DIY front bumper cover replacement help (1 Viewer)

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Joined
May 13, 2019
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23
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374
Location
Austin TX
I ordered a new front bumper cover for my 15 LC today. Its going right to the painter for priming, color, and clear coat, then I'll pick it up and do the replacement myself. I'm hoping someone reading this has removed and/or replaced the stock cover and can walk me thru the process and any gotchas. Appears to be pretty straightforward. I've watched the ARB bull bar video and a couple others, but none had headlight washers or parking sensors. So all help is appreciated but specifically...

How are the parking sensors attached? retaining ring behind? are there clips, connectors, etc. Remove them before the bumper cover to avoid yanking a wire or wait til the bumper is loose.

How are the headlight washers attached? Appears the cover on the pop up is larger than the opening, so somehow do they need to come off before the bumper cover gets removed?

Fog lights. Do they come off with the bumper or are they mounted separately? I'm guessing that I just remove the bulbs and the lens/bezel come off with the bumper and are pretty easy to swap when the bumper cover is off. The fog light lenses are pretty weathered so I'm thinking of upgrading or at least replacing them. Any suggestions for an upgrade? I've already gone to LED bulbs (diode dynamics)

Any connectors, clips etc that wont survive removal? I'd rather get them in advance.

Hey bloc... You interested in helping out for a couple Shiners?
 
I ordered a new front bumper cover for my 15 LC today. Its going right to the painter for priming, color, and clear coat, then I'll pick it up and do the replacement myself. I'm hoping someone reading this has removed and/or replaced the stock cover and can walk me thru the process and any gotchas. Appears to be pretty straightforward. I've watched the ARB bull bar video and a couple others, but none had headlight washers or parking sensors. So all help is appreciated but specifically...

How are the parking sensors attached? retaining ring behind? are there clips, connectors, etc. Remove them before the bumper cover to avoid yanking a wire or wait til the bumper is loose.

How are the headlight washers attached? Appears the cover on the pop up is larger than the opening, so somehow do they need to come off before the bumper cover gets removed?

Fog lights. Do they come off with the bumper or are they mounted separately? I'm guessing that I just remove the bulbs and the lens/bezel come off with the bumper and are pretty easy to swap when the bumper cover is off. The fog light lenses are pretty weathered so I'm thinking of upgrading or at least replacing them. Any suggestions for an upgrade? I've already gone to LED bulbs (diode dynamics)

Any connectors, clips etc that wont survive removal? I'd rather get them in advance.

Hey bloc... You interested in helping out for a couple Shiners?

I actually plan to remove mine in the next few weeks to remove and polish my headlights, so it could be a good test case. Plus if mine is down for a few days waiting on hardware I have a daily driver to get around.

If you want to do some investigating.. the headlight washers just pull up. You can probably have a look at how the caps attach easily. Getting to the back of the parking sensors can be done via the wheel well liner. If my experience with Toyota’s tells me anything the process is to unhook the harness from the back and transfer sensors over once the bumper skin is on the bench. This is a guess though.. they very well could have their own harness that disconnects at once.

Someone posted a thread about upgraded fogs from a Tacoma that fit with just minor mods. Not sure what to search for. I wonder if the glass could just be polished. I’m happy enough with how mine look with yellow bulbs.
 
So you in for a couple Shiners?

Looking at the parts diagrams, it looks like the headlight washers have a colored cover. They run about $10 a piece so no big deal if I have to replace them.
 
Yep
 
I just did this when I chopped my front bumper.
The Australian images arb bumper install video was very helpful.
As for the fog lights and parking sensors they are wired in on a single connector seen in red. The headlight washer, I couldn’t figure out the proper way to disconnect the hose so I just pulled it apart at the connector seen in yellow.
496DB13A-62CD-4AB6-A9EB-C9AE476BE689.jpeg

It went back together just fine on install.
All the connecting clips are straightforward, once your in there, find the button to “unlock” the clip and pull apart.
320F0431-865F-418C-8B74-664AF02D00AD.jpeg
 
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Thanks a bunch. When you say ABS, those are the distance sensors? And it looks like there's a clip of some sort in the bumper hole. Yes? Do they come off to go on the new bumper?
 
@FlightMedic178, Any issues with the clips that hold the bumper cover to the fenders? Wondering if I should get replacements
 
Radar? camera? Any cautions there? I think they're grill mounted so just need to be unplugged rather than removed and mounted in the new bumper. Do headlight washers stay attached to the LC or come off with the bumper?
 
The cruise radar and front camera are mounted in the grill, you will only need to disconnect the wires to remove the grill.
 
Bumper just back from the painter. For now, it has its own bedroom.

IMG_3238.jpeg
 
...
As for the fog lights and parking sensors they are wired in on a single connector seen in red. The headlight washer, I couldn’t figure out the proper way to disconnect the hose so I just pulled it apart at the connector seen in yellow.
View attachment 2103717
Were the headlight washers attached to the bumper or the truck? Did you have to take off the colored washer covers before you took off the bumper or when?

Same for the fog lights. There's two tabs on the bumper cover that look like they line up with the fog lights? Do they hold the fog lights in place or what?
 
OP, where did you order the bumper cover and how much was it (if you don't mind)? I have to do this as well.
 
Were the headlight washers attached to the bumper or the truck? Did you have to take off the colored washer covers before you took off the bumper or when?

Same for the fog lights. There's two tabs on the bumper cover that look like they line up with the fog lights? Do they hold the fog lights in place or what?
The washers are attached to the bumper. I never took off the covers because I didn’t replace mine, just chopped off the bottom 6 inches. Same with the fog lights, I never removed them. Sorry I couldn’t be more help.
 

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