I searched for hours last night but nothing I found seems like the right answer. Everything I found twas about cutting off not just the frame caps but a couple inches of frame tip too (which seems like it would make end cap mod impossible). When I look at mine though I can see there's about 1.5" of space before the tips bottom out in the brackets and just over an inch until the bolt holes on the the bottom line up. It looks like the brackets are hanging up on the frame extension where the front body mounts and factory bumper mounts attach.

Maybe photos will help.

The first one shows where I think I'm getting held up at the upper right, and at the lower left, how much room I have to go before I bottom out in the brackets (the small recessed tab running vertically is as deep as the frame tips can go).

The second photo is a close up of where it's contacting with the bracket backed off a little.

The third shows the mile and a half of room before I hit the crossmember.

 

So should I grind down flush part of the body mount frame extension or extend the 90 degree cut in the bracket a little further forward (see middle photo)? Or am I missing something entirely?

 

call arb. They have an office located in washington

 

I did. Because it's going on a 4runner but designed for a taco, and they're slightly paranoid about liability (for good reason), they "could not advise" me in any way but looking for a write up.

 

well thats more than helpful... Cut a little bit at a time till it fits. And i'd rather cut the bumper rather than the frame of your truck.

 

If the brackets are for a Tacoma.

I think it is going to be easier to just make brackets to fit your front end.

I know that is what I would do.

Looking at the pictures at first made no sense I thought wrong brackets with the bumper.

 

Well, after a good staring contest and some double checking, I decided to bust out the grinder again and shave down the corners of the body mount frame pieces. I only ground down about 1/2 the thickness of them - I didn't go down flush with the actual frame rails. Then I slipped on the brackets, which came MUCH closer to lining up, so I smacked them with a sledge hammer the rest of the way, pulled them off and ground a little more on the shiny spots. There's still a good bit of tension to get them on and off, but everything lines up now and the grinding presented a good opportunity to clean up some rust and repaint the frame tips.

Next, I consulted my ARB instruction booklet again to see if I should bolt the suckers on and noticed something interesting...the frame to body mount connections are a little different on the taco. There's a radiused cut at the upper corners (see photo). So I guess if there's some interference, either of my initial assumptions will work. Either grind down the corners of the body mount/frame junctions or cut the bracket back a little.