Rear Hidden Hitch Bumpers (not high-clearance)

Hey TW! Thanks for your help. Votes were tallied and the results were in. Based on the votes (not really), the provided photos and the testimonials, I decided to go with the RCI bumper. I'm hoping @kystnTRD's experience was an isolated one, but completely understand his frustration.

I also wanted to give a shout out to @Stocklocker for providing his original in-depth post and his follow-up posts in this thread.

I also wanted to let you all know that I got a great deal from James over at @Truck Brigade. They offer the same pricing as RCI's website, but with no tax and free shipping. James was also very helpful in answering my questions.

https://www.truckbrigade.com/RCI-Offroad-Rear-Bumper--Toyota-Tacoma-2016--2019_p_3190.html

Finally, instead of the standard SR-Q's offered by RCI, I opted for the Midnight version SR-Q's. I predict these will be a bit more stealthy. Best deal I found below (seller accepted a best offer of $240, so maybe try lower)...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rigid-Indu...h=item3b28f14077:g:ST4AAOSw~VBcR4~K:rk:1:pf:0

Thanks Again TW!

 

Depends what you plan on doing, if those are your concerns it sounds like you should be looking at the high clearance. All the other bumpers are just a plate version of the OEM with no additional clearance or better departure angles....and you lose the bsm/rcta that you probably use 20x a day.
These trucks have more freaking blind spots than anything else I've driven, I don't understand why these fabricators can't make a window for the bsm/rcta crap.

 

The bumpers here mostly delete the factory hitch receiver which is a huge gain in departure angle and rear ground clearance. Also, they mostly are slimmer top-to-bottom and are angled upwards, so there is gains there as well. I was dragging my ass through water-bars like crazy. No more with this new bumper.

My point being, you don’t have to cut up your bedsides to gain departure angle, though the chop-type high-clearance bumpers are certainly another level of improvement again.

 

Stock bumper looks better than all of the ones pictured in this thread IMHO and I'd rather drag the hitch than the spare tire so it isn't flat when you need it... you thought of that OP? Save the weight. Also just looks like shit having the spare hang down the lowest. Or were you planning on relocating the spare?

Either high clearance or stock. Unless you already fubar'd the stock one and don't want to pay for an OEM replacement.

$0.02

 

If you saw mine in person you would change your mind. Looks rad. Shit-tonne of compliments. Makes the factory bumper look almost feminine in comparison. You don’t notice the spare other than in low angle photos. The spare is still mostly protected by the departure angle between your wheels and your bumper.

But, as they say, haters will do what they do.

 

Good choice! I ordered the RCI rear bumper last week as well. It was a hard decision. I think most of the rear bumper choices all look good. The hardest decision was deciding to lose BSM/rear cross traffic alert.

 

If you save your old bumper and sensors, you have accomplished this:

Assuming you have removed your bumper before destroying the sensors and the OEM bumper, you can reinstall the OEM systems (still intact) for resale and sell the RCI separately if you ever get rid of the truck.

Me....I’m dumb. I let my stock bumper caps and plastic substrate get destroyed before I upgraded. Now I have a bunch of cracked plastic parts to either store or throw away.

The stock decorative bumper is too easily damaged, and far too expensive, for what it is.

 

Yeah my stock bumper is still good. However, I’ll probably sell the stock tow hitch and bumper, and keep the sensors just in case by some miracle someone actually makes a decent looking bumper that supports BSM. If/when I ever sell my truck it’ll sell as is.

 

These bumpers have every bit the clearance of the HC bumpers. They just lack the quarter panel protection. As the other poster mentioned. The biggest gain is losing the factory hitch. If you notice, these bumpers have the same shape and design as the HC by the same brand, just no QP coverage.

C4 had a bumper that maintained the BSM... it was uglier than any other bumper. No thanks. I have honestly never had a close call that BSM bailed me out... I also don't have issues with all these bling spots either.

 

CBI makes the best looking rear bumper, I wish it were able to retain the BSM.

 

I guess our opinions differ. I like the OEM color match look, but I think these bumpers have a certain utility that matches the other mods on my truck.

Have you drug your hitch before? It's quite unpleasant and creates yet another item to paint/maintain. Even more unpleasant would be dragging the rear bumper caps and replacing those. I'll probably toss the spare in the bed while wheeling. And as the other poster mentions, I hardly notice the spare hanging down in the photos that I've seen.

Weight wise, this bumper is only 20 lbs more than the stock bumper and hitch weight. Not going to be noticeable.

 

Awesome. Be sure to post pictures on this thread when it's installed.

I think I'll benefit from the aux reverse lights more than I've ever benefited from the BSM. I can't see a damn thing in my rear camera when backing up at night. But it was a tough decision to abandon it.

 

I've been debating whether I keep it or sell the color matched caps. I hate to store it, not to mention trying to keep all the parts together and remembering how to reassemble it.

I like to tell myself that I'll never sell this truck, as I've put way too much money in it to ever justify getting rid of it. It may just be a full time toy someday.

 

Never going to happen. There's just no way to incorporate these huge sensors into a small profile bumper.

Unless... a smaller sensor is made... or, Toyota finally puts the sensor in the taillights. But even then, I'm screwed, because I'll never get rid of my @mesojdm tails.

 

Is some cases the no-cut bumpers actually have better departure angles that the high clearance bumpers. Case in point below (pic lifted off IG). Notice how much further back this bumper sticks out at the back, decreasing departure angle.

 

Thank you for the shoutout and the kind words! We're glad to have earned your business and look forward to see it installed on your rig!

 

Sorry for the late reply. Yes I do have the RCI bumper and didn't have any issues with install or fit/finish. I actually went up to the new RCI headquarters last fall where I picked up some sliders and LCA skids. They have a really nice (growing fast) operation and I couldn't say anything bad about the way we (wife and kiddo in tow) were treated. They gave us a tour, helped me load/secure the sliders, etc.

I read that one story about the issue and customer service problems before my purchase but it didn't sway me. Happy with my bumper choice.

 

Just got a shipping notification today. For those keeping track or wondering, that's exactly 2 weeks from placing order to getting the shipping notification. I'll post up photos when it gets installed.

 

Got my tracking today as well. Can’t wait to receive it!

 

Bumper has arrived. Unfortunately/fortunately, I leave for Hawaii this next week, so it'll be a week or two before I get it installed.