Shrockworks front bumper arrived!

I had an excellent experience with a Shrockworks front bumper, sliders, and skidplates on my '98 4runner, so I didn't hesitate to pull the trigger when I got my '15 Tundra and saw Shrockworks had bumpers for this gen!

https://www.shrockworks.com/TTUN-FBPR-pr-16288.html

Believe it or not I ordered in late June 2021, and it finally arrived today, Feb 3rd, 2022. They originally quoted 4 month lead time. Needless to say they underestimated a bit.

I got bare metal for my 4runner and went through the sanding, priming, and painting myself. After that I said "if I do this again, I'm paying to get it powder coated!"

So I got it powder coated black, which matches my black Tundra just fine.

Here's what it looked like when I received it. They went ALMOST all out in packaging and securing it. The box is 250lbs! I'm hoping my Pro front suspension can handle it without having to adjust anything! I have a cap coming for the back soon that will hopefully offset any front squat as well.



As you can see, they built a wooden box on a custom wooden pallet, and covered it with cardboard.

The cardboard is secured with a multitude of way-too-large staples, in three places on each side secured to the wood, with 4-6 staples on each piece. To open without destroying the cardboard required removing them with a hammer, a flat head screwdriver, and/or pliers.



Here are the goods:



As you can see, the bumper is bolted to the pallet. The lightbar is bubble wrapped to the top (I guess I have to bolt it on when I'm ready). Parts and instructions are securely wrapped in one of the corners.

There are wooden support braces across the top (not shown) connecting the far corners, like the middle one you see here. You can also see the huge staples poking through the wood.

Here's where they could have done slightly more to secure it. One one side there is some bulge on the box:



Inside they didn't put bubble wrap around the corners where they could have/should have. It probably didn't affect my powder coat, but I won't know until I open it.



The spots are dust, not markings on the coating.

My brother and I will be installing it sometime in the hopefully near future. If it's anything like the bumper for the 4runner, there will probably be a millimeter or two clearance to attach it, and it'll be like it was part of the truck all along.

We're likely going to use a lift of some sort to get it in place while securing it. Lifting 230lbs (probably 20lbs of packing?) with two men is one thing. Lifting and securing with precise installation is something else entirely!

Will post more on the install when that time comes.

 

That looks like a beefy SOB. thats twice the weight of my ironman bumper and that thing is pretty stout.

 

Also, Shrockworks has a policy where you can pay 50% up front, then the remaining 50% when they are ready to ship. That makes it easier to afford!

 

Yeah. If I had known how heavy it was beforehand I may not have got it. Here's hoping my Pro suspension is up to it!

 

Pics of it installed please.

 

Im sure it can handle it no problem, but you may get a tiny bit of sag possibly. You could add some shims to compensate. I didnt notice any sag on my stock suspension with my ironman and winch which was slightly more than 110 pounds more than the stock bumper.

 

Always liked Shrockworks!
To install, wrap a strap around a 2x4 block about 36" long. Then use 3 1/2" or 4" deck screws to screw the 2x4 to the header that is behind the sheetrock above your garage door. Put about 12 screws in that dude! You now have a place to use a couple of ratchet straps to hang the bumper from for install. If you want to go all out, use a 2x6 and 5" 5/16" lag screws to erase any doubt.

 

Pure beef

 

Shrockworks are excellent bumpers and do things more right than most...I have one in my 4th gen 4runner and it's proven its worth through several deer! I'm looking forward to seeing it installed. As much as it is challenging to install, its hard to beat tight tolerances! Here's the 4runner:

 

They are very well made bumpers. Your suspension will be fine. I had no issues with mine with 6112s. It protected my truck from a lot of damage when an Amazon driver pulled out in front of me. I had also had mine bullet lined.

 

Those staples are crazy.

 

Today my uncle and I installed the bumper. The install went with a minor hitch that was solvable.

TL;DR: Perfect fit. It looks like it came with the truck! Two carriage bolt appear to be too short to use a lock washer. Solved by tightening to cave in a large washer, then loosening and reattaching with the lock washer. Instructions for removal were a little vague, probably because it varies by model/trim.

Pics below.


The instructions give good details on how to remove the grill, but after that they get generic. Probably because the details vary from model to model?

I mostly figured it out by finding all the places the bumper was attached. Over all the removal was pretty easy and smooth.

I then moved the fog lights from the old bumper to the new bumper. Shrockworks provided "screw clips" to attach the lights. The clips did NOT line up perfectly with the holes on the light assembly; I was able to secure 3 of the 4 screws for each one, which should be plenty.

I then attached the light bar frame, sans light bar. I'm guessing it didn't come attached as it would make it difficult to add a light bar? I think the light bar would go inside the frame, to protect the lights. Maybe someday I'll add a light bar to see. Anyhow, after the bumper was installed I realized I didn't center the light bar frame. It's one bolt on each side, so easy to adjust. But it wasn't obvious when I was attaching it to the bumper with the bumper laying at an angle.

