Noobie Q's on Grill Guard/Bull bar & other

[Winky]

Hello,
I'm a noob to this board and to Tacomas.

I just got an 08 Taco after my POS Chevy S10 busted a crankshaft (the truck only had 54k on it :chair:) driving down the highway. Gm warantied the engine and I traided it in toward the Taco. Can you tell I'm still bitter about the Chevy? Anyways, got a MUCH better truck out of it.

Which leads to my question...
I'm looking to do a few things to the truck just to protect it. Some sort of Grill guard/bumper to protect my radiator, Demello Bolt-on rock sliders to protect the rockers, and I'm going to extend the rear diff breather (parts on order). Any other mods/protection that I am missing? The truck is an off-road edition and came with full skid plates. If I am doing any serious wheeling the future I'll get a set of Bud Built full skids which will protect better.

I have found the sliders I want (can't afford them yet but I'm saving) but I didn't really like any of the grill guards that I saw. I really liked the ARB Bull bar or the Shrockworks Bull bar but I really can't afford either of them. Also, I was told that the ARB won't accept my factory fog lights, it this true? Will the Shrockworks accept the fogs?

How much will these bumpers weight down the front end? Will they affect the ride to the point that I should get heavier duty coils to keep the factory ride/height?

Is there a reasonably priced grill guard out there to give me some radiator protection, not require taking the stock bumper off and that will not affect ground clearance? Or am I best off just waiting/saving for the ARB or Shrockworks (which will be a while)? I just hope that I don't hit anything between now and then.

Sorry about the long post. Thanks in advance for your help,
Winky

[Scuba]

To be completely honest, we dont have many 05+ tacos on this board..
Check out TTORA.com

Plenty of tacomas over there and if you search and read a bit over there you wont have to make a thread like this, cause you will get flamed..

Anyway, if you do plan on getting a big plate bumper I would deff suggest heavier duty coils..

Welcome To UltimateYota Btw..

:bling:

[04 Rocko Taco]

WElcome to the Forum! Always glad to see some newer rigs poking around. If it were me, I would be looking toward a tube bumper, but thats a personal preference as I prefer tube over plate. Speaking from previous experience, I would say definitely save your money for a steel replacement bumper. Don't waste time or money with a grill gaurd/ bull bar of any sort, they dont look that good, and offer little to no protection. Ask me how I know... :)

Almost always your best bet for the money, is going to be custom. Especially if you want something that trends toward basic rather than a real fancy peice. Armor and skids are some of the most important mods to your offroad rig. Especially with a newer nicer rig such as yours. Armor is second priority to me, but if I had a rig like yours, I would have it first on my list. Sliders are a must, but don't skimp save for a nice set. It'll make the difference and you dont want to have to do it twice. :)

For my personal preference, check with Brad @ Mossyrocks Fabricating. He can be found here on the forum under the screen name Mossyrocks. But here at UY we are lucky enough to have a great group of vendors, I would check with all of them also, and see what products they offer, and the prices they are looking for. You may be surprised!

Once again, Welcome to the forum!!

[Good Times]

welcome aboard!

looks like you're in for some great times driving your taco!

a few pointers:

* grill guard... don't waste your $$ on the cheap stuff. if you want protection, go with an aftermarket front bumper. those cheap grill guards (cheazy wanna be chrome stuff you find on stock vehicles) actually do more harm when you are in a front impact accident. therefore if you're planning to spend a few hundred on those items don't bother. save up for the real offroad aftermarket bumper protection.

* sliders - must have. since you're talking about demello, i'll assume you're in the socal area. regardless sliders are a must have and demello's product are great stuff.

* arb bumper - yes I believe you can't reuse your stock lights because the lighting is a different size. I think shrockworks are the same too. Have you checked out all pro? that's another alternative shop in the socal area.

* under armor - bud built stuff is also superb. shipping might be expensive so a good alternative is to find a local shop that can build you one.

