I am the satisfied and excited owner of a new Dissent Offroad rear bumper (V3) on my LC100. I picked it up from FedEx freight on Thursday, and I have been wrestling it into place since then, using every small window of well-lit time I can find.
I'm writing this piece becuase I am unsatisfied with Dissent's documentation for the install, and I want to help the next person who finds themselves stumped from time to time. Hopefully, my notes can supplement Dissent's good YouTube video on the install process.
This write-up is going to contribute three notes to the bumper installation. First, I will make a note about the two holes that need to be drilled. Second, I will share the technique I used to drill those holes. Third, I will talk about wiring up the BR200 three-way lights.
I ordered a steel V3 with Roadvision BR200 three-way lights. My bumper is steel with black powder coat.
My LC 100 is a 2004 that's pretty stock. I'm getting the Dissent bumper now because I was rear-ended on the freeway in July 2022 and that collision destroyed my bumper cover, bend my aftermarket receiver hitch, and trashed some of the strutural bumper parts that attached to my rear cross member, which was also trashed.
By the time I received my Dissent V3 rear bumper, I found a replacement cross member at a regional salvage yard and had a local body shop swap it in for my trashed cross member. They welded it in and painted it. I've been driving around with that cross member as my 'bumper' since mid-August.
Like a fool, I discarded the bundle of wires that led from the truck's wiring harness to my receiver hitch's 7-pin electical connector. The hitch-end was trashed. Why would I need that short length of wires? Yes, I was and am that kind of dummy.
This is how I would recommend someone install their V3 bumper on their LC 100.
Find the forward rear wing pieces. They attach to the frame just behind the rear wheel wells, just inside of the exterior rear quarterpanel. The frame location is characterized by a hole that is a rounded rectangle, longer lengthwise than high. Dissent's documentation for their V2 bumper points out that you'll have to drill a hole in the bumper. The same is true for the V3 bumper.
In the video, the Dissent guy says to place the 5/8 inch hole so it is half way between the bottom of the frame and the bottom of the hole, and so it is halfay between the hole's left and right ends. Instead of measuring this location, I'd do something different.
(If you measure the location, you'll probably be OK. I made the mistake of making a mistake in my measurements on the DS frame, and I didn't trust my eye to correct it. I ended up having to widen my hole a bit, which made for ugly work that nobody will ever see because I'm never selling this rig.)
I suggest doing this. Place this forward wing piece with three of its four bolts, snugging them add to get good wing placement. (The one bolt you won't be able to use is the 3.5 inch bolt that will go through the hold you're going to drill.) In the bolt-less hole, mark its location with a pencil. That's where you want to drill. No questions.
Dissent recommends that you use a step bit to drill the hole in the frame. I don't own a step bit, bit I own a crap ton of other drill bits that can cut steel. And I'm at a point in my life when I take some pride in NOT having to buy a tool for a job, so dang nabbit, I was going to try to work with what I had.
My plan was to use build the hole using a 1/4 inch bit, then a 3/8 inch bit, then a 1/2 inch bit, and finaly a 5/8 inch bit. I'd use some extra motor oil I have sitting around in the garage to cool the bit as it worked. (This would be the first time I'd use a coolant when drilling, so I was excited. I learned about the technique watching an Adam Savage video, so I was excited to put it into practice.)
If you don't know about this technique, I'll describe what I did. The principle at work is that heat is bad for a drill bit. Dipping the bit into oil periodically (e.g.g after 5-10 seconds of cutting, for example) helps diffuse the heat and protect's the bit's cutting ability. I poured about a cup of oil into an old yogurt container and dipped my bit into the oil often as I was drilling.
My plan worked like a dream!
Then I discovered a problem that the Dissent video didn't prepare me for. (I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention, because they do mention this at 1:35.) Opposite the hole I just drilled there was suppose to be another hole that, together with the new hole, would allow the passage of a 3.5 inch half-inch bolt. That 'other' hole was there, but it was a 3/8 inch hole. Bummer. I needed to enlarge that, too, and it was quite inaccessible to me.
A quick head-scratch later led me to drop the spare tire. (Duh!) The made enough room for me to get in there with my drill and enlarge the small holes (one on each side) with my technique.
Once those holes were drilled and they took the bolt, the wings were ready for placement and the bumper itself could follow.
The Dissent video had very little information about wiring in these lights. The video did show a length of wires hanging from the plug hole in the rear quarter panel beneath and forward of the taillights, but it didn't talk about what those wires were connected to, etc. The back of the BR200 packaging did translate the function of each of the five colored wires on its harness, but that's the extent of the instructions I had in hand.
I am not an electrical guy. I'm barely a truck guy. I had no idea how to proceed. So I turned to ih8mud as we all should.
The instructions there suggested I either "(1) tap into the factory trailed box behind the DS plastic panel, of (2) use a Curt 56196 2-wire to 3-wire converter and only splice into the trailer harness." Not wanting to mess with the first option, I dutifully did as a trusting mudder does and ordered the part they suggested. Amazon would deliver it to me in 24 hours.
Meanwhile, I had emailed my guy at Dissent to ask about instructions for the BR200 install. He replied pretty quickly and said something about removing the taillights and 'tracing the wires back'. That got me to ask, "Why can't I just splice directly into those lines?" That seemed to be what Dissent was suggesting.
I drove to my local Napa, bought some 18 gauge wire in three colors, and bought a box of 10 splice lock connectors for 18/20 guage wires. When I ran my plan by the counter guy at Nana, he suggested I was on the right track. "Trust the manufacturer," he said.
These supplies along with lots of black electrical tape allowed me to splice into the five tail light wires. The dissent video showed their splices were long enough to hang from the plug hole to the ground, so I did the same. My wife then helped me check that each slice worked and that I had the functions for each splice correctly identified. Both splices correctly lit up the right parts of the BR200s when tested, so I was set.
