16 Tacoma bumper cap removal

You go under neath the truck and pop the clips off with a flat head screw driver. Take off all the clips and it comes right out. I had to replace one after breaking it. Careful you dont break the clips so you can resuse them. You can buy more clips on Amazon

 

After having done this, I wouldn't call it a bumper. More of a rear end aesthetics piece.
While doing this I found black connector packs on each side. Would those be for the sonar sensors for trucks with them?

 

Not sure, didn't notice this on my SR5 when I removed them - just the black plastic structure underneath.

You just removed the plastic "chrome", correct?

There might be wiring harness but I didn't see it.

 

I know this is an old post, but I will definitely follow your steps to replace my chrome end caps with the black end caps once they arrive. I’m not just going to yank them off like I’ve seen guys do in a couple YouTube videos.

 

There is a metal clip on each cap that you can't get to unless you disassemble the whole thing. Yanking them off works but you can't get those clips on without being able to get to the back of the cap.

 

Yes... that’s exactly why I’ll take my time and do it this way. Thanks for the input.

 

I'm happy someone brought this old thread back up. I wanted to say thanks to the posters here. I changed mine out and couldn't have done it without the information in this thread. Great people here at TW.

While I had mine off I installed a couple Rigid SRM's for backup lights.

 

I can’t get fit my hands in there either. Don’t want to have to remove trailer hitch

 

Plan to do this as soon as the weather warms up. I bashed in one of my caps backing into the corner of a garage while plowing snow. Only have 500 miles on the truck I have the new cap from Rock Auto and I'm really hoping to do this by just taking off the smashed cap and not the whole bumper.

 

My black bumper end caps from @gunny1005 arrived today, but got home too late to install them.
Can’t wait till tomorrow afternoon to get it done. So sick of the chrome. For the past 15 months, I’ve been purposely backing in my truck anywhere I park, so I didn’t have to see those freaking chrome end caps when I’d walk back to my truck to leave. Ha ha ha... sob sob.

 

Someone posted saying you can insert a small knife blade into the left and right of the license plate light lenses and pop them out that way without having to push them out from the back.

 

not recommended just did that and the lens broke right off

 

Awe. Not good.

I did mine today... I managed to get some vice grip pliers up in that nook and squeezed the tabs, and eventually pushed the lights through the housing.

 

I installed the black end caps today! Thanks to @gunny1005 for the prompt delivery and a great price! Thanks to @MetrickMetal for the step by step instructions.

I’m sure “paint to match” glossy black would look best, but I love the look these matte black ones sooooo much better than the chrome!
Washed my truck once I was done.
And... it looks a lot better “in person.”

Yuck...


Yeah!!!

 

FYI I posted this on another thread. I plan on doing this soon as these come in. cheapest I found them. Located at CARiD.com

 

Cool! Probably not genuine OEM parts, so hopefully the texture, color, and fit are ok.
Good luck.

 

Hi guys.

I am new to the forum and signed up specifically for this thread.

My wife's read cap got scratched up and I ordered a new part and am getting it painted.

Debating whether to try it myself or go to a body shop and just pay the money.

One of the comments I have been reading in the threads regards:

"the metal toothed clips" - I've heard the only way to properly remove it, via reading the posts on here, is to take off the middle bumper-piece. However, I haven't seen any posts regarding properly putting it back on. Is this part able to be put back on? I've seen some posts saying they basically put it back together without it... etc.

Thoughts on the matter? How easy is this all to do? I am not a car guy by any means. Super newbie.

THANKS!

 

I did this myself to replace my chrome caps to black ones following this thread. It was a bit tricky removing the center bumper piece, as you can only see half of them from underneath. I accidentally broke a couple tabs off in the process, as I pulled it off too hard (thin plastic), so be careful. It goes back on pretty easy and helps to step and walk on it to snap all the tabs down in place. I ended up buying a new center bumper piece to replace the one with a couple broken tabs, since I want my new truck to be perfect (OCD).

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I am also OCD... so that's why I'm trying to find out as much info as possible.

I've done some youtubing as well, since I'm a visual learner. A lot of the youtube videos skip steps, etc...

Do you know of any good videos? I'd like to use as much info as possible to make sure I do it correctly.

 

I could not find any good videos, but I did see one helpful hint removing the licence plate light housings. Basically, use a long flat head screw driver as a lever from underneath to press the side tabs inward as you also push/pop the housing outward with your other hand, if that makes sense. If you have small hands, maybe you can do without. Other than that, I followed this thread step-by-step.