February 12, 2024

I have been thinking of an aftermarket bumper since almost the first day that I had my 4runner. The front and rear bumpers it comes with are a joke made from silver colored plastic. There is general agreement that the silver colored plastic is not the most attractive option Toyota could have chosen.

I already snagged my rear bumper on something and snapped one of the attachments. So it is currently flapping around and waiting to get snagged again and torn off. When that happens I will get more serious about a proper rear bumper.

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of companies offering various styles of bumpers. You could spend days shopping. The general cost is about $1000 for each (rear and front).

Front bumper for a 4runner

I talked to "my guy" (Rob) at "Trail Boss offroad" here in Tucson. He said to go online, look at the 1000 or so bumpers being offered and decide which of two classes you want. One class fits in the center of the front and keeps the original look of the vehicle. The other class is big and totally changes the look of the vehicle. A fundamental decision.

Pike bumper from RCI

I have a set of their skid plates, so why not at least consider their front bumper. It will run me $740 without lights or winch in black powder coat.

Cali Raised - stealth bumper

I am on their mailing list and hear about all of their products regularly. The stealth bumper is a $1000 item:

Southern Style offroad

Here you have the option to add a bull bar. I like the idea, but given how tight my 4runner fits into my garage, it is probably a bad idea.

Rear bumper

It seems popular to add some kind of tire rack that swings off to the side. I suppose the idea is to get the tire out from under the vehicle which would allow for more clearance and better "angles" when driving through ravines. This is not an option for me, as my 4runner just barely fits into my garage in the stock configuration. Even with that aside, you gain clearance at a signficant sacrifice of clearance.

I like the looks of this rear bumper:

It is out of stock until late September (4 months from now as I write this). This (along with shipping costs) is always something to consider.
Have any comments? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Auto repair pages / tom@mmto.org