Aftermarket Bumper Looks Wrong?

[ReefWaters]

I purchased an aftermarket replacement rear bumper for my 2006 Chevy Silverado 2500 from a local supplier. I believe it was made in Taiwan. The bumper looks exactly like the original. If you get right up on it and look around the edges it does appear to be cheaper but that's okay. It also purchased the replacement mounting brackets from the same company. All of the mounting bolts lined up well and the installation wasn't too bad.

 

The problem is that the mounted height of the new bumper is an obvious 2 or 3 inches lower than the factory bumper. It just looks bad! It is also tilted forward a little. I'll try to get a picture in the light tomorrow and post it here.

 

Is it possible they gave me the mounting brackets for a different year truck? It doesn't appear that I did anything wrong. There doesn't seem to be any room for adjustment. Its just odd. The company I purchased it from says that' the same bumper they always order. I'm going to call them back and complain some more and hopefully get a better answer out of them.

 

I'm just curious if anyone has purchased one of these bumpers and had good or bad luck with them? Or if you have any suggestion at all on what I could have done wrong.

 

thanks for the advice.

 

RW

[blacksierra01]

I had the same problem on a '05, I reused the stock brackets and it got a little better. And taking what I've learned from messing with Honda cars, aftermarket products never fit exact or look 100% factory. Also, i think the price of the OEM rear bumper was around $1000 CAD, and the aftermarket was $400.

[tyhuck]

Just ditch the flimsy stamped bumper, and go with a heavy duty bumper like a Ranchhand. Thats what Ide do anyway. Cheaper than a OE replacement, and looks better than a cheap aftermarket knock-off for just a few dollars more.