* the talk of armor will definitely weigh you down so don't forget to upgrade your suspension. you'll want some heavy duty parts so do your research on various components. Here's an old wiki I created a while back (needs some serious updating since there are more products out there) but it should give you a good start on what to look. http://www.ultimateyota.com/index.php?option=com_openwiki&Itemid=60&id=wiki:holy_grail_lift_faq"]Lift (http://"[url) FAQ Wiki[/url]

Bottom line, find a local shop that can support your hobby because you know you'll end up going back for seconds, thirds and then some. :)

Not sure where to start and need help, just post up and we'll help ya. the longer the post the more detailed it'll be so don't be shy just ask away.

[Crinale]

welcome to ultimate yota... and since no one else did... :pics:

[Winky]

Hey, Thanks for the input and advice.

I was very heavily leaning toward skipping the grill guard idea and just saving for a good bumper. That is what I'll do. I think that I'll go with one of the front bumpers from All-Pro. I sent them an email to see if the plate bumper will accept the factory fogs, should hear back soon.

I would really like to find a good offroad shop locally but seeing as I live in Illinois and we don't have the terrain for it I don't know if I'll be able to find a good shop. Anyone know of a decent shop in the Chicagoland area? (I'll be relocating to Colorado soon though :thumbup:)

I think that this is the order of importance for Gear and ideas of companies.
1. Rock Sliders (Demello offroad Bolt on version)
2. Front Bumper (All-Pro plate bumper with light hoop or Hybrid bumper)
3. Small lift (like the 2.5" adjustable 5100's from Bilstein) and heavier duty front springs (to make up for the weight of the new bumper)
4. Replace the Stock skid plates with heavy duty ones (Bud-built or the like) **This is later on the list as I have full stock plates
5. Electric Locker Actuator guard (All-Pro) **This may come earlier than it is listed??
6. U-Bolt flip kit (All-Pro again) **This may come earlier than it is listed??
7. Larger Tires (When the current ones wear out or I catch a deal)

Anything I'm missing or have flipped around?

Of course I will have to save up for all of this, which will take a while. I will also have to convince my wife of the necessity of the above mentioned items, which will likely take the remainder of my life.

Good Times, Did you finish getting Project Chaos back together? I saw the post but I didn't see a finished truck (as if we can ever "Finish" working on a truck, silly me) That is a sweet ride by the way.

Thanks again guys,
Jared

[Seanz0rz]

yeah goodtimes has most of the truck put back together. last time i talked to him he was still working on a new front bumper, but it runs now! (thing is awesome!)

[Scuba]

If your moving to colorado, Look up armorology, They make great stuff, But you have to be in colorado cause they want to make sure of perfict fit yada..

[Good Times]

armoring up would be a wise decision. with decent armor you'll be protected and can venture to remote areas without worrying too much about damaging your truck :)

the lift and tires can definitely come later after learning the true offroading capabilities of the tacoma. The lift/tire combo added later will give you a better appreciation for how the offroad capabilities expand. Though I'd say if you're an experienced driver it probably won't make that much of a difference.

I highly doubt you'll be able to retain the stock fogs from your tacoma to any aftermarket bumper. Might be an option if they modify it for you though but probably not an off-the-shelf item.

Illinois... Can't help ya there. never been there so I wouldn't even know where to start (doh!) sorry!

If you move to Colorado, there's PLENTY of killer places that'll help you customize your tacoma any way shape or form. Just flash a few bills (prob LOTS) and you can magically transform it into any monster you want it to be :D

Can't help ya in the wife front there. That appears to be a significant problem for everyone. It is what it is, so just make the best of it and be honest :) Should either seal the deal or kill it. (doh!)

My truck is running. Took it out to Pismo for our last Pismo Jamboree. Had a few issues to knock out but haven't had time to fine tune it yet. One thing I've learned from all of the tinkering: the more you mess with it, the more jacked up it gets! :tapedshut: But at the end of the day it's my junk and I still love it :confused:

:wrenchin:

[2ndGen]

a while ago i was reading roger brown's website, i saw this: 4x4 in capital, type the word "4x4" one your keyboard while holding the shift key. it comes up as "$X$".