RCI 16-23 Tacoma Pike Series Front Bumper

Awaiting confirmation for fitment with my TRD Pro front skid plate before ordering. Please advise soonest. Thanx much. Mike B.

 

That looks awesome!

Could you post a pic from the front looking down on the entire bumper?

I'm looking to get one but would like to see a couple things before I pull he trigger.

Curious about the TRD skid plate fitment too,

Thanks

 

Curious as to the lead time for your bumper

 

If I do not run a light bar or winch, do you have anything like a plate to close off the holes in the bumper?

 

Well I finally have it installed and the answers to some of life's burning questions.

First off I love the bumper and could not be happier with the look and results. The install was pretty easy and went as read. I did not have to remove the bumper as described in the install guide but found if you remove the grill and the side air redirect baffling panels instead (one plastic clip each) it gives you unrestricted access to the areas you need to work. This made the rest of the project pretty easy. I did remove the factory TRD skid plate and factory recovery point for install and I would recommend this. I also used a small pneumatic body saw and it was the perfect tool to cut the bumper with.

BUT the good news: This 100% fits with the factory TRD skid plate without any modification!!! Plenty of room and not even close to an issue. They looks great together. It also easily accommodated the factory recovery point so I reinstalled both of these without issue.

The only funny part was on the bumper reinforcement brackets (the last step). These went on as described and pictured in the install guide, but the parts were cut with "P" and "D" on them to indicate the install side. That was reversed. Driver was P and Passenger was D. Not an issue but it did make me laugh for a sec.

I did have to relocate the control box on the Apex 12K winch. The space limitation was not side to side or front to back but rather height. Once installed there is only about 8.5-9" of clearance from the mount plate to the bottom of the factory center bumper/hood release support. If you winch is taller than that and has a centrally located control box it will have to be moved. I fab'd up a quick mount to get me by and will grab the pretty one from RCI while they are on sale.

Pics of the end product:

 

Just noticed that request. If those pics don't help if you can better describe what you are looking for I can try to capture it. Of course it is mounted now so might be too late. Sorry I missed that!

 

Awesome job. Looks fantastic. Can't wait to get mine. My only remaining concern is whether the hoop will obstruct the view of my front grill facing Anytime camera. Well done & Thanx much for sharing.

 

Another question: what brand of lightbar did you install in your new bumper and did it go in with your existing mounting hardware?

I have a 30" Morimoto stealth bar and I'm hoping it goes in without any problems.

 

I landed with the 30" single row Rough County Black series: https://www.roughcountry.com/product/30-inch-led-light-bar-70730bl


It mounted up perfectly into the bumper's include mountpoints. I did have to open the bolt holes up ever so slightly to use the light's factory hardware and use a washer on each end to make it the correct length for the 31.75" space but worked really well. Other than the end bolts no other factory hardware was needed. A double row will probably not fit correctly. I did try one of those first, but it was not going to work so it had to go back.

Here is a pic of the back of the bumper I have boxed the include mount points/tabs:

Happy to answer other questions if you have them.

Flem

 

2 more pics. Here is what it looks like with the removable license place bracket attacked as well as the "gap" (or lack there of) between the bumper and the dressed edge of the cut bumper. They are touching except at the rounded edges on the transition. The bumper is designed to allow for some play in the up/down of its final location. I went all the way up to close out that gap completely.

 

this looks awesome. thanks for posting pictures and I am glad it will fit with my TRD skid plate. cant wait for mine to come in

 

Thanks, the pics you have posted takes care of my questions!
It looks great!

 

Thanks a ton for posting this! We'll update the website to help any future customers and we greatly appreciate you answering the questions of so many her on the forum. Killer setup on your Taco!!

 

I'll post pix of my RCI Pike front bumper once I get it installed. In addition to the insights generously shared by Flemjasmo I'll share whether the short hoop obstructs my front facing Anytime camera view and if so what a good work around is. Stay tuned....

