DangerBoy's 4Runner bumper

If you are serious about taking your 4 Runner off road you will quickly realize that the factory bumpers offer absolutely no protection and as a matter of fact wont even support the weight of your vehicle on a jack! The bumper I have created is a Beta version (i.e. we learn from our mistakes) and was originally created for my 86 4 Runner to replace a GMC Sonoma bumper I had grafted in to replace the seriously bent factory step bumper (hey it was free). The factory step bumper came with 2 rather thick "Z" shaped channels that mounted it directly into the frame rails so I decided to utilize these to mount the new bumper. I started with a piece of 3"x 4" 3/16 box tube 6' long. I mitered the ends at the plastic trim on the sides of the truck and then capped each end with some 3/16 plate I had lying around. I then welded 2 pieces of x 4" x 6" steel plates on each end of the bumper to sandwich the original "Z" mounts from the old bumper. The Z mounts needed to be modified to get the bumper up as high as possible so I cut the lower part of the "Z" off. I then clamped the bumper onto the modified mounts and drilled holes through the plates and the mounts to facilitate 1/2" bolts. Once the drilling was done (read: I wish I had my drill press when I did this!!) I then gussetted the plates on both sides. I wanted a tire carrier at a later date so I notched the bumper on the right hand side, right below the taillight, to fit a 1-1/2" x 4" pipe with brass bushing for the hinge. I then carefully welded the pipe into place using a square to ensure alignment.

The bumper was getting really tough looking from some rather aggressive wheeling (as was the rest of the truck) so the bumper came off for paint when the truck went in for paint. I have now modified the bumper slightly by adding 2 retreival shackles on the face directly in line with the mounting brackets. These new shackles are rated at 11,000 lbs so they should hold up for what I do I will try to get some pics up soon.