ARB Sahara Bumper and Bull Bar for the Toyota Tundra
Jason Lancaster | Dec 17, 2008 | Comments 12
ARB announced a new “modular” Sahara bumper bull-bar combo unit for the 2007-and-up Toyota Tundra just after Thanksgiving, and we completely missed the announcement (until now). ARB, for anyone who doesn’t know, is an Australian company with a (deserved) reputation for building top-quality off road gear. They’re especially well-known for their solid steel winch bumpers that offer a great mounting surface for a winch, Hi-Lift jacking points, and enough steel to blast thru almost any obstacle.
The new Sahara bar offers a chrome hoop top bar that installs above the bumper. The idea is that the grill and hood (and the radiator underneath) aren’t quite protected by the solid steel bumper, so adding the hoop bar is a way to protect some more of the truck’s vitals. Of course the hoop bar looks pretty good, so that’s another reason to consider it.
The Sahara Bar from ARB is now available on the 2007 and up Toyota Tundra. You can find them at 4WheelParts.com.
ARB emphasized the “modular” nature of the new Sahara bar – you can buy the bumper and the hoop bar separate. While this might seem like an added value to ARB, to us it seems like the two should be available separately anyways.
Solid steel bumpers that can mount a winch are necessary for work-truck applications, but they’re quite useful off-road as well.
The hoop bar has a clever feature worth mentioning. Because the Tundra’s grill is attached to the hood, when the hood is opened, there’s not quite enough clearance for the grill to clear the hoop (see photos below). ARB solved this little problem by building a release latch into the hoop that allows the hoop to pivot forward as needed.
In order to accommodate the Tundra’s grill-hood combo, the bull bar pivots out of the way when you engage a release. This allows the bull bar to maintain a high mounting angle, maximizing the protection it provides.
The bull bar and bumper combo is airbag compatible and it comes in a standard ARB grey finish that you can easily paint to match your Tundra. At more than $1300 for the bumper and $450 for the bar and mounting brackets, the ARB Sahara bar ain’t cheap. Still, if you’re looking to build a top-notch off-road machine, or if you need a solid steel bumper that can mount a mean winch for work duty, the ARB Sahara is a solid choice (pun intended).
Filed Under: Toyota Tundra Accessories
geez.. fugly.
How does the weight of the bumper and winch affect warrantee issues for the front end?
Paul – Great question. ARB offers a version of their “Old Man Emu” suspension with heavy-duty front springs that can support a winch and the bumper on a permanent basis. The bumper itself is fine for the suspension – no problem. The winch on the other hand will depend – if it’s some sort of HD hydraulic monster, it makes sense to get some new front springs. As far as vehicle warranty is concerned, it will have no effect. The new bumper can’t hurt anything (except the airbag sensors, but only if they’re installed wrong), and the winch is the same (again, unless you go really big, but then you’re going to add a second battery and/or a bigger alternator). The only suspension part that will wear prematurely is the stock shock absorbers, but those aren’t covered anyways. FYI, a coil-over front-end lift kit would also compensate for the bumper.
Although i would put it on my truck, i kinda like it. Agressive looking…
^^^^^ Correction, Although i would NOT put it on my truck. I like it, aggressive looking…
I’m not crazy about the bumper but the bull bar is intresting.
I have a question. Will the new bumper incorperate the sonar system that I have on my 2008 Tundra, or does that go away with the winch?
Mike – Sorry – I didn’t include that info in this article. The ARB bumpers are compatible with the installed sonar system – check out this featured truck for an example: https://www.tundraheadquarters.com/blog/2008/03/18/stevinsons-prize-winning-lifted-tundra/
You see the sensors on each corner?
Hey thats sweet can ya fit it to a lux? new shape ’05 model?
I have a ’05 hilux 3.0L SR. that grill liftin up with the bonnet is sweet. would the bullbar fit my lux?
Ben – ARB is an Aussie company, and the Hilux is available in Australia, so I think chances are very good one is available for your truck.
Sweet i shall look into it man.. cant wait. you think ill be able to get that grill-hood thing too? if not ill jus make it mork. haha