OEM Rear Bumper Replacement & Frame/Hitch Rehab.........??

I'm replacing my rusty chrome bumper with another OEM bumper. Being in upstate NY, the frame and related components are pretty crusty. I used Raptor Liner 2K on the bumper and bracing. I'm slowly going over some of the bolts that need to be removed in the hope that when I actually do the swap that it's a relatively seamless transition. Being realistic, I don't need a crystal ball to know that broken bolts are in my future. It appears that the bumper main brace needs replacement. The lower tabs have rusted off the main part.

That said, any helpful hints? What size are the bolts that secure the brackets to the frame?

 

Also living in upstate NY - in the heart of the rust belt - maybe I can offer some advice. I replaced the bumper and trailer hitch on my 2014 Tacoma TRD Sport after 5 years. The bumper had a small dent in it and the hitch was just plain nasty rusty.

I see that you have a new outer bumper and that you have coated it with a bedliner product. That should really help on resisting corrosion. You may find that the thickness of that type of coating makes final assembly a bit more difficult though. Make sure you also coat the inside of that bad boy while everything is still apart. Most of the corrosion on these bumpers starts from the back side since you can't see it or wash it. And after you assemble everything, I'd recommend a good coat of Fluid Film or something similar to soak corrosion inhibitors down into the spaces between bolted together individual components.

As for the trailer hitch, I don't recommend trying to save it if it's anywhere near as bad as mine was. I found a brand-new takeoff hitch with all of the hardware for $75 about an hour from where I live. (That was well worth the trip!) Before that hitch went on, I cleaned, primed and applied 3 coats of satin black Rustoleum to the whole thing. After it went on the truck, I coated the whole thing with Fluid Film. It was in great shape when I sold the truck 2 years later.

Hope that helps!

 

Thanks! I hit the inside part of the bumper and the brackets with the Raptor coating. The condition of the main bumper re-enforcement brace looks questionable and I'm incline to just get a new one and coat that as well. The hitch appears to be in better shape. If I did any kind of serious towing, I would replace it just to be safe but I only tow a small kayak trailer that is extremely light (trailer weighs 175#'s and the kayaks weigh app. 100#'s total).

 

If you decide you want to replace the hitch and can’t find an OEM one take a look at this one: https://www.extremeterrain.com/redrock-4x4-tacoma-oe-style-hitch-assembly-tt21812.html

I have to replace the hitch on my 2008 and was going to get this one until I was able to find an OEM one. I like that it looks like OEM but doesn’t cost the same as a new OEM hitch.

 

Got the new bumper on. Getting the old one off was a horrible experience. EVERY bolt snapped despite presoaking with a penetrant and the back & forth bolt removal technique. No joy. Adding insult to injury, I picked the hottest days of the year to tackle this. Temps were low to mid 90'swith high humidity.

Once it was removed, I discovered the bumper brace was in very rough shape. Ordered a new one and will Raptor coat it prior to installing.

Overall, I'm very pleased. The bumper fits well and the Raptor coating came out very good despite it being my first time using 2K.

I need to find the fastening hardware for the plastic end trim. I had to cut the fasteners out.Maybe a small carriage bolt?

Note**** A fly was added to the close up photo of the Raptor coating to provide a size reference......

 

Followup.....

I used Raptor 2K on the new bumper reinforcement bar. Removing the original one was challenging and had to resort to a destructive removal (not that it really mattered. It was beyond refreshing.).

One item to note is that the new aftermarket reinforcement bar uses bolts with a 1.75 thread pitch. I had checked this prior to replacing it and had the correct bolts to use (12M x 1.75). The original bar used 12M x 1.25 bolts.