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[Samson]

Prerunner Bars: A prerunner bar is a type of front bumper that offers a steeper approach angle, better underside and body protection, and more options for high-intensity lighting. Prerunner bars designed for real-world use incorporate a skid plate that angles under the vehicle. This helps you roll over obstacles without getting damaged or hung up. I design and build my bars to function exceptionally well offroad and look terrific on any terrain...even concrete!

In my personal experience, I've found that my prerunner bars, while built to my philosophy that form must follow function, do double duty. Besides being essential to improving your offroad experience, (I'll get to that in a minute) a well-made prerunner bar can be as much about attitude as it is about functionality. A tube-steel front bumper with a tough skidplate and a row of "I Mean Business" offroad lights mounted to it goes a long way in clearing slow traffic out of the fast lane! Maybe the improved ground clearance gives lesser vehicles the impression that they'd better scram or be overtaken...I don't know. What I do know is that you'll appreciate the added benefit of negotiating traffic with one of my bumpers bolted to your truck.

Having said that, there are several equally important tasks that I think a functional prerunner bar must accomplish, and I've designed and built mine with these things in mind.

Protection: You may be thinking, "Here we go again!" but I've got to say that the idea of paying for a low-quality prerunner-look bumper that requires you to drill mounting holes in your stock bumper or stock sheet metal is ridiculous. A good prerunner bar should
bumper
undercarriage
radiator
skid plate replaceability, thickness, material, placement.

Ground Clearance:
approach angle
Lighting: Powerful lighting is a huge benefit when driving at night, particularly in the deserts and sand dunes in Southern California or in the deep dark of Baja where wandering cattle cross road and trail alike. I can't imagine a better way to ruin a road trip than to hit a cow at 50 MPH, unless it's pitching your truck headfirst into a witch's eye (a sudden pit in the sand dunes) at high speed.


Good lighting can light up your surroundings almost like daylight and can help to greatly reduce the risks of mishap.

Having said that, using high-intensity lights that are not securely mounted to something solid will drive you crazy in no time. If a light is bolted to plastic body moulding, sheetmetal or directly to a stock bumper (which is essentially made of sheetmetal itself) vibrations transmitted from the road through the vehicle will cause the light to bounce up and down until you'll feel as bug-eyed as a cockroach. You can't imagine how bad the vibration effect can be on a section of washboard road. And don't forget that the effects of vibration are multiplied the further out your lights illuminate.

I've designed a prerunner bar system for the Toyota Tacoma that bolts directly to the frame (no welding needed) and is strong enough to rock the whole truck. Click here for an endorsement and demonstration video from a friend and client.

not block stock lights
looks:
light weight
slide over obstacles
accessibility to stock tow hooks and loops