New bumper install, first attempt=FAILURE

[KDXSR5]

 

OK, I finally got around to trying to install my Marlin front bumper. I got the six front bolts on, I tightened the large bolts to 55 ft-lbs, and the smaller two bolts to 30 ft-lbs (is this enough? I don't want to break them). Now the two bolt holes with welded on nuts that are on the added mounting brackets don't line up at all. The are too narrow, and are too far back.

/

On the passengers side, the factory hole is at the bottom of the line, and the hole with welded on nut is at the top of the line if the bottom of the line is the front of the truck (I hope this makes some sense).

\

The driver's side is the exact opposite. Bottom is factory hole, top is where welded nut + hole is located, if bottom of line is the front of the truck.

So, what should I do? I am thinking I should drill the factory holes the make them 45* angled ovals towards the middle/rear of truck, then use the welded on nut. The problem is that the body mount is in the way of doing that, so I would have to modify the rubber part of the body mount.

____________
l /O            O\ l   LOOKING DOWN FROM THE TOP
************
FRONT OF TRUCK

The / and \ are the oval cuts I will have to make, with the bottom of the cuts being the factory hole. The Os are the body mounts, the / and \ will interfere with these. The rest of the stuff is making a very rough diagram of the frame.

The other option is grind off the welded on nut, drill out the added bracket on the bumper, and use a new nut. This would mess up the powdercoating, plus it is thicker metal, so it would be harder to drill. It is not my first choice.

Any other ideas?

 

[kneedownnate]

Have you tried installing all the nuts/bolts loose before tightening anything up?  Would that get you close enough to atleast get all the bolts started?

[KDXSR5]

Yes. I spent from about noon until about an hour and a half ago trying to line them all up. I first installed the six front bolts loosely, then do the PITA bolts, but they would not line up. So I had my dad (this was out at his shop) push on the bumper while I tried to line the PITA upside down bolts up. Would not work. So I took all the bolts off, and tried to line up just the passenger's side PITA bolt, but it interfered with the body mount. So I removed the body mount, and tada, the bolt finally went into the nut. I then tried to line up the other PITA bolt (after removing the other body mount), but guess what? It was so far off that I couldn't even see 1/4 of the hole for the driver's side bolt. So, I again removed the bumper, then bolted it on with the six bolts I could get to work, and torqued them down. It is still sitting out at the shop (I was also working on the front axle and tailights, so no street ready.), and I am trying to figure out what I should do. On the plus side, it looks so much meaner with the bumper installed! Ideas?

[Thomas P]

would it work with a body lift?

[79coyotefrg]

[KDXSR5]

The body mount isn't the big problem, the holes are not lining up is the problem, so I think a body lift is unnessesary. I am still kicking around the idea of a one inch body lift though, but that is another topic. Are those torque specs ok? I will try to mess around with a pic to show what I am talking about.

These are the holes that line up. The red ones work, the blue one is not used








These are the holes that do not line up. The red is the hole that the bolt is supposed to go through, the blue is the welded on nut on the bracket. As one can see, they do not line up. The way I want to fix this is make the red hole into an oval so I can get a bolt into the bumper. The problem is that I can not get a drill up in there from the bottom, and I really don't feel like pulling the cab just to drill two holes.

[Rocksurfer]

Marlin doesn't make a bumper for a bodylift.

[KDXSR5]

Marlin doesn't make a bumper for a bodylift.

That wasn't the question.

[Rocksurfer]

That wasn't the question.

I was just refering to 1985's comment about a bodylift and that your holes should line up.

[Rocksurfer]

It is odd that the holes don't lineup, has your truck ever been in an accident? Could have a bent frame, or maybe all that flexing tweaked it.

[KDXSR5]

If this truck has ever been in an accident, it was in the right rear corner. The bed side is rippled, and the frame is pushed over 1/4 of an inch. So, to my knowlage, no the truck has not been in an accident in the front. The carfax I did on it said there was no wrecks recorded, just smog stuff in colorado. I don't think this truck flexes enough to mess up the frame. The hole that it mounts to is right next to the body mount, and the bracket interferes with the body mount rubber between the frame and the radiator support. It is almost like the bracket was welded on upside down, or backwards, or is just off. The distance between the holes is narrower than the holes in the frame by about 1/2-3/4 of an inch, plus the bracket holes are about a 1/4 inch to far back. This just frustrates me a little bit, because I was not planning on doing this much work to put a bumper on.

