16 Tacoma bumper cap removal

not sure if this was answered, are these just the unpainted OEM caps? part# 52155-04010 ?

 

Not sure if you have the same truck, but how did the plasti dip on the grill hold up?

 

Old thread, I know—but I swapped my chrome caps out for these ones from ebay and figured this would be a good place to show them and show thanks to @MetrickMetal for his SUPER HELPFUL writeup. It was easy, very little cursing required.


I composited post #55 into a single image (can't upload a PDF here it seems) you can print if you're doing this and want to have this all handy without lots of checking your phone.

 

So, I read through this thread and was wondering if there were any more step by step instructions from people, like the one above, but with more pictures.
I am very much a visual person and can't seem to find any instructions like this, but with more pictures. Many of the YouTube videos just say to basically rip em off, or aren't real great, too.
Any help is appreciated everyone! To all who already posted here, thank you!

 

Nicely done, looks great!

 

The below video and @MetrickMetal helped. The video gets you to the point where you can pull the end caps and their support off the 'bumper' frame. Some bumper....

28°F when I started this morning, but black caps are on now. I like it. Those chrome caps (and emblems) just didn't work for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKhcomDLQmE&feature=emb_logo

 

Nice! A few days ago, I installed Quicksand bumper caps also purchased from eBay. The color match isn’t exact, but I’ve noticed color variation between bumper caps/fender flares and body panels on Tacomas from the factory. The chrome never sat well with me, so I’m pleased with the purchase and installation.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Painted-4V...ensor-Hole-For-Tacoma-2016-2020-/353197116692

 

This is super helpful. I just saw a Cement TRD with color matched caps this weekend, and have been thinking about this mod since. I found that Ebay seller too, glad to hear you had good luck with them. Did you have any issues with the metal alligator clips? Also, any issues working around the tow package? I poked my head under the bumper and it looks like some of the 14 clips are covered by the hitch mounts.

 

I broke one tab on my chrome cap removing it. Not sure how it’s possible to control that part. Pull straight out and hope. Then try to find where the alligator landed.

Oh, I see, the answer to that problem is to remove the whole thing. That seemed like a bit more work than I was willing to do to keep the chrome caps pristine. Though I didn’t really expect the tab to snap. It’s entirely possible to do without unbolting anything, just the plastic retaining clips to get clearance with the plastic top cap.

 

Yeah. Me and plastic tabs don't have a good history. If I CAN break it, I WILL break it, haha. I would rather unbolt the whole deal and not risk snapping anything off in the process. Makes for a longer time to drink beer in the garage too

 

My thinking was, this is my $45 solution to glaring chrome for now and some day I get a real steel rear bumper. But for $100+ painted to match caps, different story.

 

Thanks everyone. This thread was super helpful and allowed me to replace my busted up bumper cap for <$200 when the body shop quoted me $1400. A couple of observations:

• The OEM Toyota part does have some texture on it. If you look closely at an original painted bumper cap on a Tacoma, you can see some of that texture is still visible. They just use a very heavy paint job to cover up most of it.
• I bought the OEM part online for about $100 and some automotive paint on Amazon that's close to a perfect match. I'd recommend roughing up the plastic, spraying a layer of plastic adhesion promoter, 5-6 layers of the paint and 3 layers of clear coat. As mentioned above, that thickness seems to match the OEM paint job and doesn't have any impact on the blind spot monitor.
• It is probably obvious to most, but if your existing cap is dented/busted up, you don't have to be quite as careful in removing it. You can pull hard on the top connection as well as the alligator clipped area. I don't think that you can break the alligator clip, and if you bend the teeth, you should be able to bend them back.
• My car has the parking radar. You can take the existing cap of with the radar still connected to the wiring harness. There's plenty of play in the harness connecting it. Once the cap is off, you can unclip the radar unit from its wire connection (just a squeeze and a pull--although it may take you a bit to get the squeeze just right). It's not clear whether they've tweaked the design of the radar unit itself, but once it's unclipped from the harness, you can just push it out the hole in the cap. Push on the edge of the unit that would be closest to the license plate. There doesn't seem to be a two piece connector that you can take apart very easily. In fact, I broke one of the small tabs off my radar unit trying to take it apart (but it still works).
• I didn't have to take the upper bumper step/cap off, but it was helpful to unclip it in the area next to the brake light as well as near the license plate. That provided just enough room to slide the new painted bumper cap back in after I had reinstalled/attached the parking sensor.
• I didn't have any issues with the blind spot monitor. I didn't touch it at all (you don't need to unclip its harness, in fact on my truck the wiring for the BSM and the parking radar are zip tied together), and it works just fine.
• It took a lot more effort than I thought to get the plastic bolt clips back into the holes. I didn't have to use a mallet, but I almost went for it. I did have to use a pliers to smash back down the expandable part of the bolts to get them to go back into the holes.
• I used two-sided tape to get the alligator clip back on. It's not easy. I adhered it to the tip of my index finger and then fished around until I finally got it on the plastic protrusion. It's very tight getting your finger in there. It probably took me 10 tries, so be patient.

 

There's a YouTube video that uses this exact method.

If anyone is looking for inexpensive REPLACEMENT bumper ends, I just ordered a set of these:
https://www.carparts.com/details/Toyota/Tacoma/Replacement/Bumper_End/2018/SET-REPT761143.html

$47.99 for a set... was about $70 shipped. Not bad compared to the $150 caps I've seen out there.

 

What ebay user did you buy from and how much was? Nobody shops to hawaii if they do the cover come to 250 I not paying that price.

 

Think tape and derp will be my method

 

No ship to hawaii

 

Tape and plasti dip for me.

 

Commenting to an old post on this thread, but regarding re-calibration of the rear sensors, I believe that this is accomplished with Techstream, available free or for a reasonable fee, elsewhere on TW. Search under Tuning. Also, just about anyone that installed "tunes" on a taco, will likely have TechStream. I would bet that the very helpful tuners on those threads, would be willing to assist at a reasonable cost, and they are available all across the country. If you want to get TechStream up an running to DIY, all the info on how to do that is already well documented on TW. Sorry that I cannot easily provide a link, but I know the info is there because I already used it a few years ago, and installed TechStream, and personalized some of the settings (lanes change blinkers, seatbelt chime, etc); this is where I recall seeing the recalibration sections for front and rear sonar. Is also helpful if you ever need to properly bleed brakes on a Toyota with ABS, Ask me how i know.

 

There is a plastic part under the tail light and behind the bumper that I can't seem to find anywhere. Has anyone figured out how to replace it?