C4 FAB '16+ Tacoma Overland Series Hi-Clearance rear bumper installation instructions

Hey everyone, here are the install instructions for our 3rd gen ('16+) Tacoma Hi-Clearance rear bumper. This bumper requires cutting the sheet metal on the rear bed sides of the truck.
Professional installation may be required to complete the cutting process.

Tools needed:
-Flat and Philips head screwdrivers
-10mm wrench/socket
-12mm wrench/socket
-17mm wrench/socket
-19mm wrench/socket
-Grinder with cut-off wheel and sanding wheel to cut and clean edges of body panels.
-Tape measure
-Masking tape
-Dry Erase marker
-Drill
-1/4" drill bit
-1/2" drill bit


Start by removing the original rear bumper and hitch.

1) Disconnect the trailer wiring harness and harness for the license plate lights. Pry up on the metal clip for the trailer plug and remove the plug from the bumper.




2)pop out the plastic clips along the bottom of the bumper.

3)Remove the license plate to access the clip behind it.

4) Remove the clip

5)Reach up from under the bumper and pry these plastic pins to the side and push up on them so the plastic step covers on the bumper will come loose.

6)Pull up on the plastic covers to remove them from the top of the bumper. Here is what the backside of the plastic covers look like. This will help to see where are the plastic pins are.

7)Remove the 10mm bolts that were under the plastic covers.

Also remove these two from the bottom on each side.


Now the bumper can be pulled off the vehicle.

 

Next remove the tow hitch.

1)Remove the 5 bolts from the outside of the frame rail and the two bolts on the bottom side of the frame rail.


2)The hitch will still be held in place by these two steel dowel pins on each side. Use a hammer and a punch to bend the pins over so that the hitch can be removed from the truck.

3)You may need to use a pry bar or similar tool to pry the hitch out from the frame so that it will break free from the bent over pins. Make sure you have a jack or someone helping to hold the weight of the hitch while it gets popped free from the frame rails.

 

Now the body cutting process can be completed.

Always use safety gear when cutting the body! Gloves, safety glasses, hearing protection etc.

1)First remove the screws and plastic clips holding in the inner fender plastic at the rear of the fender.

2)Pull the plastic inner fender back and tuck it up against the tire so it is out of the way.


3)Remove these two 8mm screws from the bracket that supports the lower bedside.

4)Now remove the tail lights. Remove these two 8mm screws, then firmly pull back on the tail light to pop it loose from its plastic clips. Disconnect the wires and set the tail lights aside.


5)Now remove this plastic cover from below the tail light.


6)It is now time to mark the body for cutting. Use the tape measure to measure down from the top of the pickup box right at the edge where the painted area meets the plastic bed cap. Apply a strip of tape along this point at the top of the box so that the tape measure does not scratch the top of the box.
Use the dry erase marker to mark your measurements onto the body. You will probly need a friend to help mark while you hold the tape measure to the contour of the body panel.
Make marks at 17 3/4" next to the tail light and about midway between the tail light and fender flare. Then make a mark at 18" right where the flare meets the edge of the bedside.


7)Trace a straight line connecting all three of your measurements using the dry erase marker. Apply a piece of masking tape at this line to ensure you do not cut off the line if it should happen to get rubbed off during the cutting process.
Approximately mark these same lines around the tail light area so the portion below it can be trimmed off.


You are now ready to start cutting. Take your time and move slowly while cutting to ensure you do not jamb the cutting device and cause damage to the area around the cut. Follow the cut line as closely as possible. If you deviate from the line a bit or do not get a perfectly straight cut, it wont be a huge problem. Our bumper is designed to fit up around and above the cut area by about a half inch so any small mistakes or crooked cuts can be covered. You can cut right through the plastic fender flare as well.

Cut along the lower lines we created earlier to finish the cutting process.



7)You can now use a sanding disk on a small die grinder to clean the sharp edge off of the inside area of the cut.
Your cuts should look like this when finished.

8)The tail lights can also be re-installed at this time.

 

Once the sharp edges have been cleaned off the cut areas, we recommend taping off the area and painted the cut edge to help prevent rust. Then we attach rubber door edging to protect the corner and prevent any injuries from sharp edges. The door edging can be purchased at most auto parts stores.

 

Now that the finish work on the cutting is complete, the bedside support brackets can be installed.
These brackets help support the structure of the bedside to keep it from hanging loose and being excessively floppy.
The brackets bolt onto the pickup box in the same location as the original support brackets.
Here is what the bracket looks like. The one pictured is for the passenger side.

1)Attach the bracket into the original position on the pickup box using the two original 8mm screws.
(driver side pictured)

The support bracket extends up to the inside edge of the fender just above where it was cut off.

2)Use a vise grip to hold the fender flare and fender tight against each other. Reach up inside the fender and align your drill and 1/4" bit so that the tip is inside the hole on the support bracket. Drill through the edge of the fender and the fender flare.


3)Install the supplied 1/4" bolt, washers and nyloc nut through the hole to hold the fender and flair to the bracket.

 

It is now time to install the bumper onto the truck.
-If you are using the Baja Designs Squadron lights for reverse lights, then install them now.
1)Position the bumper directly under the truck as it would line up when its on the vehicle.
2)Lift the bumper straight up with a couple buddies or a floor jack.
3)The bumper bolts in directly to the frame rail where the tow hitch was removed earlier in the instructions. Use the original tow hitch bolts to hold the bumper in place.


4)Adjust the bumper so that it lines up evenly all around the edges of the body and tail lights. Fully tighten the bolts holding the rear bumper in place.
5)Adjust the bedside support brackets in or out to gain your desired gap and clearance between the edge of the bumper and bedside. We adjusted ours to about 3/8". The brackets can now be tightened.
6)Now the extra bumper support tubes can be installed.


