My Take on a Trail Gear Bumper

I had always dreamed of a plate bumper. I really wanted an Elite, but I could not afford it. I then looked at the All Pro APEX bumper, but still couldn't afford it. I then decided to go with a Trail Gear Low-Profile bumper with the light hoop. After looking at other people's trucks with the bumper, I decided to put some diamond plate on the top to fill it in. The rest is history!

Here is the bumper when I brought it home!




First thing on the agenda was to get the light bar welded on.




Next, came the top plates. I don't have a picture of my mock up cardboard, but here's this.

Driver side:


Passanger side:


Now was about the time when i started getting ideas. I didn't like being able to see the washer fluid container and didn't want to modify it. More plate!!! But first, mock-ups!










After doing all that to both sides, i had tons of plate left. I decided to fill in the smaller triangles on the front. I forgot to take close-up photos of those at the time. They can be seen in the finished product photos. Here, we are welding in the plate permanently.






Now the bumper is all finished! Some before powder coat glamour shots...








Off to the powder coater! I decided to take my wheels at the same time since the paint I put on them last year had started to flake off and they looked really bad.




Everything is finished! I went with a light textured black for the bumper and a non-textured satin black for the wheels. Great combo in my opinion.






Got everything mounted back up! I love how it all turned out! And yes, I know the skid plate isn't there. I have to find some new bolts to mount it up with.









Got a little dirty!


And just because i can.......



I also did the "fog light mod"...sort of. I moved my turn signals to the corner lights and secured them with plastic weld and epoxy. Pics to come later. I also trimmed the plastic inside the wheel wells that extended too far. Thanks for looking!



EDIT:
Here are some pictures showing my turn signal switchbacks. This is the guide I used to do it. http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/186115-free-blinker-light-relocation-mod.html
















Just got my LED fog lights installed. Wired them to a Toyota fog light switch in place of a blank. They are so bright!





They are just as bright as the reflection of the sun off the hood!




UPDATE:
I got my Warn XD9000i installed! Did quite a bit of trimming in order to get it to fit.

 

looks good man im in the process of building mine at the moment.. one thing im not a huge fan of is the diamond plated metal but thats all personal preferance. looks good man

 

looks good! Im not a diamond plate fan but it looks great


I wanna see your corner blinker switchback reroute because thats what ill be doing here in a few

 

ya me too on the corner swap.. i was thinking about using led turn signals somehow mounted to bumper

 

x3

 

I added some photos to the OP. The bulbs were a little long for where I put them. I had to trim the inside of the lens on the ridge where the yellow insert is in the side of the corner light. It fits perfectly now. You can probably avoid this issue by putting the socket in at a different angle. Only problem is that once you cut the hole, you're pretty much stuck with it. That is why I had to trim a little. On the bright side, it is not noticeable and still looks good.

 

more pics of the front end?

 

Looks bad ass.

 

Love Trail Gear, nice job on the top plating.
Not much of a fan of the lower winged plating...looks bulky.
That's just me... As long as you love it, it is all that matters.

 

Good job op

 

Just overall? Anything in particular?

 

That was my exact mindset.

 

Thank you!

 

Looking good

 

Thanks man!

 

Bumper looks sweet!

 

nice man! idk how i feel about that side plating though, but +1 for being different!

 

Thanks!

 

Same! Want a plate; specifically an Elite; but, don't want to upgrade the suspension for the extra weight; and yeah, the $$ too
I plan on getting a TrailGear and will probably end up, at least, plating up the spaces in front too. And I happen to love diamond plate; so, thanks for these pictures. Great job!