16 Tacoma bumper cap removal

The metal toothed clips simply slip back on the tab they came off. They take some effort to remove, but go on very easily. It’s an easy job, minus getting the license plate bulk holders out. If you have small hands getting them out from behind won’t be an issue. If not, use a thin knife blade to push on the sides of the lenses to dislodge the clips behind them.

 

It was a bit tricky removing the center bumper piece, as you can only see half of them from underneath. I accidentally broke a couple tabs off in the process, as I pulled it off too hard (thin plastic), so be careful.


This is the part I'm worried about the most. I will likely try to do this job today. Any tips on not making this error? Thank you so much, everyone!

 

Took about 10 mins each side. I didn’t put back the tooth blade thingy. No issues without it

 

Ok... Just had to post how I did it .. A lot of thanks to everyone on here and their support

I was able to do it without taking off the middle bumper piece in the end.

I initially tried to take off the middle piece as everyone suggested but man .. It seems so sketchy You literally just have to pull it off and cross your fingers it doesn't break I loosened up and pushed through the back clips underneath the car .. But you can't do anything for the other clips at all but yank.

So here's what I did ..


From underneath the bumper remove the (8) push pins on the end caps and the two for the center cap.... Not sure if removing all is necessary but I did it.

There are a total of 14 integral retaining clips on the center cap that secure it to the steel center cap support plate. So from underneath the truck use 10” flat blade screwdriver to pop the plastic retaining clips out of the steel center cap support plate starting from each end and working towards the center of the cap.......I just did the two/three closest to the ends only.

From this point, I basically just lifted the end of the middle center piece... And slowly wiggled the bumper end off It's stuck because of the saw tooth piece but I yanked it off... The plastic piece inside the saw tooth piece breaks off at this point, but I just removed the small plastic piece and the saw tooth piece with a plier.

So at this point the old bumper is gone

I just lifted the end of the center piece and wiggled the new bumper end cap back on

The issue everyone is having is that you can't get the saw tooth piece back on this way... But you can

I took a piece of scotch tape and taped the saw piece to my finger.... Then using my finger with the tape and saw piece ... . And another finger ... I wiggled my fingers behind where the saw tooth peice should grab the plastic .... And I was able to feel for it and do it You definitely need skinnier fingers .. But this way you can replace the piece with less steps and you don't need to risk breaking the center piece
Hopefully this all makes sense .. Typing a bit in a hurry on mobile

 

To each his own, but let’s call a spade a spade. It’s not “chrome” it’s cheap plastic painted chrome. If it was metal below...well that would be a little different. But, it would still look out of place when everything else is color matched.

 

How do the bumper caps match to the off road fender flares? Basically if they are a perfect match this all seems with the cost. But if the texture and color are different the the flares I think I’ll just dip them.

 

Plasti-dip is the way to go with these caps. Only problem I ran in to was when I scraped offroad and it ruined the plasti. I have yet to go back and fix it, and am back to chrome bumpers.

 

Here is a pic of factory caps from the dealer I just put on. They match up to the flares just fine.

 

Awesome thread. However, finding out the hard way now that everything is off that my BSM system not working may not be the issue .. because my license plate lights aren’t working either. Ugh.

 

I just had my rear factory caps on my TRD Off Road replaced at a Auto Body shop and the BSM system says it is unavailable. I took it to my dealer and they said they need to be aligned. Total cost of $520.00, they said that anytime you take off the factory caps it will cause the sensors to become misaligned. I am having them aligned and documented what they did they said the error code that showed up on the DTC was C1AC1. I contacted corporate and was told that any changing or removing of the caps will not be covered by warranty unless a Toyota dealer performs it. Costly expense. My wife wanted the bumper to have some chrome on it so the Auto body talked her into replacing the body painted matching ones with the chrome ones from Toyota. The Dealer said that even a small bump on the bumper will cause them to become misaligned. Sounds to me like they are not designed very well.

 

Mine stopped working when it shook free. I put a new end cap on and it goes in one way. I’m not paying $520 for them to reset an alignment code if the system is that sensitive.

I got RAV4 blindspot mirros.

 

Update, my dealer said they had to recalibrate the BSM sensors because the end caps had been removed. They said that anytime you take the end caps off they have to be recalibrated. This cost $520.00. I called two days later and they then said that the drivers side sensors bracket had been broken by the Autobody shop when they removed the end caps and I needed a new bsm sensor, they also said that I would need to buy both the drivers side and passenger side because they are only recommended to replace both sensors. This was quoted as costing $850.00. Two days later I called them and they now say that the chrome bumper caps do not work with the BSM sensors only the painted ones. I have called Corporate and they are looking into it. All this because I wanted to exchange the painted end caps with genuine Toyota factory chrome end caps. My autobody repair company said that they did take them off correctly and they did not touch the sensors. Corporate seems to take the dealer side, they said that I modified my vehicle so no warranty on this. Looks like it will cost me about $2000.00 to get everything repaired, but I am now just looking at a good aftermarket steel off-road bumper and forget about the BSM System. PS if the BSM system is not working the rear sensors will not work either. So I am out that as well. I still do not see where the chrome caps are not compatible with the BSM system, if they do not work they should tell you so you don't make a mistake like I did. Looking for another dealer after this!

 

My rear parking sensors work fine, but I have them turned off because they’re as annoying as they can be. Sounds like the auto shop messed your system up bad.

Good call on the bumper.

 

Just did mine, however it seems the 2 clips on the side are more loose than I remember them being when I removed them, they seem to be locked in but not tight, anyone else experience this. I managed to get the alligator clips back on though. Did break one damn bumper clip piece from the top pulling it up.

 

got hit - rear right bumper cap broke off along with the end cap support behind it

a lot of the clips are gone and bolts (i think)

anyone able to tell me exactly how many clips / bolts ill need?

i ordered the end cap + support already - just need to know how many bolts/clips ill need to get it all back together

 

If you check the exploded diagram on a parts store website it’ll show. The cap just uses those little push tabs I believe, and the support behind it has bolts/screws. I changed mine a year ago so I’m rusty on what’s back there.

Be careful with the tailgate skin. That thing is a mother to get off and seated correctly without snapping a ton of the clips under it.

Hope you used RokAuto or some other third party for the non color matched stuff. My end cap support piece (black piece your BSM bolts into) was identical.

I’d just go to NAPA or the like and buy a small box of the black push clips. You’ll always be needing one, just like fuses.

 

Anybody else have the same parking assist sonar issues the one gent mentioned? Want to diy this bumper cover repair but not if it will cost me $2000 for the sensor issue

 

Well that was an adventure. Took a year to finally get around to fixing the Christmas present I received last year but it's done. lol Got everything apart only to realize that the plastic end cap support was cracked as well. Ordered another one which won't be here until Friday so I gave the cracked support a liberal coat of JB Weld which seems to be holding up for the time being. No flashing lights on the dash for the parking sensors or BSM so *fingers crossed*. Btw for anyone looking for painted end caps at a good price, check out https://www.ebay.com/str/topickerautoparts.

 

Hey man, mind sharing part # for this metal clip? Have been looking everywhere but can't find it. Thanks in advance.

 

I didn't even put mine back on. Got everything put back together and saw it sitting on the tailgate. doh No issues without it though.