DIY: Remove bumper end caps /// bumper removal 1st gen

So since there wasnt really anything out there besides "just remove some bolts" I figured i would make up something

I wanted to paint my CHROME bumper end caps and didnt know how to get them off so took off the whole bumper which is pretty much required.


Tools needed:

Flat head screwdriver
10mm socket
14mm socket
6" extension

Time: 15min-1hr

The bumper is pretty basic, i have a 2000 Tacoma but 1st gens should be pretty much similar

There are four clips/bolts on each side
This is what is taken off of each side


In front of the tire pull out the clip directly in front, you have to reach up on the back side and twist it out, this will allow you to access to a 10mm nut/washer combo you have to pull
(no picture of this but next step will let you figure it out, if you can just pull the splash guard enough to take off the 10mm bolt in next step then you can skip this step)

Remove the 10mm nut/washer, this points straight up and down, its on the outside edge of the bumper


Next underneath the bumper there are 2 clips that you need to pull out with a flat head screw driver, they point straight to the ground and are holding the bumper extenders in place


Then the easy part, remove the 14mm bolts, 2 on each side attached to the frame.


Then just jiggle it off.



Bumper end cover removal


With the bumper off now there are a few 10mm bolts/screws to remove, there is a metal guard on the outside held on by 3 of them, once you get the guard off there will be a 10mm bolt that actually attaches to the bumper end piece





This frees the "big side"

Now on the other end you need to take off the three 10mm bolts



After this, press in the "tabs" on the bumper end and it should just fall out with a little effort

Im in the process of painting them so i will post some more pictures when they are availiable....

 

Here is some more pictures, for paint i used Krylon black with clearcoats for the grille (which i need to paint because i missed a spot) and i used Duplicolor bed spray for the bumper ends (couldnt get the krylon to stick well to the chrome)

 

Before and after of front end

 

Looks great bro! Awesome Write up!

 

Very nice man look alot better.

 

That looks sooo much better. Great job.

 

Thanks guys, im loving it!
Actually got a compliment while getting gas after work today on how "nice" the truck looked

Now i just got to "fix" the rear bumper

 

looks nice man!

 

That does look nice, I want to do some painting on my front bumper was it much of a job getting it removed from the truck?

 

This looks amazing! Makes me wanna color match might front end

 

I need to replace my rear bumper but am automotively retarded, so if you could do the same thing for the rear or point me to somewhere that breaks it down that would be awesome. Truck does look better.

 

That looks a lot better than the chrome. Good job!

 

The rear bumper is similar, actually easier. Just peek in there and you should see which bolts to remove - there are brackets that bolt to the frame. The difficult part is to get rusted bolts to release. (They will all be real easy to get out and then you will get to that last one; always the last one that will not come loose - )

 

Looks cleen man. Before and After pic is awesome... always wanted to see those two together.

 

Awesome write up! I'll be saving this thread for the summer when it gets a bit warmer around here for spray painting my chrome and bumper grill + emblem

 

A valuable old post and perfect for my 1st Gen!! I've been wanting to paint the chrome pieces on the bumper lately. Thanks for this awesome write up!

 

Thank you!
I am glad it still reaches enthusiast out there, cant believe this was 9 years ago, time flys

 

LOL!! My '99 1st Gen is still going strong (bought new). Time is definitely flying.

 

I did quite a lot of research on how to remove these chrome bumper caps and this was the only write up I could find. I put it off thinking that I did have to take off the entire front bumper. However, I was working under the truck on some accessory lights and just started looking around decided to give it a try. I can confirm that you do not need to remove the entire bumper. However, it's a pain regardless because of a single inaccessable bolt and I probably spent 1.5 hours on removing them. Part of that time was removing bolts unrelated to the chrome caps that I thought were, and also dealing with rusty bolts.

The main issue is this bracket (top) that covers the bolt (bottom). You can see the 2 U-shaped threads to the left of the bolt, which is where the bracket attaches. Simply remove or loosen those bolts, and the one holding the cap on will be much easier to get to.



And here's proof it can be done with the bumper on. Note that only 4 bolts are holding the cap on directly. My caps had lots of flaky rust. They are surprisingly heavy. Oh, and the truck looks ugly af without them on.

 

Thanks for posting this it was helpful. Looks way better with the chrome blacked out.