Trimming front bumper liner and mudflaps

So, in preparation for an upcoming lift and larger tires, I decided to trim the front bumper liner. I searched this forum and found 2 threads about others who have done this:

https://www.tundras.com/threads/where-do-i-trim-this.11691/
https://www.tundras.com/threads/trimming-fender-liner.23406/

What I found when I attempted this is that my liner was different than in most of the pics in those 2 threads (literally a different mold. I couldn't exactly match where to cut). I think it has to do with the plastic end caps vs the metal end caps. Also, the clearances are different between the 2 end caps.

So, here is how I went about it.

With the old tires (295 55 20), I had about 3 inches of clearance to the liner:


Here is what the liner looks like before trimming:


Removing the liner is is easy once you figure out the trick. Removing all the screws is easy, but it took me 20 minutes to figure out how to get past these damn clips. Apparently, the clips on the metal bumpers is different than on the plastic bumpers. For these, there is an insert in the clip that recesses into the hole on the end cap. You have to pry the clip up to release the insert. So, release the top clip, rotate the opposite end of the liner down, release the bottom clip, then rotate the opposite end down again. Then the liner just pops right out:


I took the minimalist approach with trimming and started by drilling 2 holes for where the screws would go through:


I went back and forth with placing the liner on the truck, drawing out a cut line, trimming, and then repeating. Here is my first cut line:


After all the cuts have been made:


Liner back on the bumper:

Here is the liner back in place and all bolted up:


I gained about an inch of clearance. At about 4 inches of clearance now:


About 2 inches of clearance at full lock:


I also removed the mud flap and there is a ton of clearance for the new tires:


After i got the new tires on, I was able to trim out a portion of the mud flap to accommodate them:


Here is the mud flap on with the new tires:



Thanks for looking

 

Thanks for this thread! I just used it to trim mine.

 

Thanks for the shared info, very useful, I was just about to consider the body mount chop on my truck and now that I see this posts, that’s definitely out of the pictures. Do the treads/posts delete? Or can I just save this link?

last question, what size tires are you running now? What size suspension? Etc

 

You can save the link or subscribe to the post.
I have 295/60/20’s with a 3.5” lift.

 

Thanks so much for this! My next weekend project for sure. May I ask what tool did you use to do the trimming?

 

I used tin snips for the large cuts and I used a sharp utility knife for the rounded cuts and for smoothing out all the cuts.

 

I just wanted to say thanks for the great write up with pictures! I took advantage of the cooler temperatures this morning and trimmed my fenders and mud flaps. The fenders came out great but got a little carried away on the passenger mud flap, oh well I’ll find a replacement.
Just wanted to let you know this was a God send, I put new 275/70/18 over a month ago on my 15 Tundra and was getting the slightest rub turning when going over bumps or breaking. I was so bummed with the rubbing, besides being sick with the rona I’ve been sick 27 days and counting.
Just having to worry about rubbing was driving me nuts and this fixed the issue and saved my sanity giving me little me time outside was great!!!!
An easy project sure helped the spirits!!!

 

Did you Trim your skid plate?

 

Nope, I didn’t think of it. what pard do I need to look at?
I’ll take a look tomorrow morning. thanks for the heads up.

 

The edge will have tire marks on it and make a loud noise locked thru any decent sized driveway dip. People bend the edge of them with a big crescent wrench about 1” or .5” up

this one isnt mine. I need to do mine. You can also cut them off with a cutoffwheel .

 

Thanks, I’ll look at it. that’s an easy fix.