3rd Party Rear Bumper Compatibility?

Hey all, I've taken my 2021 TRD Off Road up in the desert mountains a couple times now and both times I managed to scrape my rear bumper against a rock or hill side. I'd really like to get a high clearance steel rear bumper or something similar, however I've been told I can't because I have the technology package, which includes back up sensors and the rear side sensors that tell you if a car is coming from the side if you are backing out of a parking spot. I'm told the side ones require a plastic bumper to work.

There must be people out there with the same features that have found a way to keep that feature while upgrading their rear bumper, right? Does anyone know of a workaround for this? Thanks

 

I think there is only one company on here, can't remember the name, but they're the only one with a bumper offering that retains the BSM sensor functionality. However, it is not a high clearance bumper.

I don't want to speak on behalf of everyone, but as someone who has since tossed out their BSM for a high clearance bumper, it is not missed, and you won't miss it either. Your mirrors and a turn of the head are enough to check your blind spots.

 

No we just unplug that stuff. I’m selling my BSM as we speak.

 

It may or may not be a feature I would miss, but would it affect the resale value of the truck if I start removing safety features like that?

 

Value? No but may limit some buyers. You can always keep the stock stuff and put it back later.

 

Dude if you're talking high clearance bumper then you're already chopping the bedsides, and you can't go back on that, so your resale value is going to be strongly affected by that alone. And that that point I wouldn't worry about the BSM sensors. You could always keep the sensors so if you were to buy new bedsides and a OEM rear bumper you could plug them back up for resale later

 

Also, if you're thinking about safety features, I think you've failed to consider that Toyota designs the vehicle to have certain crash or impact absorption characteristics, that are dramatically impacted by adding heavy steel all over the truck.

 

When I got my 2016, I went down this rabbit hole. There was one company doing it (I can't remember what their name is, but I think they are active on this forum. Or they were, 5 years ago...). But it didn't sound like it worked reliably. You'd still need to calibrate the BSM because you're changing the angles and positions, and you run the risk that maybe they just can't get it to work. Plus those are two big sensors. Those sensors can't be behind metal, so the bumper needs two big holes at the two ends. Those are places where steel would normally be. If the bumper is armor, then you probably want as few giant holes in it as possible.

I like my tech package and I paid extra for it, and I'm still not ready to give it up. Heh. So I'm armored up underneath and I have my sliders, but I just try to be careful about the rear bumper. Also... kind of irrelevant but whatever... those things are expensive. When I got rear-ended, both had to be replaced and they were like $700-800, if I'm remembering correctly.