Removal/Installation of Rear Bumper

You did it today? I don't remember seeing the black bumper on your truck yesterday. Where are the pictures? Come on Padilla! I'm sure it looks good.

BTW, Thank you.

 

congrats on color matching your rear bumper...that's on my to do list...

 

How about a picture of it on the truck?
That's a good link for those who can't find anyone to trade with.

 

Only picture I have access to at the moment.



dd

 

That looks good. For some reason I thought you had a black Taco. I love that color. How come you didn't color match it?

 

Are those gaps larger than stock?

 

Yes, today as in Sunday morning. Took about 45 mins to do. I didn't have it yet at the expo. I really like how it looks. Here are the pics:

Before:


After:

 

I kinda thought the same thing, but I chalked it up to the angle.

Looks good Daniel. Congrats on a successful swap!

 

Thanks Al!

 

Thanks.

Eventually I will have Stubbs weld-on sliders and an ARB front bumper. I’m hoping that satin black spray paint will be a close match to those additions. I know the sliders will come in bare metal but the ARB will we powder coated – or at least my others have been. A little time with some steel wool on the ARB will dull it down to the goal of - satin black finish.

As for the gaps between the bumper and the body…
Yes I think it is a bit wider than it was before. The passengers’ side looks better and follows the contour of the body panel better. Some work with a bottle jack and a bottle of Jack – oh wait…. I’ll be right back where I started – never mind.

If I bend the bottom on the bumper up just a hair I think it will look better and close up the gap.

dd

 

^ That's going to look tight when it's all said and done. Black ARB bumpers on that color truck. Super nice man.

 

is anyone having trouble getting the bumper straight??? i just cant get it on right.

 

Can you replace the "skin" without taking the entire bumper off or not? If you can, what are the steps? I've got a bumper skin on it's way and was just trying to understand how much work is involved in swapping that out.

thanks.

 

From what it looks like, in this thread the skin was what was taken off. All the brackets were left in place. So it should slip right on then install the plastic trim pieces.

 

Understood, just looking for confrmation from the experienced.

 

Confirmed! You'll still have to take it off and then basically uninstall the stuff from the old bumper and reinstall them on the new skin. Of course after that, reinstall the rear bumper the same way you took it off. Remember to get help!

 

Ahh, thanks. So you do need to unbolt the entire bumper from the frame huh?

I though maybe I'd get lucky and you could remove all the coverings, then the skin, then just re-install the new skin and all the rest.

 

I guess you could undo the bumper and put the new skin on and then the coverings. Six of one/ half dozen of another. Either way, you're right. It's gonna come off!

 

Yea it’s pretty easy. When your “Skin” arrives you’ll see what needs to come off. I called it a skin for lack of a better term. What you won’t have to remove is the main bumper support brackets that bolt to the frame and the receiver tow hitch assembly - if so equipped.

I’m wishing now I would have taken more pictures and paid more attention to the removal and install process. There are four bolts under the black plastic trim piece that runs the width of the bumper. I broke several of the plastic tabs off when I removed this piece – I didn’t see a way to avoid this. Here is a link explaining why there are now carriage bolts attaching the trim piece.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/55776-first-body-damage.html

There are a couple more bolts on the bottom side of the bumper that will need to be removed. I believe this was all 10 or 12mm hardware.

The corner brackets can be removed and reused on the new part. When removing the nuts that attach the corner brackets, be very careful. The nuts that are under the black plastic corner trim pieces (have I confused the hell out of you yet? – because I myself am starting to get lost) are threaded onto square headed bolts. These square headed bolts are held (locked) in place by the molded plastic. I went after mine with an air ratchet, not a good idea. Remove these nuts by hand.

If you have the tow package to will have two black plastic bolt covers in the center of the bumper – in front of the license plate. To make sliding off the old skin and sliding on the new skin easier – remove these two bolts from the receiver hitch assembly. The bolts and accompanying nuts are large – like maybe 19mm or 3/4in or so.

The license plate lights are just held in with screws. I had a difficult time getting the plug off the back. I finally used an awl to poke the release levers on the light plugs.

Hope some of this helps…

dd

 

Mine took some adjusting with a rubber mallet to get it straightened up so that all the bolt holes were aligned.

HEY ALSO….

I can’t believe I forgot this.

***Watch out for sharp edges on the new bumper skin.***
I’m still nursing a nasty deep cut from a sharp metal edge.

dd