They attach to the slotted tab welded into the lower edge of the bumper near the fenders. Attach the supports to the tab using the supplied 3/8" x 2 1/2" bolt.
Leave the bolt loose for now.

7) Hold the other end of the support leg (the end with the flat rectangle tab welded to it) up to the frame of the truck. Hold it tight against the frame so that it sits flat.
8) Mark the center of the hole with a marker.
9) Remove the support leg from the bumper and drill a 1/2" hole through the frame rail at your mark.

10) Re-install the support leg to the bumper and then attach the other end to the frame rail using the supplied 1/2" bolt, washers and nut.

11) Now the bolts on both ends of the support leg can be fully tightened.

 

Now that the bumper has been attached to the truck, you will need to install the trailer wiring plug into the bumper. The wiring harness for the trailer wiring needs to be stretched a bit to reach the new location in the bumper. You will need to cut a couple of the plastic cable ties loose along the rear frame rail of the truck to allow the wiring harness to stretch back far enough to reach the mounting location.
You will most likely need to remove this plastic clip from the back of the plug to allow the wires to extend far enough.


Once the wiring harness is stretched back far enough, clip the plastic housing with the trailer plug-in into the bumper.
Install the plug through the access openings near the hitch. The plug will clip into place in the opening provided.




The license plate can also be installed onto the flip up hinges at this time.

The supplied LED strip light for the license plate can also be installed.
Thoroughly clean the bottom side of the tail gate area right above the license plate and stick the LED strip to the bottom of the tailgate.
The light can be directly wired into the original license plate light wiring harness.

 

For those of you who may not have did-assembled the swing arm for painting after it arrived to you, here are some photos of how the bearings, sleeves and seals get installed into the swing arm pivot point.

First you will want to apply grease to the bearings and the back side of the seals.
Place the sleeve inside the bearing as shown and then set the assembly inside the swing arm.


Then set the seal in place. Use a large socket or a piece of round tubing to evenly tap the seal into the race.


Now that the bearings are installed, the swing arm is ready to install onto the bumper.

You will want to install the stainless steel slide plate onto the swing arm bracket first before installing the swing arm.
Apply a small amount of grease to the 10-32 stainless screws and thread them into the bracket after the stainless plate is set in place. Be very careful not to cross thread the fine thread screws. If there is any powder coat or paint in the threads, it will need to be cleaned out with a 10-32 tap first.


Now the swing arm can be bolted onto the bumper. Hold the swing arm into place and have a friend install the large 3/4" bolt from the top. You may need to slightly tap the bolt to get it to slide in, but do not force it!
The bolt can be tightened down to around 100 ft lbs.


If you ordered your bumper with the back-up camera relocation kit, follow these directions to remove the camera from the tailgate and install the wiring harness extension.

1) Remove the plastic tail gate cover.



2) Remove the camera from the tail gate.



3) Disconnect the camera from the harness.


4) Remove the plastic clips from inside the tail gate, the bottom side of the tail gate and also the one at the back of the pick up box on the lower black trim area to pull the wiring harness out of the tail gate.






The harness should now be completely removed from the tail gate. You can re-install the plastic cover onto the tail gate.

 

Now the camera harness can be re-routed and extended.

1) Start be pulling the plastic mounting clip out of the frame at the passenger side rear corner of the frame where the truck bed attaches to the frame. This will free up the wiring harness so that it can be re-routed.


2) Pull the harness through over the top of the frame rail to the outside of the frame.




3) Pull the harness through the opening between the top of the bumper and the bottom of the tail gate area.


4) The harness extension can now be added.


You will need to cut off the large plug on the end of the new wiring harness.



5) Next cut off the small plug on the end of the original harness you routed through the frame and out the back of the truck.


6) Pull the tape back on the end of both harnesses and expose the wires so the ends can be stripped.


7) The harnesses can now be wired together. Match the colors of the wires and connect them using whatever method you prefer (solder, butt connector).
Use heat shrink and tape to make sure the connections are secure and sealed.


Cover the harness with the wire loom and wrap with another layer of tape or heat shrink.

 

The harness can now be routed up the swing arm and connected to the camera in its new location.

1) Attach the harness to the small zip tie tabs that are welded to the bumper and swing arm. Be sure to open and close the swing arm multiple times to make sure the harness has enough length at the pivot point to move without binding.






2) Mount the camera in the swing arm using the supplied bolts. Plug the harness into the camera and you should be good to go!

 

The bumper has arrived!! I am excited to get it coated and installed! Its heading to the coaters tomorrow and hopefully installed soon thereafter. Im going to drill a couple of holes in the dual jerry can holder to mount the powertank 10lb propane tank mount I have been attaching the the rail in the bed. Thanks to @ChadsPride for the suggestion

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWatMjcgno1/

 

That is one impressive bumper!! I cant wait to see it in action!!!

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reviving the thread...how much of the tire do you see with the relocated camera?

 

+1 I would like to see what the camera view looks like with relocation of the camera mount. Any pics you guys can post of the view?

 

Ill send a pic of what I see with a 265/70/17 Tire here shortly. The top corner is blocked but the lower part is clear, iirc.

 

@H3llRid3r @the_dau its not bad at all. The top right corner is blocked. The lower part is slightly blocked by the hilift in its mount.

 

@atxboug here are the install instructions for the bumper in case you haven’t already found this thread

 

@riz_atx, that's totally doable. I can live with that. Where did you end up mounting the camera?

Thanks for posting pics.

 

thats not bad at all. thanks!

 

I just installed the swing out and did the camera relocate as well, what did you do to fill the hole where the camera mounted stock?