ARB Summit - the install journey

I’m starting this thread to document my install of the ARB Summit bumper for the gen 2.5 trucks. There seems to be no shortage of questions about installing this bumper, and few answers. I’ll be documenting my steps with pics. Warning: I’m just an amateur, so your mileage may vary.

How did I settle on the ARB? Mid November I hit an open range steer…



I decided after that experience I needed some protection. Oregon leads the country in deer strikes, and I’ve personally hit 5 over the last decade. Just not with this truck.

There are lots of bumper options for these trucks. However, due to the height of the grill the majority leave the headlights and grill exposed, as even full hoops leave giant holes for animals to get into. Most are also fitted very close the front end.

I decided to use the ARB Summit as it offered the most protection and the shape of it would more likely push deer under rather than straight through minimizing the energy transfer to the truck. The crumple zones built into the brackets should minimize the risk of frame damage as well, more so than even the stock bumper. It’s clear based on the trimming required that ARB designed this bumper to offer the maximum protection rather than the best fit.

Right now, my truck is mostly repaired. My body shop was not comfortable with trimming the grill and fender extensions so I had them forgo the OE bumper parts. The positive is I get some cash out of this.



I was quoted $1600 by a local “overland” shop to install the Summit. After thoroughly reviewing the instructions, I am confident I can install it. I’m nervous about trimming, but I think it’ll turn out fine using an oscillating multi tool.

I have the bumper in hand. Over the next couple weeks I’ll be getting it done and posting progress pics. Going to fit the bumper before I trim the grill to confirm a few things. Fortunately the bumper alone isn’t that heavy and we can easily move it around.

If anyone has any tips to share, I’d love to hear them. I figure I’ll be making some things up as I go since ARB’s instructions blow.

More to follow. The only delay will be weather as I don’t have a garage.

 

These might help:
https://www.tundras.com/threads/arb-summit-bumper-is-awesome-but-a-pain-to-install.62222/

https://www.tundras.com/threads/need-help-installing-arb-summit-bumper.151894/

 

Not having to deal with the OEM bumper has saved a lot of time. Winter sucks so I’ve been doing a little work here and there between the weather.

Installed the bumper brackets and trimmed the driver side fender extension.



First, you definitely need to cut more than the template shows. Not a big deal as this area is covered by the bumper.

I decided to trim the fender extension by hand. What I did was scribe the curve with a box knife and made the straight line cuts with a keyhole saw leaving about 1/2” from the curved line. I then made multiple cuts perpendicular to the curved line on that 1/2” section and simply snapped the pieces out resulting in the perfect curve. It’s not pretty, but that’s what the trim is for. As long as the curve is right, it looks good covered in trim. I’m not confident cutting curves with power tools yet.

Regarding the clevis nuts there are posts about the instructions being wrong and also needing to grind the nuts. The instructions are correct, but I think people are misreading them.

You need to insert the clevis nut from the INSIDE of the frame rail with the threaded end first. If you do that, the nuts fit perfect. This is how the instructions say to do it.

I ran into a snag on the passenger side fender extension. The body shop did a really good job for the most part. All of the parts are OEM Toyota and finished nicely. The passenger fender extension is a cheap aftermarket part and the paint job is horrible and already peeling. I’ll need to get it replaced. Might just install everything else for now and deal with it later so my truck isn’t down.

 

Got the grill trimmed. It was super easy with my new M12 multi tool. I did cut the center section a smidge narrower than the instructions said to do. Basically made the 35mm vertical cuts just inboard of the grill mounting clips to keep them intact. The instructions would have you cut them almost in half. For the center clip, I braced it with a piece of ABS JB welded inside.

 

Here’s where we are now… more to follow



Did some more work on it after getting the replacement fender extension panel back and cut. Assembled all the trim pieces on the bumper and got it mounted. I maybe have 6 hours into the install so far, with a lot of that working at my own pace messing with stuff in between.

One thing I've noticed, is while the instructions will refer to a bolt the best practice is to go to the parts list in the front and ensure that's the correct bolt or screw. For example, on the winch cover plate they said to use hex bolts when it came with allen screws for it.

