Interchangable sport bumpers

[badpontiacs]

Burb bumper on my dually (late 80's bumper)
[IMG][/IMG]

[killthewabbit]

It's been a bit since this thread, but I kind of got stuck looking for inner brackets, bracket bolts and polished carriage bolts. I ended up just biting the bullet and buying the LMC bracket kit (#17), the bumper bolt kit (#6), and the license panel hardware kit (#12) here:
http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/cc/full.aspx?Page=24

I got it all installed today, so I thought I'd take some pictures and let yall take a look.

[killthewabbit]

Firstly, here's the bumper when I got it home. I grabbed the license panel and wiring, and I took the Blazer brackets with it. I was originally planning to use the outers from the Blazer and score some inners later.





The scuff in this picture was the only actual damage on the entire bumper


Here's the Blazer brackets again. The inners are entirely different from the pickup inners;

[killthewabbit]

Of course the bolts are a few decades old and weren't happy to be removed, no matter how much PB Blaster I squirted on them. I got a few of the bolts out, broke a few more, and finally cut the last one out with a dremel and some swearing.



After it was stripped of all brackets and hardware, I cleaned it up with some soap and water, along with a SOS pad to minimize that scoff in the post above. It came out pretty good, I think.

[killthewabbit]

So earlier today, I finally got some time to go put the bumper and brackets/bolts from LMC. The step bumper doesn't really go with the look I'm shooting for, so off it came. It's a pretty heavy SOB, let me tell ya.





Finally, no bumper on my truck. I like the no bumper look on my old stepside, but I think it looks a bit off for fleetsides

[killthewabbit]

This is the part of the whole thing that threw me off the most. As I said earlier, I ordered the bumper brackets from LMC, along with a bracket bolt kit, a polished carriage bolt kit, and a license panel bolt kit. I've ordered stuff from LMC before, and it's hit or miss on getting everything correct the first time. Or it's of dubious quality. Or it just doesn't fit right. Not this time, though. I got absolutely the correct parts, and every bolt, washer, lock washer, and nut that I was expecting - and I got it quickly. The kicker was that everything fit perfectly. I was amazed how easily it went together.

[killthewabbit]

The hardest part of the entire install was a burned out bulb in the Blazer's donated license plate panel. I ended up just breaking it and pulling it out with some needle nose pliers. The wiring was a little hacked up from the hitch that was on the step bumper, but I got it working and zip-tied out of the way a bit.

After I took the following picture, the driver's side looked a bit lower than the passenger side, so I loosened the bolts and used a floor jack to "adjust" the fit a bit until it looked pretty good.

[killthewabbit]

It's all together, snugged down, and wired up. I was pleasantly surprised about how well LMC's parts fit my truck. I highly recommend the bumper bracket kit and the associated bolts.

Anyway, there you have it. Happy New Year everyone.

[baclay9]

Looks good man! Love sport bumpers on these trucks

[killthewabbit]

Thanks! I'm pretty happy with it

[J Knight]

Looks great, I bought the same kit from LMC for mine a couple of years ago plus a new bumper, license plate bracket and light. I was also pleased with the fit.

[LEEVON]

Looks good wabbit. I'm on the hunt for one myself. Couple of years ago bought one from a forum member and sold the stocker for the same money, just required a little elbow grease. They really look good on these trucks.