3rd Gen. front bumper cut - the high line

I decided to cut my bumper and people seem to like it. I took some photos along the way and will share them to help others navigate the process a little better.

First though, I was sent this video right after I had cut off the driver side bumper and it helped me feel confident in what to do with the inner liner and other clutter. He did a slightly different cut, but it's still very helpful:

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Here's the finished product:












The first picture I saw (somewhere on TW) that made me want to do this:



I saw it a while back and liked the way he followed the body line right below the fog light. Then I saw several people on IG who were doing bumper cuts, but following the lower body line. I decided to go for the high line like this guy above.

Taping. I taped to get the general lines as straight and aligned as could be, then I penciled it on the bumper and removed the tape. I didn't try and draw the curve, I did those by hand with the dremel.



The tools I used.



The first cut. It looks rougher than it is because the plastic balled up along the edges. I definitely made some mistakes and yelled loudly a handful of times. But it's ok, that's what edge trim is for!



Didn't try to make the corner cuts with the composite cutting wheel I was using. I came back and kind of worked at the pieces from a few angles to get them small as possible, then grinded it.





Cut the inner fender liner at the same height and straight across.



Used a grinder on the dremel to make the curve at the corner.



Done cutting and done for the night.



Honorable mention to this space heater and my little buddy.



Decided to clear out some clutter behind where I cut. This is about a 4" extension of the bumper beam and is held on by that first bolt you see.





Removed those on both sides. You may not be able to see in the image, but this is a big step in making this look intentional and not odd.



Then you get to this support bar. Where it is attached to in this pic is gone, so it was just hanging out in space.



I just bent it up and out of the way for now. I cleaned it thoroughly after this pic which really helps it not stand out and look a little cleaner from the side.



Got some basic black edge trim from the auto parts store. Made the cuts angled because I have to look at it every day, you know?



It was 38 degrees out, which made the trim a little stiff. I got out the little buddy to heat up sections. I also cut off the other side's worth and put it in the sun on the hood to warm up. That helped a lot.

TIP: Sand the cuts down as smooth as possible to make applying the trim much, much easier.



The finished product again. Hope the helps!

I'm @ozark_taco on Instagram and the founder of LIVSN Designs if you want to follow / check out our pants.

 

Not bad.

 

From 50 feet you can’t even tell

 

Hang onto those bumper inserts because there's a captive nut inside that you need to mount bumpers in the future. I suppose you could just thread a nut from the inside instead. Another option would be keep it, cut it, fold it, weld it, and then you'll have a more sturdy insert plug for the captive nut.

You may want to keep the hook, hardware, and a wrench in your under-seat storage for if you get stuck. Without a plate/tube bumper, you don't have any real forward facing recovery points.

The line you cut is almost the exact same for the SSO slimline stage 2 bumper. So you could pretty easily add that in the future.

 

same thing I thought when I saw the pic...the slimline bumper would look great on there now.

 

Those have gone into the "old parts that will likely be useful in the future" box. Thanks for the heads up.

There is a good recovery point in the same place on the opposite side of the skid plate. It's a big loop that I use in recovery situations. I could be wrong (it's happened before) but the only time I could see using the hook I took off is to spread out a strap load across two points in the front to get a better pull angle. But I've never had to do that before. I wouldn't snatch or be snatched off the hook because the rope could easily just slip off.

That is true. It looks like it's almost exact. One day!

 

That is your transportation hook, not a recovery point. It's not rated and will snap eventually.

 

Well damn, the more you know. Thanks for pointing that out. I never thought twice about using any loop or hook on the front. I'll either put the hook back on or replace with something like this for the time being: https://www.bpfabricating.com/products/tacoma-recovery-tow-hook

I'm going to remove the picture above with the hook so people don't follow my lead and pull that off.

 

Looks good, working up the nerve to cut into mine. When cutting edges like that, if you drill right at the corner you can get your radius, as well as not having to stop short of the corner with the cutting wheel. Just have to make sure to get drill placement correct.

 

Thanks for the tip. I did that when cutting a trap door into my sleeping platform. Didn’t even think of it here.

 

Did you do anything to wheel liner? I have seen many people do this but they put in another liner so mud and rocks don't smash the fog lights or mess up the wiring. Or did you just leave it open. I just did this to my taco but I want to get protection on the fog light wiring and it's a b**** to clean after a muddy trip so the liner would help with that

 

I haven't yet, and yes it's a pain in the ass to clean up there. I bookmarked this page recently as something I might order: https://geartechcustoms.com/shop/ols/products/toyota-tacoma-fend-x-wheel-liners

 

@OzarksAGD wow that wheel liner looks amazing I'm definitely going to invest in that.
Thanks for the share

 

Suuuuuub’d! Great work

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-lower-bumper-cut.625555/

 

Watching that video, I don't see the damage he was talking about getting?

 

That would have been a very helpful thread to find when I was researching this! I searched the forum and google but apparently I was blind. However, I did find pictures of that red truck and used them as a reference for how the higher cut would look.

The idea of heating the inner liner and zip tying it up is great.

 

Thanks!

Maybe it's scratched up underneath. Or maybe he just needed a little justification .

 

Looks great!

 

Glad I saw your post! I love the hi line cut much more than the low line. I WILL be doing this during the week! Absolutely live the look and will easily allow me to fit those 33" tires I've been eyeing!