[Not A Toy]

You should see what we had to do to get fearofrunners rear bumper to fit, took quite a bit of tweaking but in the end it was worth it we did alot of reaming, pushing pulling......could you get a angled drill in there with a uni bit?

[94MtnYote]

 My buddy had a similar problem putting an All-pro bumper on his 84. (no body lift)
He ended up just hogging out the body mount holes a little, like you mentioned earlier.
 He was kinda 
It sucks, but thats what had to be done after half a day of trying to make it fit.
The bumper came with an 89-95 sticker on it which was kinda weird too.
 But it ended up being the right year after all.
And looks great with the XD9000i all tucked in there.

[KDXSR5]

the only way I am going to be able to drill it out is to lift the cab/rad support off the frame far enough to get a drill in there. It isn't a problem, because we have a couple of forklifts out at the shop, but it will take a lot of time, plus it is a PITA. The rear bumper I had no problems with, but this front one is kicking my I think I will try to get a plasma cutter from a friend, because I may be able to fit that up in there. Or a torch. But I will try to drill it first. Taking cab/rad support loose is a last resort.

I still don't know what winch I want, I will probably buy myself one at tax time, or maybe next christmas. Maybe a Warn 9.5ti?

[kneedownnate]

I wonder if it's either a matter of the holes not being drilled properly or the tabs pulling from the heat when welded? 

[KDXSR5]

Well, I am going to go finish my electrical stuff I was working on, and finish taking my front axle off. I will hopefully get the axle back on after dinner, and I will drive the truck with just the six bolts for now. I will mess with the bumper tomorrow, maybe tuesday.

[KDXSR5]

Ok, I finished with my electrical stuff. I took the front axle off to replace the spring tie bolts, but they were not broken, which is wierd if you have read my exhaust thread. I replaced them anyways, and put everything back together. Tomorrow is LCE header install day. Bumper will have to come next weekend, or some other time. Anyone use a Warn 9.5ti? I am thinking about using one, just looking for opinions.

[94MtnYote]

 On the topic of LCE header install.
 Be very careful when removing the header nuts from the studs in the aluminum head.
 On mine some of the nuts were seized to the stud, and the whole stud came out of the head. which was fine since I purchased new studs. 
However, through a combination of beer and excitement. 
I ended up stripping the very outer threads one of the aluminum stud holes on the head. 
 It was just a few threads and I was able to chase the threads with the proper tap and install the new stud. I did not want to bother with a helicoil.
 All this might be obvious, but thought I'd just throw my  out there.

[KDXSR5]

Thanks for the info. I probably should have bought new studs, but I didn't think of it at the time. I have been soaking the nuts in rust remover stuff a Toyota tech gave me over the last couple days. I am pretty sure it should be illegal. It smells so bad, and it burns when it gets on my skin, almost as bad as gasket remover. All the bolts were coated with mud and rust, but a couple sprays of that stuff, and all the rust/mud was gone! I think the stock manifolds were switched when the engine was replaced, but I am not sure. I guess I will find out.

[Cheesemaker]

What I'd do, is call MarlinCrawler.  They will be more than willing to help out!  Which might be after Christmas!

[Tool Pimp]

Just weld it on 

[KDXSR5]

I was going to call, but that is the problem, it is Christmas time. I want it done this long weekend, so I will probably egg out the holes in the frame enough to bolt the bumper on and call it good. Plus, if they want it back, I just wasted a good chunk of change on some high quality powder coating. I would weld it, but it is powder coated, so nah, thats ok. I will probably still call to tell them the kind of crap I had to go through to get it to line up.

[DN1911]

the part probably just pulled some after welding. my best advice is to just oval the holes in the bumoer a bit and get over it. you are trying to install a man made part on a 20 year old truck, things start to vary more and more over time. as a fabricator this is a common problem as all tolerances can be 100% all the time.

[Bazzi]

congrats on your new bumper... I love how he looks...  I would recomend loose bolts a litle head. and some muscle.

And I would paint that thing after finding out that it fits.

[ToYocRawleR]

If it were me and wanted to keep it strictly "bolt on" i would cut those tabs off bolt em up then bolt the bumper on and have em welded back to the bumper. just my  . Good luck with it.

[KDXSR5]

Ok, I got it on with six bolts. I am happy, it looks nice. I will worry about egging out those holes at a later time before I put a winch on it. Pics!