Thoughts on Off Road Bumpers?

[kanger]

I've gone off-roading enough times to understand the functionality of having aftermarket steel bumpers for more hardcore wheeling. Extra clearance and protection are definitely benefits for things like rock crawling. I wanted to get input from the overland scene, since this is more about traveling new places and remote areas than trying to tackle the roughest terrains (though some of you do).

Are they worth it? Yes, they're useful for mounting winches, tow shackles, spare tires, and extra gas cans. But aftermarket bumpers aren't necessarily needed for these...except maybe the winch. Many SUVs already have recovery hooks, spare tires can be mounted under/on top of the vehicle (if they're not too big) or in the car along with the gas cans. How do you justify the high cost and extra weight of these bumpers?.....other than the awesome looks of course. Are they that much of a benefit for overlanding? Please enlighten an overland noob. Thanks!

 

[juicebox]

You'll know exactly how you'll justify the cost of a heavy and expensive bumper when you hit an elk at 35 mph and annihilate your radiator in the middle of nowhere.

 

[geordie4x4]

Ah yes, exactly what juicebox said above.
In Australia we call then Roo-bars or Bull-bars. It is not at all uncommon to hit big wildlife during the early morning, late afternoon and definitely at night.

An elk I gather is a bloody big animal to hit at speed and would destroy your rig, just as well we do not have them over here too. We do occasionaly see camels out in the dry country,I really do not want to hit one of those.

 

[Tappet]

As for rock hopping and tackling the roughest terrain I think they can be more of a hindrance than help. Apart from mounting a winch. They just add weight, the enemy. Having said that I have a steel bar fitted to my D40 Navara (Frontier). In most ways I dislike it but travelling the back blocks of Queensland Australia, at night there is no way I would be anywhere out there without it.
Are they worth it is a difficult question. It's only your circumstances that will answer it. In some limited circumstances almost priceless, in most others- no. In some ways it can boil down to a probability thing, if you do plenty of Dawn, Dusk and night driving the probability of hitting wildlife goes up.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Ah yes, exactly what juicebox said above.
In Australia we call then Roo-bars or Bull-bars. It is not at all uncommon to hit big wildlife during the early morning, late afternoon and definitely at night.

One of the reasons I prefer not to travel at night. Obviously, sometimes you have to, but I try to plan trips during the daylight. For one thing, "seeing the scenery" is one of the reasons I travel so I don't want to miss out.

An elk I gather is a bloody big animal to hit at speed and would destroy your rig, just as well we do not have them over here too. We do occasionaly see camels out in the dry country,I really do not want to hit one of those.

North American Elk (Indians called them "Wapiti") are related to deer but can be almost twice as big. We're talking 400 - 500lb (225kg) for a full grown cow elk and 700+ lbs (335kg) for a bull.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elk

Not to be confused with the European Elk which we call a moose (and which is even bigger than an elk!)

As for the bumper question - to me the primary advantages are increased approach angle and ability to mount a winch more easily. Modern vehicles seem to have very low hanging plastic bumpers, which I think are there to provide better airflow to improve fuel economy. Not bad but that plastic can easily get ripped off trying to climb a rock ledge or other obstacle.

Another advantage of steel bumpers is that they can give you a way to jack the vehicle using a hi-lift jack. something that the factory plastic bumpers usually do not allow.

Having said all that - I do think "less is more" when it comes to armor. All that weight has a cost and I like to make mine as minimal as possible, that's the reason I decided not to have a "hoop" put on my aftermarket bumper when I had it built last year.

 

[geordie4x4]

Yes with the remote areas that I travel, it is worth having something like this ARB bar. But as you point out, it comes at a big cost of weight.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Important for hanging a winch and recovery points if the factory configuration is insufficient. Usually you can figure out a way to add good recovery points to any decent 4WD vehicle even if the manufacturer didn't provide them but my feeling is there are few times the factory bumper can be retained with a good winch mount. In the cases where this is possible usually the truck had a factory or dealer option for a winch and so it was designed with this in mind.

I think for exploring they are useful. That is the so-called overland or expedition travel. You spend a fair amount of time on highways and improved dirt tracks, so animal strikes are possible. The reason for the protection is mainly so that important bits (radiator, steering, oil pan, etc.) that could strand you are protected.

Rock crawlers, their utility is minimal and the function isn't protection as much as eliminating points to get hung up on. Less is more for this. You're also going slow, so the energy dissipation required is different.