 

Was it difficult to make the right cuts in your OEM front bumper to fit the hoop mounts?

 

No it was pretty easy. I used CAD (cardboard aided design) to help create templates. Due to the angle of the hoop the cuts ended up being a bit teardrop shaped. Just marked a reference line on the bumper and a matching index mark on the plastic with the bumper in place Then using the index marks I marked/shaped the template and then transferred to the bumper and cut with the air saw. Cut shallow at first but I did get them in place cleanly in two goes.

Go slow and you will have no problems.

Flem

 

Just installed the bumper over the weekend. Overall great bumper and I am glad I can finally run a winch. Install was super easy and I appreciate RCI having written instructions vs a video like other companies. One note, I wish there was some reference measurements on where to cut the bumper to allow clearance for the hoop. At least to get my started and then I can cut the final measurement. I am a little concerned with the quality of powder coating. There are bubbles present on the entire bumper. Not sure if this was debris from sandblasting or a defective powder coating job. The fairlead that came with my HF winch did not fit the mounting holes on the bumper. There is not enough clearance for the top bulge on the fairlead. Even when pushed up fully the bolt holes do not line up.

Pros:
- Solid construction
- Looks GREAT
- Fits HF Apex Winch, had to relocate the control box
- Fit OEM TRD PRO skid plate

Cons:
- bubbly powder coating in many areas ~40% of the bumper
- does NOT fit HF badlands fairlead (see pics below, the top part of the fairlead rest on top of the weld bead. can also see the mounting holes do not line up.)

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions. This is probably my 5th RCI product and I am loving it. Currently pending a proper fairlead and a lightbar. I definitely would recommend this product to anyone seeking these stealth style bumpers.

 

Looks great! These are awesome bumpers and I know I could not be happier with mine.
Just a few observations on these Cons (at least as they played out or me):

My powdercoat was pretty much flawless. It is textured by design, but no noticeable bubbles, scratches or defects. the worst defect was some very limited and minor weld spatter on the inside that was powdercoated over. It looks identical to my rock sliders installed a year ago and those are still just like new. Maybe you just got unlucky? Weld spatter that was not knocked off? Hard to say.

I was able to get the stock HF badlands Apex 12K fairlead to install, align and be rock solid. To be fair with it's thick nature and the logo hump at the top it was close, but it is doable. It was not 100% drop in, because of the bumper's seam weld at the top of the cavity, so I had to get a little creative and give it about a 2-3MM gap. I added a heavy duty steel washer (maybe about 2.5" across) as well as a detachable License plate bracket. Those added all the space needed and allowed the fairlead to sit square with the bumper face and allow all the holes to line up (and to be over the problematic cavity weld and not touch). As I noted there is now a 2-3mm gap between the bumper body face and the back of the entire fairlead, but it has tons of support and is going nowhere. The extra spacing is so minimal I was able to use all the supplied HF hardware and it all mounted up without any modification to anything except the $25 bracket. The bracket was always part of the plan and I had the washers on hand so there was no unplanned costs for me. The bracket was actually more of the issue. It could not be shifted enough and I had to use a cut off wheel to widen the gap and bolt holes. This is all hidden and after touching up the paint before permanently installing it should be weatherproof.

Here are some photos to try to demonstrate what in the world I am talking about...

This does not show it "clearing" that problem weld, but it does not touch as in pp2small's above.

Note I did have to fab the extension tabs for the bracket so it would clear the extra thick fairlead.


Hope this helps. If you have any questions let me know,
Flem

 

I see so you kept a gap between the fairlead and bumper. I may give this a try. I was also considering shaving down 1/4" on the bump where the logo hump is so I could possibly get full face contact between the mating surfaces on the bumper and the fairlead.
I appreciate your input.

 

I also considered that and it would clearly work, but I went with the "gap" method and was happy with the results. It just seemed cleaner that way.