Aftermarket Tacoma Bumpers: The Pros and Cons of Steel Bumpers

Pickup trucks are one of the most frequently modified types of vehicles. One of the popular mods is aftermarket steel bumpers. To some, this will seem like an unnecessary hindrance to the design, but others will see it as an aesthetic improvement. However, that’s not the main reason for getting steel craft bumpers anyway. The main purpose is to add functionality and durability to the vehicle. Here, we’ll go over what the specific benefits and cons of this modification are.

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The Pros of Steel Bumpers

The pros of having a steel bumper on your truck are numerous:

Improved Durability

A truck with a big bumper not only looks aggressive but it’s also durable. The Tacoma bumpers can absorb significant impacts without bending or breaking and protects the vehicle itself from any cosmetic or even structural damage. You can see variations of steel bumpers on police cars, where they are used to perform PIT maneuvers – you know, where the pursuing vehicle makes contact with the rear quarter panel of the suspect car to stop it. Doing this in a non-modded vehicle would cause significant damage but no harm is caused to the pursuing vehicle when the steel bumper is installed. Of course, you won’t be doing PITs with your Tacoma, but this improved durability will be useful to you when driving through rough terrain, where there’s a risk of collisions with rocks, trees, and other obstacles. In case of impacts at higher speeds, the steel bumper is also useful, as it distributes and absorbs the force of the impact, thus preventing unwanted damage.

Increased Versatility

The steel craft bumpers come with precut holes, which can serve as mounting points for additional equipment. Standard bumpers almost never have this option. This way, you can mount a winch or extra lights on your car without having to irreversibly modify the factory bumper. Especially the winch is very important to have in rough terrain as you can use it to recover your or other vehicles when stuck, and there are many other cases where a winch can be useful.

Aesthetics and Customization Options

Fitting your truck with a steel bumper can make it stand out from the rest of factory unmodified vehicles and make the looks more aggressive and bold. As there are many aftermarket bumpers in various styles available, there’s a lot of room for customization too. This concerns not only bumper colors and shapes but also the accessories that you can fit on the bumpers, such as D-ring mounts, light bars, and winches, as described above.

The Cons of Steel Bumpers

As with most things in life, you’ll be making certain compromises by installing a steel bumper.

Increased Weight

One of the most obvious disadvantages of steel bumpers is their weight. They have to be made of dense and sturdy gauge metal so they don’t deform easily, which prevents the use of some of the more lightweight metals or plastic. This might be an issue if you often haul heavy loads and your standard suspension might not be ready for the added weight. As an alternative, you might get an aluminum bumper frame but those are not nearly as rigid.

Worse Aerodynamics

Where you’ll also notice the disadvantage of steel bumpers is fuel consumption and noise levels. The bumper worsens the aerodynamics of the truck, which you’ll notice especially at higher speeds. Not only will it be noisier in the cabin, but fuel efficiency will also take a hit.

Legality and Regulations

Depending on where you live, aftermarket steel bumpers may not comply with local regulations or safety standards. You’ll need to do your own research on this prior to installing the bumper. Of course, these sturdy bumpers can be a big help in certain situations, but you’ll have to decide whether that’s worth the possible trouble with the law.

Difficulties with Installation

Depending on the specific bumper you get, you should keep in mind that installing it may require modifications to the original bumper or the vehicle’s frame. This makes the process of fitting the aftermarket bumper more complex and time-consuming but in most cases, no major modifications are needed.

Wide Selection of Tacoma Bumpers

If you could benefit from a steel bumper on your Tacoma, pick one for yourself from what we offer. We have a wide range of bumpers and other aftermarket accessories to choose from, whether it's for a Toyota Tacoma or any other off-roader. With our sales techs, we’re happy to help you make the right purchase, and answer any additional questions you might have.