Bumper Adjustment Mod

[05silvycrew]

I've never been happy with the gap GM left between the grile and upper bumper pad. my gap was about 7/8" to 1". I dissasembled the front end to see what I could do to close this up. A second set of hands would have been nice, but was not necessary

 

Before:

 

 

Alright, here goes. The Bumper Adjustment Mod

 

1) Start by taking your headlights and turn signal lights out. If you can't get these out, abandon all hope and turn in your man-card.

 

 

2) Remove the plastic radiator cover that bridges the gap between the grille and core support. there are 7 little push pin connectors.

 

3) Remove the grille by pulling straight out on the 6 retaining clips

 

4) If you have these scoops behind your tow hooks, you might want to remove them. There are two 10mm bolts, one on each side of the frame. The scoops are a one piece plastic with a hinge on the top outside edge of the frame, so the top has to slide over the frame then down and out of the way. This is the drivers side

 

5) If you have fog lights, it is just easier to get them out of the way to give you a little more space. Two 10mm bolts hold them in.

 

6) Now with everything out of the way, you have clear access to the 6 bolts that hold the bumper to the frame brackets. A 19/32" socket worked for me.

 

A. There is one on each corner bracket

passenger side:

drivers side:

 

B. There is one on the top of each frame rail

Passengers side:

Drivers side:

 

C. There is one on the inside and toward the bottom of each frame rail

Passenger side:

Drivers side:

 

Remove all six and set the entire bumper aside. You'll want a blanket or something soft to lay it on….I used the lawn.

 

 

7) The BUMPER BRACKET that originally sat below the frame needs to be cut to allow the bumper to move up. Do not cut your frame! I don't have any before pictures, but if you crawl under and look at it before you remove the bumper, it is kind of obvious what needs to be cut. This is a pic of how much needed to be cut off the BOTTOM OF THE BUMPER BRACKET to get it to be able to move up.

 

If you're afraid to cut this bracket, put everything back together, pick up your purse, go back inside and watch Oprah. Since this bracket goes underneath the frame, this is a necessary step to move the bumper up. Again, this is the bumper bracket....NOT THE FRAME BRACKET, DON'T CUT THE FRAME!

 

 

8) Take the retainer clip/nut off of the bottom bumper bracket and place it on the frame lower bracket. Again, I don't have any before pictures, but here is the clip/nut I'm talking about already moved from the bumper bracket to the frame bracket.

 

 

9) Now for the washers, I used these ½ zinc coated flat washers.

Five or six on the top of the frame, three or four on the bottom frame bracket. The reason you don't need as many washers down on the bottom bracket is because you're going to switch the way the plates originally stacked. Before, it was the bumper bracket under the frame bracket. Now, it's the bumper bracket on top of the frame bracket. You're going to have to do the adjusting by trial and error here because every truck is different and your washers might be a different thickness than the ones I used.

 

 

10) Waddle your way back to the truck with the bumper. Without spilling any washers, carefully set the bumper back down on the washers.

 

 

11) Start the threads on the top and bottom bracket bolts to secure them all. Now tighten these down good and snug.

 

 

12) Put your grille back on the truck to see how the clearance is. I left about 1/8" gap between the upper pad and bottom of the grille. If it's too tight, readjust with less washers. When you're satisfied with the gap, double check the fitment right to left, adjust accordingly and tighten back down.

 

 

13) Put your turn signal lights and headlights back in.

 

 

14) At this point your bumper should be saggy at the fender openings. that's because we haven't addressed the corner brackets yet. If you have help, now would be a good time for it. Push the bumper up toward the fender until your desired gap is achieved. Use a vise-grip to clamp the corner brackets together, double check that you have the gap you desire. Do the same to the other corner.

 

 

15) When both drivers side and passenger side corner brackets are clamped together, step back and take a look at the fitment of both sides from MANY angles. When you're completely happy with all the gaps, crawl back under and drill (with a 7/16" bit) through the existing hole in the corner FRAME BRACKET into the bumper corner bracket. I reused the stock bolt with new washers and nuts. Tighten these down.

 

 

16) Release the vise-grips and double check all hardware and make sure it's secure and tightened down

 

 

17) Reassemble the fog-lights, plastic scoops behind the tow-hooks, and plastic radiator cover. Shut the hood.

 

 

18) That's it! Step back and enjoy your new tight lines!!

[team3-8]

Thanks for the info and pics.

[jro909]

interesting, i've actually been sniffing around for how to take my bumper off as it is slightly sagging on the passenger side...needless to say i'd rather not take the grill out lol...

[rudyb]

Nice mod! Very clean look in the end.