We Add Front & Rear Bumpers & Rock Sliders on Our Project Toyota 4Runner

Armor is one of the first things that we like to install on any of our off-road vehicles. After all, modern stock vehicles, especially smaller ones, have lightweight bumpers made of mostly plastic and aluminum mounted to the frame. In addition to the strength of aftermarket steel bumpers, we like the fact that they add additional recovery points, space to add a winch, and can make room for a larger spare tire along with other must-have accessories.
In this story, we are going to show you key points of interest to help you make more-informed purchasing decisions, and we will also provide you with installation tips. We took our project Toyota 4Runner and Toyota Tundra to Fat Bob’s Garage in Layton, Utah and spent three days with installer Gavin Langan along with James Fonnesbeck and Jake Wilson from Expedition One to see exactly how its done. If you want detailed step-by-step instructions for any vehicle, they are available at www.expeditionone.com.
Before we dive into the details, there are some key things you should note. We used a lift for convenience, but you can do this project entirely at home and with pretty basic shop tools. You will need a few friends to help you set the bumpers and rock sliders into place, but that is to be expected with a project like this.
The process begins by removing the stock bumper, grille, and any sensors. Our 2018 4Runner didn’t have any sensors, so the process was relatively easy. Note that on our Tundra, one of the biggest steps is modifying the shutter system. Most people don’t realize that the shutters are actually a motorized part of the emissions system on newer vehicles. During this installation, we have to remove some of the Tundra shutters by cutting the shutter frame and then adding Expedition One’s aluminum upper mount.

Gavin Langan from Fat Bob’s Garage oversaw our install. He insists that even people with limited mechanical skills are capable of handling this install, but it does require time and patience.

Since our 4Runner had another aftermarket front bumper on it previously, we installed a new plastic front end piece and then trimmed it with an air saw as per the instructions. We used tape to mark the cut lines, and note that they don’t have to be exactly precise because the Expedition One bumpers actually go over the body work.

Because we added 35-inch Kanati tires, we installed Advanced Fiberglass fenders on our vehicle which required the fenders to be drilled out to install the new plastic fascia piece. Advanced Fiberglass already has the areas marked that need to be cut out, so this was a quick and easy task, and the fascia matched up perfectly once complete.

The Expedition One kit includes these sturdy support brackets for the front bumper.

The next step is to lift the bumper into place and fasten it securely.

The final step of the front bumper install was to add this lower steel guard that ultimately seals the gap between the bumper and our RCI aluminum skid plate system.

We had to take off the RCI aluminum skid plate during the installation process, but with the truck on the lift it only took 10 minutes to put back on.

Removing the rear bumper is relatively quick and easy, as it’s just a plastic fascia piece.

Organization is key to this project. We recommend that you inventory everything before you start just to make sure you aren’t missing anything.

Gavin Langan installs the Expedition One brackets to the stock steel bumper mount.

The next step is to measure and tape guidelines to the rear bumper plastic facia piece and use an air saw or cutting wheel to cut the bodywork in half.

You will need the help of two people to set the new Expedition One bumper into place.

The lift made it a lot easier to install these attachment plates to the rear bumper and frame.

We added Expedition One’s dual swing carrier system to the rear bumper. These are incredibly strong and the fit and finish is second to none.

The latch system on the swing carrier is fully adjustable so you can get an incredibly snug fit.

Because we chose to mount a spare tire carrier to the swing carrier system, the 4Runner install required repositioning the rear camera.

The rear camera is installed into Expedition One’s special bracket that mounts to this baseplate.

The rock sliders were quick and easy to mount. We used the stock Toyota bolts that were already attached to the frame, and we had several people help hold it into the correct position before tightening all the bolts. Installing the rock sliders only takes about 15 minutes per side.

Thanks to Expedition One , Advanced Fiberglass and Fat Bob’s Garage for their help and assistance on this project.