DIY Rear bumper, hitch and bumper cover removal

I looked around for a good write up on this and couldn't find one so i made one. Hope this helps.

I had to remove my bumper cover to repaint it but found it's actually easier to remove the hitch and bumper, then disassemble while it's off the truck. I'll show you why

1) Remove license plate lights and disconnect bulbs

2) Remove the lower middle step plate. There are two plastic pop screws under the square tabs and two small bolts under the bumper (forgot to take pics of this. Soon incoming)

3) Remove hitch electrical connector by removing the two upper bolts that hold the bracket to the hitch


4) if you get under the truck, on the brackets that connect the hitch to the frame, you'll see 2 black bolts (left) and 4 silver bolts (center) as well as 1 unpainted bolt in the top corner (circled). The 2 black bolts hold the bumper to the hitch & the 4 silver bolts along with the unpainted one hold the hitch to the frame. Remove the 4 silver bolts and loosen the 1 unpainted bolt on either side and the hitch/bumper assembly will come down (the unpainted bolt is tightened into a slot so it doesn't need to be fully removed). Be careful when doing it, it's fairly heavy so don't have your leg laying under it when it falls like me. Also, the two top corner bolts were so rusted on mine that they both seared off when removing them


5) This is what it will look like when off the truck



6) Remove the two black bolts (shown above) on either side as well as the two 19mm bolts on the front which also attach the hitch to the bumper, then you can pull the hitch off.

You can also remove these two bolts while the bumper is still on the truck if you prefer.

You'll notice the brackets are wedged in fairly tightly so i had to put my foot on the bumper skin and pull the hitch upward slightly and away. This is why i decided to take everything off the truck, doing this while the hitch is still attached would mean you have to pull the bumper upward while removing it, then putting it back on would be a PITA, but not impossible.

7) Hitch seperated


8) Next, you have to remove the large plastic step pad because there are 4 bolts under it that attach the bumper to the skin. This is so much easier while the bumper is off the truck because you have to squeeze those 14 little tabs out to remove the piece and i can't imagine how much swearing it would cause if i were trying to reach them all from under the truck. Most i could do by hand, a few required pliers


9) You don't have to remove the upper corner step pads but if you want/need to, there are two nuts on either one (only one showed here because i seared the other one)


10) To remove the metal bumper from the skin, there are 5 bolts on either side. 3 accessible from the top, 2 from the bottom



Back/bottom view. The two bolts on the bottom here will be the only ones left, the top two shown here are the threads that the bolts from the top screw into

Better view of the bottom inner bolts


And that's it! The bumper will pull off after that and you're good to go. I seared off 6 bolts in the process due to rust and that's after having soaked them overnight in liquid wrench.

Word of advice, when reassembled and you are putting the whole contraption back on the frame, you need at least 2 people. At least one to hold up the hitch/bumper because it's heavy and another to get at least one bolt in on each side so it's supported. Happy wrenching!

 

Thank you for your write-up. I helps a lot as I am currently taking my rusty chrome bumper off and putting a new painted one on. Couldn't figure out how those corner caps come off until I saw this thread.

 

Glad it helped! When doing this project i said to myself, "toyota engineered everything on this truck like a champ except this bumper. It's goofy"

 

Unfortunately I need to buy 10 new bolts (7 broke and 2 shouldn't be used again)

 

nice thanks

 

Thanks for the write up.

The bolts at the top of the brackets only need to be loosened, not removed. The bracket is slotted to allow disassembly.

Also the brackets have two pins that fit in “J” slots in the frame. I consider them helpers to keep the bumper in place. The combo of the slots and the pins really help with installation and removal.

Too bad about the rusted bolts.

 

Thanks to the OP for writing this and everyone else’s comments. It’s posts like this that makes a difference for lots of other owners who come here - like me.

I decided I could take on the same project and restore my rusted factory hitch and replace my bumper support. It all went really well. Only broke a few m10x1.25 bolts.

I ended up using rustoleum gloss black after a primer coat, removed as much surface rust as I could.

Getting the bumper/hitch back on was a pain. My wonderful wife ended up helping me by keeping things steady as I lifted higher and higher on piles of boards. Once we lined it up we pushed it forward so the pins rested into those slots. Whew!

 

Glad to hear it! In my experience, girlfriends love an excuse to come wrench on the truck with you!

 

Got the new bumper on!

 

Boo-ya! Looks way better

 

Thanks op! When I get my truck back from frame replacement I want to clean up and repaint my factory hitch and possibly herculiner the bumper skin. This will help.

Buggsy

 

That was helpful, thanks! Lots of useless YouTube videos on this, but your way seems a lot easier to take the hitch off and then remove the bumper afterwards.

 

I just wanted to bump this post. It was so comprehensive and helpful.

 

Thanks OP, been waiting a while for this write up.

 

Thank you. It's a Pelfreybilt aluminum with hidden hitch receiver. I also have a matching aluminum front. Both are Line-X'ed.

Pelfreybilt is no longer in business but Bay Area Metal Fab makes a fantastic version of it. I found my bumpers used as I always wanted these specific bumpers.

 

Thanks for this post OP. Will follow this instructions when I need to remove or replace my rear bumper.

 

Just wanted to thank the OP for putting together this write-up. I was able to perform an OEM color-matched Impulse Red bumper replacement and this made it really easy!

 

I am hoping to tackle this over the next week or so, and wanted to get some bolts ahead of time assuming I'll need to replace a few. Looking online it seems that these are the two relevant part numbers. Are these the right ones to buy?

90119-A0048
90119-A0192

 

Hey Steve, may i ask where you bought your color matching bumper? TIA

 

Hey OP, where did you buy your oem color matched bumper from? TIA