[RoundOut]

Originally Posted by mrfussy

I've been looking at Road Armor for a long time, as they seemed to make the coolest looking product out there. The only thing I wonder is about the airbag compatibility.

I'd much prefer an ARB since they seem to have it together more in their marketing and history of owners (just my impression), but they don't make the Bull bars deluxe series by ARB for Tundra's!

The whole airbag concern is pretty much a non-issue. The air bags deploy when a special switch (no where near your bumper) triggers the explosive charge in the air bag. The switch uses specially designed springs that keep a little circuit-closing bearing away from its contact. When a sufficient impact is felt, the inertia in the bearing compresses the spring and makes contact with the switch, closing the circuit and firing the air bag.

Air bag deployment is NOT affected by one's bumper design, unless one wants to argue that the stronger bumpers would cause an air bag to deploy slightly more readily, as the factory bumper may absorb just enough more energy than a stiffer aftermarket bumper, such as the ARB, Tough Country or Road Armour, such that an impact may not trigger the air bag. I bet that line is a pretty fine one, though.

ARB has a crumple-zone feature in their bumper, which in my opinion, weakens the bumper somewhat, if used as a mounting point for a winch, which is often the case. ARB advertises that the bumper is compatible with air bag systems (I am not certain that this is their exact claim, but it is something like that), and to my knowledge, no other aftermarket bumper manufacturer makes that claim in writing. In my opinion, it is a matter of having the resources to test vehicles for air bag deployment upon impact, or the stones to recognize that there is really no difference and publish it as such.