Choosing the Right Bumper

When we decided it was time to retire our old front bumper, we looked to All Pro Off-Road. All Pro specializes in rockcrawling Toyota equipment and knows how to build stuff that will take the abuse. As far as bumpers go, All Pro offers both front and rear tube bumpers, featuring simple, yet effective designs. We chose their “Style #2” front bumper. This bumper is available in either a single main, front tube or in a double tube design. The All-Pro bumper fits high and close to the vehicle, offering better approach angles and is constructed of 1 1/2-inch, .120-inch thick tubing. One benefit of the tube bumper is the open design, allowing easy access to a winch and cables. The winch is highly visible, providing a full view of the cable or line as it spools. The bumper will accept Warn winches, series 5000-9500, and is built to handle even the hardest side-pulls.

Upgrading the Winch Cable

As we disassembled our old bumper and winch configuration, we realized that the bumper was not the only thing due for retirement. The winch cable on our Warn M8000 winch was looking kind of tattered as well. This is not something you want to fail on the trail. The cable was kinked and frayed and could present a dangerous situation if called upon. Once again we looked to All Pro Off-Road. Jon Bundrant, the Owner, was last year’s professional rock-crawling champion and knows a thing or two about winching. All of the professional rockcrawlers are using the relatively new synthetic winch lines in competition and All-Pro Off-Road offers just that. The Master Pull Superline synthetic winch line was chosen as it is rated at 16,500 lbs. and is considerably lighter than a steel cable. Our 100-foot, 5/16-inch line with included hook weighs in at only 6-pounds and the line will even float on water. Made from Dynex synthetic fiber, this line will not kink or fray, providing many more pulls than the conventional steel cable. Synthetic winch lines will not work with the current roller fairlead that our Toyota sports, so we chose to use the custom Hawse-style fairlead, available from All-Pro as well. This billet aluminum fairlead is designed especially for synthetic winch lines, featuring a smooth, machined surface for the line to pass through without damage.

Installation Process

With our new front bumper in hand, we headed to Cross Enterprises to have owner Mike Cross work his magic with the install. Cross’s claim to fame is his early Bronco equipment, specifically bumpers. While the All-Pro front bumper is a simple installation, we decided to let Mike Cross get creative and make additions and alterations as he desired. First off, Cross modified the lower mounting brackets to provide for the removability of the bumper. The bumper is designed to be welded to the front crossmember, but with a little work, the bumper is now bolt-on. A little more creativity and the bumper had some unique character and added protection with an upper tube over the winch. Once the fabrication was done and the fit was correct, the bumper was sent off to be powder coated and upon return was ready for final installation. Bolting the bumper on was a breeze, and we were ready for the winch. Installing the winch was easy as well with the open tube design. With the winch on, the Master Pull line was spooled on, and this rig was ready for more bashing and thrashing.