Personally I prefer a bumper to be what it is to provide protection. I don't see the point of adding a winch bumper that lacks a radiator and headlight hoop. That's adding a lot of the weight without really all the benefit. OTOH I don't see the need for a ranching bumper on an overland truck. Those guys are putting bars on that can tolerate repeated bumps where a truck like ours just needs to be be sufficient for an unintended strike. If the bar is damaged doing it's job, so be it. If you're using your truck to round up cattle or push hay bails around, then that's overkill for us.

 

[Quill]

Protection for the radiator and grill is their main function. Many are just decorations. Good ones are a great addition. They don't have to be a big anchor. Many of the good ones that are heavy for farm and ranch work so they are built for that work. The cool factor gets most people so they forget the true need and end up with to much or just a expensive decoration. I saw one at a Jeep dealer years ago. Totally useless and cost $600. I asked the parts manager about it's non utility and was told it was just for show. You see the same with roll cages that are junk.

 

[Expedition.Report]

Personally there are ways to go without a big steel bumper and still mount a winch and have added front impact protection if you get creative, but what options are available are specific to each make and model so there is no one answer

In my rig I have one of the best, if not the best, approach angle out of any OEM bumper out there. All I did to add to the OEM setup is add a brush guard to increase my front impact protection, will it save my rad against a moose at highway speed? No. But if I get in a lower speed accident it might just be enough. Secondly I purchased a hidden hitch mount (made by a member of this site) that really only requires a small cut to fit the fair head through the OEM bumper and other then that retains all stock appearance, and weight saving of going to an ARB or similar setup

 

[DaveInDenver]

RamRod is probably one of the exceptions, but a reason to use an aftermarket winch mount might be more than just figuring out a way to bolt it on but to reinforce the frame. There are additional forces applied when winching that do not exist on a bumper just used to absorb crash impacts. This is particularly true for angled pulls, it's not difficult to twist your frame getting unstuck.

For example, I think ARB considers this kind of thing so their bumpers are strong enough by design without just randomly adding steel. IOW, you can make a bumper or frame strong by just adding material but when you can use CAD and FMEA to place folds and bracing the overall weight vs. strength can be better optimized.

 

[01tundra]

There are ways to mount a winch and retain the factory front bumper, and be confident that the winch mount is way more secure than any aftermarket, bolt-on bumper out there can offer. But it takes a lot of time, effort and fabrication knowledge to achieve such. An aftermarket bolt-on bumper would be an easier route in most cases.

 

[Martinjmpr]

There are ways to mount a winch and retain the factory front bumper, and be confident that the winch mount is way more secure than any aftermarket, bolt-on bumper out there can offer. But it takes a lot of time, effort and fabrication knowledge to achieve such. An aftermarket bolt-on bumper would be an easier route in most cases.

OK, but to be fair, you've got a 1st gen Taco there, which was the last one to have an actual metal bumper.

The 2nd gen Taco, like the 4th gen 4runner, has a very small "bumper" that is concealed inside a very large plastic "bumper cover" which presents a lot more challenges when mounting a winch or off roading.

 

[kanger]

I love the responses from this community. Thanks y'all. I'm still undecided b/c I don't feel too good about adding an extra couple hundred pounds to my 3rd gen 4Runner. Maybe when the holiday sales start happening I'll make the impulse purchase...ha.

 

[98OzarksRunner]

I love the responses from this community. Thanks y'all. I'm still undecided b/c I don't feel too good about adding an extra couple hundred pounds to my 3rd gen 4Runner. Maybe when the holiday sales start happening I'll make the impulse purchase...ha.

I have an ARB on my 3rd gen 4Runner. It weighs 80 lbs (160 lbs with a Warn M8000 winch). I also don't do rock crawling, but I have plenty of scrapes on it from brushing against trees driving forest roads. My main concern was mounting a winch. You can fabricate some brackets to mount a winch to the frame of a 3rd gen, but it's going to weigh at least half what the bumper weighs. I also appreciate the additional impact protection for critical components, should I hit anything while out in the boonies.

 

[SIZZLE]

Good question and good discussion. I agree the main benefits to an overland-type-rig are animal strikes and mounting a winch at the cost of fuel economy and driving dynamics. I've traveled all around the great northwest and never hit a big animal (though i probably just jinxed myself!) and i tip-toe through the rocks. I try at all times to travel with another rig or turn back before i might need a winch. S happens, but so far my eperience has told me i don't need a big front bumper. As far as a rear bumper, I'm just too lazy to deal with a swing-out whenever i want to get into my rig.