Additionally, on page 10 section 30 it mentions fitting a pinch weld. There's no pinch weld to fit. Best I can tell they either meant trim the fender liner (you just trim it a bit) or this was copy/pasta from another application.

As far as hanging the bumper, I just dead lifted it on the brackets. From there I had my wife hold it against the brackets while I pressed up on the bumper from below so get the bolt holes lined up. It was pretty easy.

Now, the biggest challenge I ran into so far is for whatever reason my bumper brackets are a little close together, could almost use a couple more 2.5mm packers to make it fit better. I think I can squeeze a little more adjustment out of the driver size. Loosening the bumper brackets on the frame of the truck, with the bumper installed, seems to work okay for making these adjustments.

I'm going to run Diode Dynamics SSC2 Pro Fogs in the turn signal holes using Paranoid Fabrications brackets. Should have the brackets tomorrow. I'll be using DD's harness and connecting them to factory fog harness. Eventually I'll get some SS3 Max Driving Lights for the ARB fog pockets, but for now I'll just use the filler.

Regarding the SSC2s, I ordered them from @memario1214 (Hotshot Offroad). Highly recommend Hotshot Offroad. Colton called me to confirm what I needed (I ordered the wrong wiring harness) and got me squared away.

 

I'll get some updated pics soon. Since my last post, had to remove the bumper and move one of the shims from the passenger side to the driver side to even it out side to side.

One thing I did not do was pin the bumper. ARB suggests in their instructions to drill through a hole in the bumper into the bumper bracket to make realignment easier. I pondered it, and decided all that did was create extra work. Once the bumper is on the brackets with the bolts loose it's pretty easy to adjust it.

Received the Paranoid fabrication brackets for the SSC2 lights. These brackets mount in the turn signal pockets are made out of stainless steel. They are bit frustrating to install with the bumper on the truck. Due to how tight it is, I ended up using a small 1/4 bit ratchet with PH1 bit. If you are installing the brackets and lights with the bumper on the truck, I would recommend mount the light to the bracket and getting the hardware on the light tight with the light as far back on the bracket as possible. You can still adjust it by hand (it's stiff), but tightening the hardware up with the brackets on the truck sucks.

I lost one of the nylon nuts for the turn signal mounting pockets. I took a nut to Napa and found part 6651313, which is for a #8 or #6 screw. I think the ARB nuts are 6mm where these are 1/4" so they are slightly bigger and slightly longer. They fit tight, but not too tight. I ended up using the Napa nylon nuts for all 4 mounting points.

 

Forgot to add a comment on suspension. I currently have stock coils installed Eibach Pro Truck shocks set to 1.9" and a 1" block in the rear on stock leaf springs. I've put about 40 miles on the truck since hanging the bumper, believe I lost about a half inch of ride height. Driveability is still good, the stock springs and Eibachs are handling the weight without excessive nose dive or bounce. To be honest, if I didn't already have the full OME setup in hand I'd probably just run this for a while before upgrading. Lesson learned.

Wheelers had a pretty good deal on Black Friday for the full Old Man Emu kit. I got the full kit with leaf springs, assembled coil overs, and shackles for $1600 delivered. It took Wheelers over a month to ship, but I wasn't in a hurry and the price was the best I could find. I settled on 2614 springs as I knew the Dakar leaf springs will settle a bit and I wanted to keep some rake for towing. I'm hoping to get the fronts in next week and will post measurements then.

 

The bumper looks great! It will definitely hand a deer strike better than the oem bumper. I also live in oregon (the wet NW side). LOTS of deer strikes over here as well. My buddy and i have both been taken out by deer while on our motorcycles (separate instances). I live out in a rural area and i see deer just about every morning. So much so that i drive extra slow in mornings on the back roads (about 40mph instead of 60mph).

Any plans of installing a winch as well? I just finished up installing a 2nd gen Tacoma ARB bumper on my 1st gen tundra. I definitely feel that my truck’s grill area is a lot more safe now.

