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Bumper Dented Bed... Replacement Ideas/Options? Anyone Tried This?

3013 Views 7 Replies 2 Participants Last post by  Enola Gaia, 
dustinuhls
6

The previous owner of my Taco backed into a pole and pushed the rear bumper into the bed. I've been quoted ~$600 to fix the body, but that doesn't include a new Toyota bumper which are $250+. I've got a couple ideas and just wondered if anyone else has seen or tried this:

1) I would like to cut the lower corners under the taillights off (removing the damage) and mount an 05+ Tacoma rear bumper b/c they wrap around beneath the taillights a little and would cover up the metal I would have to remove... Don't know about the dimensions on that bumper and if it would even be close to fitting. Anyone know?


2) Cut the metal off below the body line from the rear bumper to the rear fender well and find a wrap-around style aftermarket bumper that would fill that void. Kinda like the All-Pro bumpers, but one that would be flush with the rest of the bed and require you to cut off the extra metal. I know I've seen one before, but can't remember who made it... Anyone know?

3) Find a 4-Runner bumper and do the same as above and remove the sheet metal all the way to the fender well. Don't know if this bumper would fit either.


Thanks for looking and please let me know if you have any info about how and if this stuff could be done. Also, if you know any aftermarket companies that make rear bumpers like I would need.

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Enola Gaia
Option (1) - using a 2005+ Tacoma bumper - isn't very practical. The 2005+ Tacomas are about 4" wider than the 1995.5 - 2004 Tacos overall. The rear end frame rail layout and dimensions are also different. The pre-2005 rearmost frame rails are actually more than four inches farther apart than the 2005+ ones (39.13" versus 34.8").

Even if you get the overall width and the mounting locations stuff customized for the transplant, there will be the even bigger issue of how to modify your pre-2005 Taco's rear body work to blend with the 2005+ wraparound ends.

By the time you do the custom body and remodeling work to make everything fit up, this would probably end up being the most expensive option.
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Enola Gaia
You might also want to keep track of this thread:

http://www.customtacos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=142635

... in which CT-zen CUtigerfan is dealing with the same sort of damage.
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dustinuhls
Enola Gaia said:
You might also want to keep track of this thread:

http://www.customtacos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=142635

... in which CT-zen CUtigerfan is dealing with the same sort of damage.
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Yeah, I saw that one too. I figured the 05+ bumpers would probably be a lot different. Just didn't know how much. Thanks
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Enola Gaia
dustinuhls said:
2) Cut the metal off below the body line from the rear bumper to the rear fender well and find a wrap-around style aftermarket bumper that would fill that void. Kinda like the All-Pro bumpers, but one that would be flush with the rest of the bed and require you to cut off the extra metal. I know I've seen one before, but can't remember who made it... Anyone know? ...
Click to expand...
Most heavy-duty wraparound bumpers require cutting the lower rear sheet metal for one or both of two reasons:

(a) to allow the side pieces to clear the bodywork

(b) to permit two additional mounting connections between the side pieces and the frame

However ... The height of the cut would probably still be lower than the upper reaches of your dent(s). This means you'd still be looking at repairing the body sheel metal around the taillights to make it look new. I don't know if it would be any easier to access and repair the damage after making a straight cut on the sides.
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Enola Gaia
dustinuhls said:
3) Find a 4-Runner bumper and do the same as above and remove the sheet metal all the way to the fender well. Don't know if this bumper would fit either. ...
Click to expand...
IMHO a 1996 - 2002 4Runner rear bumper would be a better candidate for a transplant than a 2005+ Tacoma bumper. The '96 - '02 front end body pieces can be transplanted onto a 2001 - 2004 Tacoma, so the width differences (if any) are a lot less.

I want to say someone did this years ago, but I can't seem to find anything about it now.

By the time you successfully accomplish an OEM 4Runner rear bumper transplant I suspect you'd have spent as much as it would have taken to install a (much stronger) aftermarket bumper.
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dustinuhls
Enola Gaia said:
IMHO a 1996 - 2002 4Runner rear bumper would be a better candidate for a transplant than a 2005+ Tacoma bumper. The '96 - '02 front end body pieces can be transplanted onto a 2001 - 2004 Tacoma, so the width differences (if any) are a lot less.

I want to say someone did this years ago, but I can't seem to find anything about it now.

By the time you successfully accomplish an OEM 4Runner rear bumper transplant I suspect you'd have spent as much as it would have taken to install a (much stronger) aftermarket bumper.
Click to expand...
I know there was a thread with a list of aftermarket bumper makers once, but I can't seem to find it. Do you know any specific companies that have what I'm looking for (wrap-around style). I've looked at All-Pro, MarlinCrawler, RoadGear, and something else I can't remember now.
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Enola Gaia
There's a listing of aftermarket offroad bumper manufacturers over at TTORA:

http://www.tacomaterritory.com/wiki/index.php/Aftermarket_Bumpers
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