Removal of 150 bumper to fit Toyota towbar

[maxjj Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close maxjj]

just fitted the hayman reese tow bar yesterday, it came with some basic instructions. I only did the bumper removal and all the bolting on bits.

I did order the Toyota wiring harness, which I will try and fit over the next few days with the tekonsha P3, rear power supply and dual battery kit also. Figured that with the Toyota wiring harness there will not be any warranty issues.
I am saving up all the bits that require trim and rear seat removal and will do it in one go when I got a couple of clear days, ie early next week..

Have to admit I prefer the hayman reese unit to the toyota unit, which I had on my previous Prado 150 that I just sold. Another benefit is that there is no cutting of bumper involved. Only issue I can see at the moment is fitting the 12 pin plug.

Might consider using the normal bracket for the anderson plug and either mount the 12 pin underneath and weld a bracket to protect it or hide it under the car until its hooked up the van or trailer.

[drop bear Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close drop bear]

I know this a few months past the last post, but I fitted a genuine tow bar and harness without the removal of the bumper or any of the interior trim. I didn't even need to drop the rear tank guard. The only piece that needed to be removed was the plastic panel directly behind the right rear mudflap. This was done to get access to cut the exhaust mount pins. I designed a very accurate template and used it and with a hole saw and thin cut off wheel on a grinder all done in 3.5 hours. That's everything from opening the shed at the start to washing up my hands at the end. Very easy job to do it all I must say.

[ko762 Moderated member Find all posts View Profile Close ko762]

Ive fitted the genuine towbar myself also. Its satisfying to know you've saved a few hundred dollars of install fees. I did remove the bumper, but as drop bear said, this isnt necessary if you can manage to do the bumper cut out carefully.

One thing to note though is that I did not cut the exhaust bracket mount. I was going to do this step last but after fitting it all up I feel there is quite a decent gap between the exhaust and the tow bar. Admittedly, I havent taken it over very intense corrugations or done any chassis flexing rock crawls etc but I havent heard any contact between the tow bar and exhaust. Has anyone had any issues with the original exhaust bracket left in place?

Also to note is the instructions refer to removing a lot of the internal trim to run the wiring and trailer light module. I found this was way over the top and just by removing a few plastic clips/pins you could manouver your hands around and get behind the trim to run the wiring etc.

Thanks,

Ken

[maxjj Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close maxjj]

You need to remove it for the Hayman reese as there is 4 bolts that go in to the chassis, where in the Toyota bar you cut the hole.
Removing the bumper is not that big a deal.

[Slick1 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Slick1]

One thing to note though is that I did not cut the exhaust bracket mount. I was going to do this step last but after fitting it all up I feel there is quite a decent gap between the exhaust and the tow bar. Admittedly, I havent taken it over very intense corrugations or done any chassis flexing rock crawls etc but I havent heard any contact between the tow bar and exhaust. Has anyone had any issues with the original exhaust bracket left in place?

Thanks,

Ken

I installed the HR towbar and also did not cut the exhaust mount bracket. Clearance was good enough. It's been 4 months and haven't noticed any clanging - although no rough corrugated roads.

[teddy Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close teddy]

good afternoon drop bear I saw you done your toyota genuine tow bar and you did not remove the rear bumper bar,any hint how you did it.Ta....Teddy