And as for “pinning” your front bumper, i would highly recommend to heed ARB’s advice on that. It will make your bumper way more secure in an event where the bumper is actually needed. It will keep the main bumper from rotating on the brackets. Yes it’s more work, and a pain for sure, but definitely worth it.

 

Decided to give the pinning a shot. Realized my 18v Makita was too big to drill the bottom hole, so I ordered an M12 brushless drill. Hopefully that'll be small enough to get in there.

 

I had to use a couple different 90 degree drills to do mine. Then again, my ARB bumper was more of a custom install, so i ended up drilling 12 holes on each side (for a grand total of 24 total holes. 6 holes through each side on the bumper, and an additional 6 holes on each side though the bracket). It definitely wasn’t a glamorous job, but it was just one of those things that i had to make happed.

 

I almost resorted to a 90 degree drill, then it dawned on me I can drill it from the winch side of the brackets once I get a pilot hole drilled for pinning bolts. I don't have a winch (yet). I drilled those out with the M12 brushless drill, just used a 1/8" drill bit.

I have to say, the M12 drill is pretty freaking sweet. It has the same specs as my basic brushless 18v LXT Makita drill, but it is much smaller. It feels more powerful, or at least it doesn't get as bogged down. I received one of the new Red Lithium High Output 2.5 batteries as a promo on a different tool. This little battery lets the drill run the same as if it has one of the larger XC batteries on it. Obviously doesn't last as long, but sure makes for a compact setup.

Still waiting on my 10.5mm bits to finish the pinning.

I ordered a set of Diode Dynamics SS3 Pro driving lights to go in the ARB fog light pockets. They'll be mounted in the Paranoid Fabrication brackets. My goal is to trigger the relay on the high beam circuit, but I'm not sure if that'll work. I don't plan to add any additional lighting and want to keep this simple.

When I wired the SSC2 fog lights up, I hooked the amber backlight up to an add a fuse in the DRL circuit. This resulted in the backlights being on all the time. I think this is because the DRL switch is on a ground and the DRL circuit is always hot. Need to test the high beam circuit and see if this is also the case. For now the backlight function on the SSC2's are on the accessory circuit so they are lit up when the truck is on, but it looks good and I run around with DRLs on all the time anyways.

 

I also used an 18v makita LXT drill. It is a bit on the large side. I used a small corded 3/8” makita 90 degree drill for the tight areas. It doesn’t have a whole lot of torque (especially for being a 120v), but it has come in VERY handy over the years.

 

Got the pinning bolts in! Very easy to drill from the winch side of things once you have a small pilot hole from the outside. Buttoned up the stone shield today as well. It's almost done! Just need to install the wing panels on the bumper.



For the license plate, I used this bracket from Amazon. The bracket does two things. First it allows you to adjust the height of the license plate so it's not hanging low. Second, it keeps the plate from rattling and getting bent. Obviously I have a big hole where the winch fairlead would go, but it'll be a while before I get there.

As of now I just have the fog light filler panels installed until my SS3s come in.

In one of the previous threads, I asked if there was a reason for the bumper angle cuts. Perhaps with the ARB halogen fogs there is, but looking at it now that everything is installed I would only cut enough of the grill to clear the bumper brackets and a winch. The Paranoid Fabrication SS3 brackets will put the entire light assembly inside the fog light housing and there's plenty of room between the housing and grill.



I had to touch up a couple places on the bumper that were dinged in shipping. The Integrit is pretty darn tough, only places that had dings were the sharp corners near the mounting brackets. Rustoleum flat black matches perfectly. I bought a small can (not the spray sort) and used a tiny brush fix the chips in the powder coat.

 

Best looking bumper on the market

 

Thanks for all the photos! Probably the best resource for installing these bumpers, far better than the ARB provided instructions.

I'm not too happy with how hi my OME suspension sits currently, might shop around for something less aggressive in height.

 

I used this adapter to plug into the supplied foglights so I didn't have to cut the factory harness.

$8 iJDMTOY Pair H11/H8 (Male) to 9006/HB4 (Female) Converter Adapter Socket Wiring Harness Kit

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ESLBRU4?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title