From there I attached the new bumper brackets (one on each side). At that point I figured out I had to remove the old bumper crush boxes, as the brackets clearly attached to where the crush boxes were attached, and not the the crush boxes themselves. With those out of the way, I was once again impressed by the careful planning and craftsmanship of Shrockworks equipment, as the brackets were perfect, attached to the 4 original studs on the front of the frame where the crush boxes were, plus with a brace arm attaching to the outer side of the frame rail.

Here's what it looked like before I realized the crush boxes had to come off. Notice the little panels missing below the lights. I'm not sure I had to remove them, but it made it easier to access the lights to disconnect the power to them. The grill had to be removed to remove the bumper, but then the grill goes back on before the bumper. You can also see the installation brackets in the bottom right.





From there my uncle and I gently lifted the bumper onto his motorcycle jack, which is PERFECT for this type of installation.



(

$160 VIVOHOME Hydraulic Motorcycle Lift Jack 1500 LBS Capacity Steel ATV Lifts Stand Hoist with Wheels and Handle for Motorcycles, ATVs, Dirt Bikes Red

https://www.amazon.com/VIVOHOME-Hydraulic-Motorcycle-Lift-1500Lb/dp/B0732WP8D9 --- no referral code here, just sharing).

We then rolled it to the front of the truck, lifted it up to the point where the bottom holes lines with the bottom holes of the brackets, put in two bolts finger tight, and from there we could pivot the bumper to the final position with ease.

Once we determined the final position, and tightened down (not torqued) the remaining bolts (3 on each bracket), there were two "lock bolts" to add to each bracket, as the bumper would still pivot each with the bolts tight, despite there being 3 bolts on each side holding it in place. I'm guessing this is to account for model differences from Tundra to Tundra?

The lock bolts had holes on the bumper, but not on the brackets, so I had to drill four holes through quite thick steel. Fortunately I had the bits to handle that. We put the lock bolts in, then worked on figuring out how to attach the bolt to the brace arm of the bracket, that goes on the outer side of the frame rail. Shrockworks provided very hardened carriage bolts for that, but they weren't quite long enough to attach with a lock washer and nut. The hole it uses on the frame rail was not bolt size - it was much bigger (see pic below), and was originally filled with a plastic cap on both sides on the frame rail, which neither of us could figure out why, as there were plenty of other open holes in the frame rail. So the inside of the frame rail has to have a rather large washer, which conveniently caves inward when tightened enough. So after tightening, then loosening, we were able to get the lock washer and nut on, and tighten down.

At that point it was time to torque things down. Shrockworks provided torque specs for all three bolt types, up to 85ft/lbs for the largest bolts securing the bumper to the brackets. That worked as expected, except for the above mentioned carriage bolt on the frame rail. That one just kept going and going and we figured the washer would cave before we hit the 33ft/lb spec, so we stopped when we thought it was good enough.

There wasn't grinding, cutting, or drilling required on the truck side. I could easily go back to stock if I chose to.

Here you can see that brace arm on the side:



You can also see the edge of the bumper sticks out a good 1-1/2 to 2" from the body, about as far as my sliders do, giving a little extra protection.

I did lose a bit of the front wheel well (not cut off), as there's nothing to attach it to now except one bolt on the inside. Makes room for larger tires in the future?

Here's a close up of the bracket from the side:



You can see I was able to keep the original loops (for tie down -- not rescue). You can also see all but one of the bolts securing it: the three in a row vertically, attached to the frame rail where the bumper crush boxes were (there's a fourth on the other side); the three large bolts to attach the bumper to the bracket, and the two smaller "lock" bolts to prevent the bumper from pivoting.

Shrockworks ALWAYS sends extra washers and lock nuts, which can come in handy! This install was no exception.

Final front pic, complete with the crooked light bar:





It looks like it came with the truck!

If I ever do serious off-roading, I'll put some shackles on those rescue points on the front.

I don't see ANY squat on the front, despite it being about 200lbs heavier. (I'd estimate the original aluminum bumper weighs at least 30lbs).

Overall I'm very pleased, again, with Shrockworks craftsmanship. It's worth the wait!

 

Two more notes:

1) I was surprised to find the bumper hoops aren't visible at all from inside the vehicle!

2) The power connector for the fog lights each have an extra electrical "port" on them, with nothing attached to them, about midway up the truck. Anyone have any idea what those are for?

 

Looks good. But why no winch?

 

If there are additional wires, the extra connector might be for sonar parking sensors. Just a swag!

 

Unlikely I'd ever use it. And I didn't really want another 100lbs pulling down the front!

 

I have winches on my Tacoma and Tundra and rarely need them, But when I do....
The old gun proverb: Better to have it and not need it than not have it and need it.