Fair warning: Your rear bumper is an expensive, and delicate P.O.S.

I've heard the same about the C4 Fab, but seems like its still finicky and unreliable. Is your parking sensor working ok? I thought they worked in conjunction with the BSM. Does it throw any errors?

Too bad Toyota didn't incorporate the BSM as part of the rear tail lights like some other manufacturers do. It would've made life easier.

 

Absolutely! I wish Toyota would have used the taillights for the BSM. The F150 does it, the new Jeep JL now has it there.
I removed the BSM sensors entirely and have no code. The BSM switch won't even light up so the system is entirely off.
My parking sensors seem to be working just like they used to with the stock bumper. No issues. I believe they are totally separate.

 

Who comes up with this crap? I enjoy the safety features, but seriously...

 

i'm still up in the air with the whole thing... i like to leave thing OEM for as long as i can but damn that Fab Four bumper looks killer but so does the RCI one OP has....but i hate having to worry about going through this again in the future ( for any reason, tree wreck or grocery cart)... decisions decisions... the worst part is i broke 1 $100 piece that i can see and 2 tabs on the top plastic piece thats $100 on ebay... still undecided

 

Insurance paid for mine so that made the decision easier... I was slightly rear-ended, hit DIRECTLY on one of the backup sensors. $1200 in damage... Broke a few plastic tabs on the stepping plate and dented the thin metal piece enough to kink the corner of the bumper out slightly.

 

That RCI bumper looks pretty sick

 

holy crap.. ok i would've upgraded too then...mine is literally a plastic piece behind the end cap and the top plastic piece.. all sensors and end cap don't have a scratch...would you still upgrade in my situation or just replace the little things and hope it doesn't happen again?

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-rear-bumper-thread.530302/

-Kirk Out

 

How's the fit with the RCI bumper? There's a post on here somewhere that shows a very unhappy customer due to the poor fit. I believe it was an early version, so wondering if you had any issues with fit and spacing between bed/body of truck and the rear bumper?

***Found the link to that thread: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/my-experience-with-rci-offroad.507087/ I really like the look of the RCI bumper, so not bashing...just looking for info as I might purchase one.

 

No issues on my end. I wouldn't mind it being a bit tighter to the body like their early prototypes showed, but they mentioned that it needed additional room for frame movement etc. so they had updated it. Overall, I'm happy with it.

I would clearance the holes a bit more if I ever want to adjust it closer to the body.

BTW I recall the unhappy customer saying that the bumper was hitting his tailgate or the actual bed. I definitely don't have that issue.

 

Is that a Decal on the lower tailgate or Derp?

 

Vinyl.

 

How did installation go around the Letter stamping? Thinking of doing this but seems tricky laying the vinyl into the depressions.

 

Use a little heat from a heat gun or hair dryer. Use your fingers to push the vinyl into the letters. It's not too hard. Takes a little practice.

 

thx tacopromatt!

 

The thing is, these "flimsy" bumpers are designed to absorb the majority of an impact, saving the rest of your truck in the process.
If you mount one of those steel beasts of a bumper onto your truck, all of those forces will be transferred to parts of the truck that may not be repairable.

 

What you say it correct for the front bumper, but there is nothing impact-absorbing in the rear bumper. Look at the disassembled photos. The actual “bumper” is the hitch receiver, which is hard-bolted to the frame, just like an aftermarket steel bumper. The rest of the OEM assembly is just decorative junk. It’s not space-age engineered.

 

Seriously? What the hell good is that? Well then, disregard my previous post.

 

I thought there must be more to the OEM bumper until mine came apart and I looked into it's bowels. There's not much to it other than a place to mount the sensors (which I don't have) and a holder for the license plate lights. The actual structure is a square tube bolted between the ends of the frame rails, with everything else tacked onto that.

 

No but a plate bumper has 6 bolts and done... caveman can do it. I replaced my POS plastic bumper took me longer to get the stock shit off. Someone touches that thing in a parking lot and crack... broken bumper and they didn't even know they broke anything.

Plate Bumper FTW - thank me later.