Walter-new jeeper
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Walter
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2018
- Threads
- 9
- Messages
- 173
- Reaction score
- 187
- Location
- Federal Way, WA
- Vehicle(s)
- Ocean Blue Wrangler JLUR, Expedition, Escape
- Thread starter
- #1
June 28th -
Finally got around to installing the bumper - it sat in the garage for 3 weeks. Couple things - I like it overall. But a couple things to point out. When I was installing it, the instructions said to put the winch plate on - but the winch plate was solidly attached to the bumper. We puzzled over this until we rolled it over and found two bolts were holding them together. Would have been nice if the instructions had indicated that the two pieces needed to be separated. While the instructions were quite detailed in how to get the fog lights out of the old OEM bumper, instructions about wiring in the new bumper were non-existent - only how to put the lights on the bumper. Since the fog lights are moved towards the middle, the connection to the plug is a bit tight and it cannot be reattached to the frame bracket. And there was nothing about where all that wiring could be secured.
Ran into some issues with the welded on nuts. Some of them were not positioned correctly either not centered or were at a slight angle. Over the weekend I attempted to attach a front license plate bracket between the bumper and a Hawse Fairlead, one side's welded on nut is off kilter and ended up stripped because of it. I need a longer bolt to get past the point where the threads are stripped.
Packing - very big box, actually seems to have been too big for the contents - it was loose enough inside that things would jostle around - so smaller box or something to keep things in place better. Everything was thoroughly wrapped in foam sheets and bubble wrap. The paint on the tow hooks was scraped off on a few spots from shifting and bouncing around. And the fairlead mounting plate was bent back so there is a gap between the fairlead and bumper at the top.
Bumper installed.
Recovery hooks showing paint damage. These were taken minutes after unpacking.
Finally got around to installing the bumper - it sat in the garage for 3 weeks. Couple things - I like it overall. But a couple things to point out. When I was installing it, the instructions said to put the winch plate on - but the winch plate was solidly attached to the bumper. We puzzled over this until we rolled it over and found two bolts were holding them together. Would have been nice if the instructions had indicated that the two pieces needed to be separated. While the instructions were quite detailed in how to get the fog lights out of the old OEM bumper, instructions about wiring in the new bumper were non-existent - only how to put the lights on the bumper. Since the fog lights are moved towards the middle, the connection to the plug is a bit tight and it cannot be reattached to the frame bracket. And there was nothing about where all that wiring could be secured.
Ran into some issues with the welded on nuts. Some of them were not positioned correctly either not centered or were at a slight angle. Over the weekend I attempted to attach a front license plate bracket between the bumper and a Hawse Fairlead, one side's welded on nut is off kilter and ended up stripped because of it. I need a longer bolt to get past the point where the threads are stripped.
Packing - very big box, actually seems to have been too big for the contents - it was loose enough inside that things would jostle around - so smaller box or something to keep things in place better. Everything was thoroughly wrapped in foam sheets and bubble wrap. The paint on the tow hooks was scraped off on a few spots from shifting and bouncing around. And the fairlead mounting plate was bent back so there is a gap between the fairlead and bumper at the top.
Bumper installed.
Recovery hooks showing paint damage. These were taken minutes after unpacking.
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