2013 Land Cruiser ARB Front Bumper Install

No truck is complete without a true front bumper, because while they provide excellent protection on the trail, good recovery points, and a safe place to mount a winch, they also look damn good. 

Off the shelf front bumper options for the 200 Series Land Cruiser are currently limited to ARB and TJM. Both bumpers are quality units with the main difference being product availability. At the time ARB was more than happy to discuss the bumper with me and had units in stock ready to ship, TJM on the other hand failed to return calls and emails. That alone made choosing the ARB Bumper and easy choice, but I also valued the airbag compatibility and the look of the bumper.

Since I was installing a bumper I also wanted to make sure I included a quality winch so I ordered a Warn M12000. Some 200 Series owners say a 9,500 lb winch is more than enough for our fat pigs trucks, but I wasn’t going to take any chances and no one ever complained about having too much winch. I also ordered the ARB fog light kits, and I’m going to tell you now to save your money. The lights are not very bright, and mine failed numerous times over the year that I had them installed.

The bumper showed up packed very well from ARB but unfortunately I was extremely disappointed when I opened the package and inspected the bumper closely. The entire bumper was powder coated perfectly, and there wasn’t a scratch on the bumper, but the inside of both hoops were clearly coated in surface rust. I know that it’s impossible to powder coat the entire inside of the tube, but not even making an attempt is pretty piss poor if you ask me. We ended up using a wire brush to remove as much of the rust as we could and used some rattle can to prevent any future rust.

Installing the ARB bumper is pretty straight forward thanks to their great directions, the other plus is they have excellent tech support that’s available via phone.

First you’ll have to remove the front bumper, and make cuts using ARB’s template and measurements. By cutting the bumper you are able to retain the headlight washers; ARB also supplies pinch weld to clean up the edge after you mount the top portion of the OEM bumper back onto the rig resulting in a clean OEM look.

Installing the winch was a breeze, lifting the bumper after attaching the winch was not. It’s definitely a 3 man job, add some jacks and you’ll thank me later. Once you get the bumper mounted, you can install the light pods and cut the fender liner to be even with the bumper.

Then you just bolt up the skid plates and spool the winch. I chose to use a synthetic line, if you decide to do the same you’ll need to purchase an offset Hawse fairlead because all of the ARB bumpers are designed to use a traditional roller fairlead and steel cable.

Here’s the finished product:

Some Notes:

If you do decided to order the ARB bumper, you should know that you’ll have to remove their skid plate every time you change the oil. It’s not difficult, it’s just time consuming and you would think they would have been able to design around this and include an access panel.

Afterthoughts:

I’ve been extremely happy with my ARB bumper, I’ve used it extensively during the Vermont Overland Trophy, most notably when I hit a tree during an uphill climb. The bumper still looks as good as the day that I installed it, and I wouldn’t hesitate the make the purchase again.

Also I’ve since installed a set of custom Rigid light pods to replace my ARB fog lights, these were designed and built by the crew of Main Line Overland and I’ll be posting about them in the near future.