ARB Bull Bar Install

74cruzah · 2025-05-05T10:58:24-0500

I've installed ARB bull bars on just about every US spec Land Cruiser from my 74 FJ40 to a 200 Series. I was able to get one of the first bumpers that arrived in the US a couple of weeks ago and tackled the installation over the weekend. This thing is the best engineered ARB bumper that I've had, but the installation is not for the faint of heart. I think it took me about 14 hours to get it done. Lots of problem solving throughout the process.

There's still some finishing touches that I'll take care of in the upcoming weekends (wiring up the winch, straightening out the flares, replacing the brown sensors with black, etc.). The factory suspension is weighed down by the extra 250 pounds, but that will be remedied when OME's HD suspension is available.

brap · 2025-05-05T11:16:51-0500

This looks great. The extra weight means you have to upgrade to stiffer springs in the front? Could you explain what you had to do installation wise? 14 hours sounds like a dealbreaker to me, haha.

chris_in_phx · 2025-05-05T11:20:08-0500

74cruzah said:
I've installed ARB bull bars on just about every US spec Land Cruiser from my 74 FJ40 to a 200 Series. I was able to get one of the first bumpers that arrived in the US a couple of weeks ago and tackled the installation over the weekend. This thing is the best engineered ARB bumper that I've had, but the installation is not for the faint of heart. I think it took me about 14 hours to get it done. Lots of problem solving throughout the process.

There's still some finishing touches that I'll take care of in the upcoming weekends (wiring up the winch, straightening out the flares, etc.). The factory suspension is weighed down by the extra 250 pounds, but that will be remedied when OME's HD suspension is available.
View attachment 35826

Love this. Very cool. Let us know how the OME’s turn out

74cruzah · 2025-05-05T11:22:09-0500

brap said:
This looks great. The extra weight beans you have to upgrade to stiffer springs in the front? Could you explain what you had to do installation wise? 14 hours sounds like a dealbreaker to me, haha.

Exactly. The extra weight requires heavier duty springs to maintain a good ride and safe handling.

Going into the procedure would take a while. The instruction manual is 41 pages long and each page has 3-4 steps. I usually push people to DIY, but in this case I'd probably recommend paying a pro to do it. A professional mechanic might be able to shave a bit of time off of my benchmark, but I'm guessing not a lot. If I were to do it again I'm betting that I could do it in 10 hours.

brap · 2025-05-05T11:25:12-0500

74cruzah said:
Exactly. The extra weight requires heavier duty springs to maintain a good ride and safe handling.

Going into the procedure would take a while. The instruction manual is 41 pages long and each page has 3-4 steps. I usually push people to DIY, but in this case I'd probably recommend paying a pro to do it. A professional mechanic might be able to shave a bit of time off of my benchmark, but I'm guessing not a lot. If I were to do it again I'm betting that I could do it in 10 hours.

Was there a lot of cutting of the OEM bumper/trim or was it mainly removal and then installation of the bumper? Do you have a pdf of the manual?

74cruzah · 2025-05-05T11:34:36-0500

brap said:
Was there a lot of cutting of the OEM bumper/trim or was it mainly removal and then installation of the bumper? Do you have a pdf of the manual?

I was hoping that it would be a matter of simply removing the side panels, but there is cutting of the side panels and the panel directly under the grille. The bumper does cover up a lot, so you'll likely be okay if you don't make perfect cuts. The biggest thing is that there are wire harnesses attached to the panels that you're cutting. It would be super easy to cut them.

I only have the hard copy of the instructions. I don't think that ARB has released a pdf yet.