Well my MC bumpers came in today and they looked really good. I unpacked them, painted them up and pulled my old bumpers while they dried. The front one was so far off that I could only start one bolt so I called the help desk. The guy I talked to was very helpful and very polite. He explained that the bumpers are made on a jig (pattern consisting of an old frame) and there might be some "tweaking" involved. While I understand that I was a little miffed at spending that kind of coin on something that had to be adjusted. *shrug* No worries. Well I reamed out 7 of the 8 holes and got it bolted up, after 2 hours of "install-remove-ream-install-remove-ream". Looks ok I guess.

The rear bumper I was told is usually about 1/4" tight, just lever it in there, catch the front bolts, lift with a high-lift (which I havn't bought yet ) and catch the last two. Easy right????

After grinding for an hour to knife edge the bumper a little we got her wrapped around the frame. The issue now is that the front bolts won't go in because the tubes that wrap around the bed are hitting the body. I can't rotate it up anymore because it hits the roll pan. Now I understand that I need to notch th roll pan a little and that's great by me. What I can't understand is why the lower tubes are hitting the body. Hell I bought this thing to protect that sheet metal not rub it all to crap.

Those of you that have installed these please help me figure out what I'm doing wrong. I've got about 3 hours of free time tomorrow and was hoping to go wheel this thing, now I'm installing a "bolt on" rear bumper in that time.


Thanks in advance for your help.


They do look tough though.

 

Thats crappy man, I was considering the MC rear bumper and still may. I don't have any advice for you, just wanted to say good luck.

 

Wheres the pics ??!?

 

If this thing doesn't go on tomorrow I'll show you some pics of a bumper lying on the sidewalk with a "FREE" sign on it.

 

I'll be on my way to NM if thats the case, lol.

 

True that.
hah, got my fingers crossed.
jk
good luck, you should try calling them again

 

Ahhh the "bolt on" experience...gotta love custom!!!!! I have a front bumper that I got off of ebay, looked great, winch bumper. Till I used it winching out a buddy and almost ripped the the thing off my truck. P O S. SOOO, it's been sitting on my garage floor waiting for me to get to a welder so I can make it work a little better. I hate spending money on things that don't just "go on!." Plus my bigass BudBuilt skid had to be modified to work with it. Thankfully I'm a packrat and keep all my stock stuff just in case mods don't go right!!!

Can't you just put new holes in the mount fwd of the original ones or is there just not enough material?

 

That's a good idea but I don't think it'll work. At full press upwards (or what pressure I can apply with a fractured sternum) there is enough daylight in the hole to insert a screwdriver (dangerous) but I can't push it high enough since it hits the lower part of the bed behind the tires. I'd have to drill new holes about hals-a-hole higher and that'll compromise the mounting.

I'm going to get a beer........

 

I did but they are closed, and I HATE to bother MC with something that I should be able to figure out myself. Hell I installed an Aussie and new thirds without ever having done it. This should be easy.

That and I don't want Marlin to send me a Jeep pamphlet as an incentive towards my next buy as a joke. I'll bet he has that kind of sense of humor.

 

I found my new sig line !!
yess

 

Dang it!!!!

 

ha, i thought we all wanted to be famous ?
Especially deathpuss, whereever he is...

 

Is the mount too short? I mean is there a difference between the 4Runner bumper and the truck bumper? Is this the bumper you bought:

http://www.marlincrawler.com/images/...rofile_550.jpg

 

That's the one.

 

Do you think there is a difference between the 4Runner/pickup? The one in the pics on the site look pretty darn close to the sheetmetal.

 

Has your truck been wrecked in the front?

On something like this you seriously need to post pictures for people to help you out, JMO..

On the rear bumper you know that you have to trim sheet metal off the lower part of the bed right? just a heads up..

Turned out I had to trim about 5" off the lower quarter panel to clear the bumper...



sure mine is mounted on an '81 but I am pretty sure you need to trim the rear quarters on your truck from other installs I have seen.

 

mine took about 10 minutes to put on. It took longer to take the old one off. required no trimming or anything. completely bolt on. Maybe it's your frame that is tweaked.

 

Sweet B4Runner!!!! That is a lot of sheetmetal to trim Do what you have to do right?

 

That's why I'm wondering if there is a mount difference...

 

There were NO instructions with this. I had no idea I'd need to cut the rear quarters and that really pisses me off. If I have to start cutting a lot of sheet metal I'm going to lose my mind. I know that a straight body isn't important to most folks but I bought these to save that metal.

5 inches of the rear quarters??? WTF!!!!! Might as well make a flat bed out of it and throw a 99% rust free factory bed in the trash.