Did a 99+ "Fat Lip" bumper swap on my 1997 SR5

jrmyrnsm

New member
Well over the weekend I traded my Outdoor Logic bumper for a 99 front bumper and a fat wad of cash. I had been going back and fourth about doing the 99+ conversion or just getting a 96-98 for the direct bolt on. I had read in some places that I would have to make custom brackets and weld a bunch of stuff to get the bumper to fit and then I found 1 or 2 threads here and on yotatech that made it seem a lot simpler than that so I figured what the heck, I'll give it a try. I am happy to report the conversion is not that hard. Took me about an hour in my garage and I probably could have done it in more like 30 min since it was really just taking a few measurements and drilling 2 holes... Anyways here the pics/info on the swap.

My car when I bought it with the ODL bumper:
2011-12-18_11-55-11_566.jpg


Front bumper and grill removed (you could leave the grill on but I wanted to take it off to put my "t" back on anyways):
2011-12-27_21-06-48_678.jpg


Factory mounting location on my 97:
2011-12-27_21-07-04_555.jpg


Mounting plate on the 99 bumper with my new hole marked( it was just over 3 inches from center to center...)
2011-12-27_20-48-28_306.jpg


And with the 1/2" hole drilled:
2011-12-27_21-06-26_78.jpg


Now the thread I found on yotatech recommended cutting the two bolts off that were on the 99 bumper just above where I drilled my new hole but they fit fine without being removed and the one on the front fit right into a little grove on the 97's mounting surface that let me set the bumper in place while I lined up the bolts...
2011-12-27_21-24-26_948.jpg


And the finished product with the grill back on and the "new" bumper in place:
2011-12-27_21-47-00_927.jpg


And thats it. Really a pretty simple swap over all. The turn signals arent hooked up since I had aftermarket ones spliced in with the ODL and I havent decided if I'm gonna get a bull bar/grill guard or just mount my lights to the front bumper... Anyways I figured they're were others out there considering the swap and I wanted to let you all know its not a tough swap. I'll try to get some finished photos in the daylight tomorrow.
 
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Nice swap! Looks good. I am not entirely sure I understand the switch however. I would have killed for that ODL bumper. Care to enlighten us?
 
Nice swap! Looks good. I am not entirely sure I understand the switch however. I would have killed for that ODL bumper. Care to enlighten us?

Yeah I figured there would be a fair amount of this exact response on here... the ODL was on the t4r when I bought it and I had factored selling the bumper into my buying price since I spent a little more than I originally planned to get a 4x4 and 5spd... I liked it but I figured Id be happy with the 99 and some cash money...
 
When i look at the pics from bottom to top it looks way cooler! Did Micah buy that ODL bumper from you?

Yeah I guess you see a lot more swapping the other way! And yes I sold the ODL to Micah over the weekend to put on his tacoma.
 
Glad to hear it all worked out.

Personally, I hate the look of a 'fat-lip' bumper.

You're not alone. 1st thing I did to my 99 was put on the 96-98 front end. The fatlip looks good head on, but I dont like the side profile. Different people like different things. =}

OP, good for posting. When I was doing my swap I couldnt find anything that had a 'how to'. No doubt your post will help others.
 
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Wad of money: An variable amount of money rolled up and wrapped with a rubber band.
Let me use it in a definition for you Singtoe.

I exchanged one of the baddest bumpers available for one of the ugliest bumpers and a wad of money.
 
Go ahead and tell us, what is a wad of money?

Wad of money = 1 month mortgage payment...

Don't get me wrong I liked the bumper and may get another plate bumper down the road but for now I got to get my 4x4 5speed and still have a driveway to park it in :)
 
Glad that bumper worked out, and turned out looking pretty good! I'm having a bumper party next week it looks like...and now it looks like that ODL is going on the runner, and the ARB on the Taco...pics when its all done of course...
 
Glad that bumper worked out, and turned out looking pretty good! I'm having a bumper party next week it looks like...and now it looks like that ODL is going on the runner, and the ARB on the Taco...pics when its all done of course...

Thanks again for finding the bumper. Glad we were able to make the swap. I'll look forward to seeing how the bumpers turn out on the 4runner and the taco.
 
Just curious, did you put the actually bumper beam back on (it mounts to the frame rails) or did you just put the bumper cover on?
 
Just curious, did you put the actually bumper beam back on (it mounts to the frame rails) or did you just put the bumper cover on?

Right now its just the cover, ill be working on getting the beam on this weekend...
 

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