4xInnovation rear bumper issues

Hello all,

I'm a repeat customer of 4xInnovation, but the latest thing I've purchased, their rear plate bumper with tire carrier for first gen Tacomas, I have ran into a few issues.

The first issue is that the bottom of the tailgate hits the top of the bumper when opening. At first the tailgate wouldn't even open at all, I had to hammer out the bottom edge of the tailgate just to get it to clear enough so that it would open, but it still scrapes against the bumper. Also, when the tailgate is open all the way, it lays directly on the bumper paint to paint. There is slack in the tailgate cables as well, showing that it's not fully open.

I emailed Adam a week ago asking for any suggestions about this clearance issue with no reply yet.

The second issue has to do with the Jerry/Scepter can holder. The holder is just too small. I was barely able to get 1 5 gallon scepter tank in, but there is not enough room for the second can to go in. It hits the middle divider, and if I try to force it, it starts to cut into the plastic, which is not something you want for your fuel can.

Do I just have the wrong cans? Their website description says this holder fits both NATO spec Jerry cans and Scepter Water and Fuel cans.

 

That red can isn't a NATO can.

 

Thanks for letting me know. Guess I should have avoided Amazon for this purchase, the seller said it was NATO spec.

For the tailgate, I have a friend with a fender roller who is going to see if it will work along the bottom of the tailgate to get a little more clearance.

 

This is what you need.

 

Looking at the tailgate in the fully

Thank you. I'm trying to find a vendor that ships to the US that sells this style, but I can only find Canadian sites that don't ship to the states.

I ordered a Wavian brand can that looks the same and will see if that fits, if not I can easily return it.

 

Looking at the bumper again now, taking a hammer to the bottom of my tailgate, I see now that when fully open, what the tailgate is hitting is the area where the tire carrier latches too. Not really the best design choice, as it's already dented the tailgate in that area.

 

eBay

 

No wiggle room on the hardware that you can lower the bumper some ?

My fix would be to go to a smaller diameter bolt or oblong the holes the bumper mounts to .

You can see the tailgate is bowed in the Center maybe from the bedsides being pulled in

 

That is no bueno. There should be at least 3/4" of gap between the tailgate and the bumper so you can feed the spare tire tool through the hole below the tailgate. Call up 4xInnovations and see what they say. Maybe it's an error in their CNC table. Maybe they mistakenly built a bumper for 1" body lift.

 

I ended up using a crow bar to bend up the bottom lip of the tailgate, that is giving me enough clearance now where it doesn't rub while opening. Going to have to repaint the top of the bumper now where the crow bar was rubbing, but that will be quick.

 

I'll try calling on Monday. I emailed Adam a week ago but no response.

Fortunately I don't need use of the stock tire carrier.

The shop that did the install for me said that the bumper isn't perfectly flat, that it looks to be bowed upwards near the wields behind the license plate. Their claim is that the welds got too hot and warped the steel.

I actually don't have anything with me right now I can use to confirm their claim about the bumper not being straight. I need to buy a yard stick or something. And it's hard for me to eyeball it, it looks like the bumper could be curved, but I have a strong astigmatism that makes all straight lines curvy.

Edit: spelling

 

The shop that did the install used the provided hardware. They tried making one adjustment at the mounting points to try and get the bumper lower, but it didn't do anything.

 

Holy crap people are asking for a lot of money for these things.

If this Wavian can doesn't work, I'll just have to bite the bullet and get an expensive used one from Ebay. Thank you for the help so far.

 

Wavian should be good

 

Looking closer, even if the tailgate was removed, I don't think I could even fit the spare wheel bar through the hole to the crank pulley. The bumper itself is covering the lower half of the hole.

Here are also a photo showing how I have the gap widened now after using the crow bar. You can see the crease in the metal, I had to pry up on that entire area to get it to clear.

 

Call them. Can also try messaging @traxman25 here.

 

Since someone else installed the bumper I would think the install was botched over Adams bumper at any time.

Adam does great work if this was a special built bumper to your numbers i could see it being off.

Good Luck

 

You may be right.

I have two concerns. If the install could be botched in a way so that the bumper sits higher, is that going to be a concern structurally (this is SAE rated as a class 3 hitch, and I do tow every now and then). Or if the install can't be botched in this way, that means there is something wrong with my frame or mount points.

Hopefully questions Adam can help answer for me whenever I get around to calling next week.

 

Wavian can was delivered not to long ago. Fits much better, although has a bit more wiggle room and slides around a little. I may stick some rubber strips on the arm to put more downward pressure on the top of the can.

 

Something only being up close and in person can be seen.

No way to know without looking and if your not sure what to look for how can you tell.

Good Luck