How to Convert 05-11' Tacoma to 12-15' Tacoma

What's up guys! There are a few threads that cover this pretty well but I figured I would try to make this even easier for you to follow and accomplish.

My truck is a high mileage 2005, but I've had it for 10 years, taken great care of it and its basically mechanically perfect. In the past 2 years I've had a new diff installed, upper control arms, Bilstein shocks, u joints, new leaf springs from Toyota's recall and a new cat. So all I really needed was a good facelift to modernize the truck and get it where I wanted it. I'll go into great detail in this thread on how you can do the same with a little time, some parts and basically just a 10mm wrench.

Enough talking, what all will you need?

ALL 12-15' PARTS: **These are links to my specific parts - but be picky, choose whatever style you want (headlights, grille, fog lights) and make sure its for 12-15' and everything will work.**

1. Grille - OEM #53100-0448 Depending on which one you choose, you may need the emblem insert too.
2. Headlights - OEM #81110-04181
3. $202 LED Fog Light Pod Replacements Brackets Kit For 2012-2015 Tacoma (Brackets with 3x2 18W LED Pods and H11 OEM Adaptors)
   Fog Light Brackets & Pods
4. Front Bumper Grille - OEM #5311204030
5. Bumper Reinforcement - OEM #5213104010 The old mounts will work, but you need the new reinforcement with the new outer and inner support brackets. These brackets are held in place with rivets but my rivet gun is trash so I used nuts and bolts, worked fine. The bottom of the bumper will mount to these brackets.
6. $175 NorthAutoParts 5211904090 Fits Toyota Tacoma Front Textured Bumper Cover TO1000382
   Front Bumper - OEM #5211204050 I went aftermarket on this because it was going to be wrapped anyway. But if you need paint matched you may be better off looking at a scrap yard.
7. $64 For Toyota Tacoma Bumper End 2012-2015 Driver & Passenger Side Pair/Set | Front | Plastic | With Wheel Opening Flares | TO1004177 + TO1005177 | 5211304050 + 5211204050
   Bumper Flares - OEM #5211204050 and 5211304050 You'll need the
   $8 Rexka 15pcs Fender Flare Bumper Clip for Toyota Lexus 75392-35200 75392-04010 75392-0R010 4Runner Avalon C-HR Camry Corolla Highlander Land Cruiser Matrix Prius GS F GX460 LX570
   clips for these too. The flares I ordered had some type of retainer clip sticking out of the top and I never figured out what they were for so I just cut them off and didn't have any problems.
8. Hood - OEM w/o Scoop #5330104200 I got OEM from a scrap yard but here's a link for an aftermarket one. Hood scoop version will work but require additional parts.
9. Outer Bumper Brackets OEM #5212604020 and 5212504020
10. Hood Latch Support - OEM #5320904020 You won't need the actual latch, just the support bracket that mounts behind it.
11. Bumper Filler Retainer - *YOU'LL NEED TWO OF THESE!*
12. Headlight Assembly Mount Bracket - *YOU'LL NEED TWO OF THESE!*
13. Bumper Center Bracket - OEM #5252104050
14. Bumper Support Bracket LH & RH
15. Headlight Filler Trim Set - OEM #52502-04900 and 52503-04900
16. Front Fender Liners - I didn't replace mine, I just cut what I needed to out of the way. But if you insist on doing things properly, here's a link.

This is everything you'll need for the swap. Depending on how OEM you go and what kind of sourcing you do, these parts should run you about $1,000 - $1,500. Not included on this list are clips - bumper clips, grille clips, body clips, etc. You may or may not need these depending on how rough you are during disassembly.


Oh and don't forget about that 10mm wrench, its crucial for this job


Now for the step by step:

1. Crack a beer and put some music on. Shits about to go down.
2. Remove your hood. You'll have to unclip the windshield washer nozzles and pull the fluid hose down off the hood.
3. Remove grill
4. Remove headlights
5. Remove bumper
6. Remove bumper reinforcement (not the mounting blocks, just the reinforcement itself).
7. Remove all the old bumper brackets (center bracket, outer brackets, support brackets, hood latch support) For the hood latch support you'll have to remove the actual latch because its mounted behind it.
8. Install new hood latch support, then reinstall latch.
9. Attach all the new brackets to the truck. Everything mounts into the same holes as the old stuff, same bolts and all. Just don't tighten anything until its all in place. Give it a couple wiggles for fitment, then tighten.
10. Insert both LH and RH headlight assembly mount brackets. They just pop into the outer bumper brackets.
11. Insert both LH and RH bumper filler retainer clips. They also just pop into the outer bumper brackets.
12. Attach bottom support brackets to the new bumper reinforcement (supposed to be rivets but I used nuts and bolts)
13. With the bottom brackets attached, install the new reinforcement to the truck.
14. Use the bumper flare clips to attach the flares to the bumper.
15. Install fog lights onto bumper.
16. Install your new bumper
17. Install your new headlights
18. Install your new grille
19. Install your new hood
20. Hopefully you finished that beer by now, crack another one and and look at your truck from all angles! Maybe flood all your loved one's phones with pictures like I did.

Before:



After: Still need to finish the flares, wrap the grille bezel and wrap the hood but this gives you a good idea of the changes

 

Let's see dem pics

 

Just added them to the post. When I finish the flares and everything I'll take more!

 

Where is the final product?