ARB 3423020 Winch Compatible Bull Bar

Shows up with a huge bag over bolts and miscellaneous hardware all mixed together and no instructions. For a product that is considered premium that's not what I expected

This is a great product that works as designed and fits perfectly as designed on my 97 Toyota 4Runner(this *does* require cutting off your stock bumper mounts, but this is not a flaw, it is how it is designed). If you are looking for a direct replacement, bolt on bumper that fits the stock mount points, this may not be for you. If you are looking for a serious front bar to hold up to off-roading and winching abuse without ripping off your bumper, with solid mount integrity, look no further. Keep in mind that you will need to cut off your stock bumper mounts. So unless you are very good at welding/fabricating, this isn't something you can just decide to go back to stock after...this is a long term commitment. Once the bumper mounts are cut, this fits directly onto the frame rails and is a solid metal to metal connection with the frame. Because this is a solid and stable direct mount to the frame of your car, you will no longer have any shock absorption in the front bumper with this. Just a few things to keep in mind so you know what you are in for with this part/project.I do wish that this kit came with better installation instructions, but if you search online there are plenty of details on how to install, including torque specs. Be sure to torque the bumper properly before using it in any off-road situations where you may be putting heavy pressure on it. The last thing you want is to get out on a trail and have problems because of improper torquing. I have not installed a winch on my bumper yet, but the kit does include everything you need to install a winch if desired, you just need to buy the winch. After 4 years on the car, the bar still looks pretty good and has not had any issues with rust, discoloration or warping. Keep in mind that I have not done much off-roading with this and no heavy crawling, so I have not put it through any heavy paces or scuffed it up on any trails. I bought this bar because the previous owner had this same bar installed and it was going to be much easier to install the same bar again, instead of trying to weld the stock bumper mounts back on.These bars are highly rated and loved in the off-roading community and ARB is a name you can stand by and trust. We have been looking into gearing our 4Runner more for overlanding recently and this front bar will do great for that. As long as the warnings in the first paragraph here don't concern you, this is a great buy and the product is very solid and well made. As a bonus, it looks a little more aggressive and fits great!

The instructions are very hard to follow, and I ended up with a _lot_ of leftover screws and miscellaneous parts, but it fit on my 1999 Tacoma SR5 ExtraCab quite nicely. It's a solid, well built bumper that looks like it's going to be able to take a good beating.For reference: Before I bought this bumper, it was unclear whether or not I would need to cut any part of the frame. Ultimately I did NOT have to cut anything The slightly later models (2002 and up, I think) have crush cans welded to the frame, and the kit comes with frame extenders that bolt onto the ends of the frame and a cross bar that fits between them. On my truck, the crush cans were bolted on, and I could mount the brackets directly to the ends of the frame, and I threw away the cross bracket and the extenders.

Great product. Very sturdy. Powdercoat finish looks great and protects well. As far as ARB products go, this one is even a little bit cheaper than models for other vehicles. I'm very happy with it, and would have given five stars, but there are a few things worth mentioning that would have saved me a lot of grief.1. The physical install is a kind of a bear. The included instructions are unclear about several points, and in fact are out of date. Download the latest installation PDF from ARB, and you will have most of the missing pieces. The rest you can figure out from youtube and Toyota user forums, which have several good walkthroughs. I strongly urge to do all this first, before you attempt any work. My entire install took probably 12-16 hours, but I got hung up several times on certain steps. Had I done the research and prep work all beforehand, I could have easily cut the install time to half or less.Pay special attention to what type of frame ends you have, as that varies between model years and there is a different procedure for each. I have a 2000 year and I did not have to use the additional frame extension boxes. I did have to drill a couple of very large bolt holes in the frame though.Mount up the bottom plate and the underside skid plates BEFORE you do final torque-down on the bumper mounts. If the bumper is not aligned correctly forward-to-back, you may have some issues with all the skid plate bolts lining up correctly to each other. Also, it would be wise to at least finish out any and all wiring on the radiator side that needs to be done before putting the skid plates back on, or it will be impossible to get to. This probably goes double if you are installing a winch, which I did not.Even if you prep it all correctly, it is is still exceedingly tricky to get any kind of socket head on some of the mounting bolts so as to torque them to the correct spec. Anticipate needing a wide variety of socket/impact extensions, including swivels. For a couple of bolts, I don't think it's possible to even torque them correctly without a set of box/open end torque wrench adapters. There just isn't clearance to fit a socket over the bolt head.2. There are not a lot of options for accessory lights. Mounting two 6-9" driving/off-road lights on the bumper top is easy enough with the stock holes, but any more than that will need custom brackets, assuming you can even fit them all in there. There are two additional mounts on the top of the brush guard, but these would be impractical for anything besides an LED light bar. Also, there is really no good place to mount fog lights on this bumper without serious modification and/or fabrication work. Even the ARB fog light kit is not compatible with this bumper design.In any case I would recommend installing any accessory light brackets before mounting the bumper. After that, you will only have to bolt the lights themselves on and connect the wiring.3. Installing and wiring up the included blinker lights was much harder than it should have been. The assembly part is extremely fiddly, especially if you have to do it several times. Again, you may want to install these before the bumper is mounted. Additionally, the wire splice includes the cheap "piggyback" taps, which I tossed and wired it in properly. Also, this step could be way simpler. There is sufficient wire length that it would be possible to directly connect the stock wire and bulb to the ARB turn signals, if they just modified the signal housing to accept the stock Toyota bulb harness.

Amazon has the best price for this bumper anywhere and with free prime shipping, it's a steal. The bumper came freight. The freight company called me and managed to schedule the delivery on a Saturday which was really convenient. Packaging definitely wasn't the best and the bar had a couple nicks in it but this is an off road tool, not a ricer body kit; I was able to eliminate the nicks with a little Quick Color black spray paint.I installed this on my 1999 3rd Gen 4Runner. It's built like a tank, has a very classic look and will likely out live the vehicle it's protecting. I fit mine with an XRC-8 winch by Smittybuilt and installed a couple of road lights in the predrilled holes. I've already ran it into a couple things while parking (street sign, tree, fence) and it's none worse for the wear.