyota offered a "channel" rear bumper. This bumper is nice looking, but very weak. It mounts to the bottom of the tub with 4 8-mm bolts, and to the side plastic molding with two more 8-mm bolts. This bumper was stock on most SR5 models and was available with a factory receiver hitch. I've also seen it on a few (very few) DLX models in both black and chrome.

The 84-5 frame mount step bumper was still available through '89.

You can mount an 86+ channel style bumper to any 84-5 4Runner w/o a problem. But as stated, there's really no point, as it's cosmetic only unless you are using a receiver hitch.

EDIT: i personally would not buy the AP rear bumper. There is zero side support - it will NOT protect you from rocks. I biew this bumper as a cosmetic add on. Conversly, Marlin's similarly designed bumper has side supports and holds up to rocks very well...

 

I can HIGHLY recommend the rear bumper/tire carrier from Badland Bumpers. Top notch. Looks great. Get help to put it on though.

 

PROVE IT!!!!!

 

I realized i was wrong right after I posted that....i should know better i work in a damn toyota yard. I found out they offered the channel bumper from 84-89, but it was a really really rare option until 86, when it became common on SR5 models. Most common SR5 bumpers 84-85 was the chrome step style. They also made a non-step style in both chrome and black....once again very rare. My 86 4Runner came stock with a painted step-style bumper. My 87 came stock with a painted channel style, as did my 88.

 

Id go badland bumper if you got the money. start at around 400 and go to 900 with all the goodies (i have been drooling over them but don't have the $$$ yet...)