I'll be sending back that Curt 56196 as soon as it arrives.
Before replacing the plastic plug hole covers, I whittled out a bit of the inside plastic structure to give the wires a way to pass through. I ran the wires through the bumper wing, up over the frame, and down into the spre tire area. Then I rand the BR200 harness through holes in teh cross member directly into the spare tire area. Here I will connect the wires and zip tie the extra length to the frame.
When I chose to manage my own repairs after getting rear-ended, I expected I would be taking on a bit job and that I would learn a bunch about my rig. I was right. What I didn't expect was a bumper install that would come with no written instructions at all. This document has info that I wish I'd had a week ago. Hopefully it will help the next person who chooses to install a V3 on their own.
I'm writing this piece becuase I am unsatisfied with Dissent's documentation for the install, and I want to help the next person who finds themselves stumped from time to time. Hopefully, my notes can supplement Dissent's good YouTube video on the install process.
This write-up is going to contribute three notes to the bumper installation. First, I will make a note about the two holes that need to be drilled. Second, I will share the technique I used to drill those holes. Third, I will talk about wiring up the BR200 three-way lights.
My Configuration
I ordered a steel V3 with Roadvision BR200 three-way lights. My bumper is steel with black powder coat.
My LC 100 is a 2004 that's pretty stock. I'm getting the Dissent bumper now because I was rear-ended on the freeway in July 2022 and that collision destroyed my bumper cover, bend my aftermarket receiver hitch, and trashed some of the strutural bumper parts that attached to my rear cross member, which was also trashed.
By the time I received my Dissent V3 rear bumper, I found a replacement cross member at a regional salvage yard and had a local body shop swap it in for my trashed cross member. They welded it in and painted it. I've been driving around with that cross member as my 'bumper' since mid-August.
Like a fool, I discarded the bundle of wires that led from the truck's wiring harness to my receiver hitch's 7-pin electical connector. The hitch-end was trashed. Why would I need that short length of wires? Yes, I was and am that kind of dummy.
Notes on the Install
This is how I would recommend someone install their V3 bumper on their LC 100.
Drilling those Holes: Placement
Find the forward rear wing pieces. They attach to the frame just behind the rear wheel wells, just inside of the exterior rear quarterpanel. The frame location is characterized by a hole that is a rounded rectangle, longer lengthwise than high. Dissent's documentation for their V2 bumper points out that you'll have to drill a hole in the bumper. The same is true for the V3 bumper.
In the video, the Dissent guy says to place the 5/8 inch hole so it is half way between the bottom of the frame and the bottom of the hole, and so it is halfay between the hole's left and right ends. Instead of measuring this location, I'd do something different.
(If you measure the location, you'll probably be OK. I made the mistake of making a mistake in my measurements on the DS frame, and I didn't trust my eye to correct it. I ended up having to widen my hole a bit, which made for ugly work that nobody will ever see because I'm never selling this rig.)
I suggest doing this. Place this forward wing piece with three of its four bolts, snugging them add to get good wing placement. (The one bolt you won't be able to use is the 3.5 inch bolt that will go through the hold you're going to drill.) In the bolt-less hole, mark its location with a pencil. That's where you want to drill. No questions.
Drilling those Holes: Technique and a Surprise
Dissent recommends that you use a step bit to drill the hole in the frame. I don't own a step bit, bit I own a crap ton of other drill bits that can cut steel. And I'm at a point in my life when I take some pride in NOT having to buy a tool for a job, so dang nabbit, I was going to try to work with what I had.
My plan was to use build the hole using a 1/4 inch bit, then a 3/8 inch bit, then a 1/2 inch bit, and finaly a 5/8 inch bit. I'd use some extra motor oil I have sitting around in the garage to cool the bit as it worked. (This would be the first time I'd use a coolant when drilling, so I was excited. I learned about the technique watching an Adam Savage video, so I was excited to put it into practice.)
If you don't know about this technique, I'll describe what I did. The principle at work is that heat is bad for a drill bit. Dipping the bit into oil periodically (e.g.g after 5-10 seconds of cutting, for example) helps diffuse the heat and protect's the bit's cutting ability. I poured about a cup of oil into an old yogurt container and dipped my bit into the oil often as I was drilling.
My plan worked like a dream!
Then I discovered a problem that the Dissent video didn't prepare me for. (I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention, because they do mention this at 1:35.) Opposite the hole I just drilled there was suppose to be another hole that, together with the new hole, would allow the passage of a 3.5 inch half-inch bolt. That 'other' hole was there, but it was a 3/8 inch hole. Bummer. I needed to enlarge that, too, and it was quite inaccessible to me.
A quick head-scratch later led me to drop the spare tire. (Duh!) The made enough room for me to get in there with my drill and enlarge the small holes (one on each side) with my technique.
Once those holes were drilled and they took the bolt, the wings were ready for placement and the bumper itself could follow.
Wiring the Roadmaster BR200 lights
The Dissent video had very little information about wiring in these lights. The video did show a length of wires hanging from the plug hole in the rear quarter panel beneath and forward of the taillights, but it didn't talk about what those wires were connected to, etc. The back of the BR200 packaging did translate the function of each of the five colored wires on its harness, but that's the extent of the instructions I had in hand.
I am not an electrical guy. I'm barely a truck guy. I had no idea how to proceed. So I turned to ih8mud as we all should.
The instructions there suggested I either "(1) tap into the factory trailed box behind the DS plastic panel, of (2) use a Curt 56196 2-wire to 3-wire converter and only splice into the trailer harness." Not wanting to mess with the first option, I dutifully did as a trusting mudder does and ordered the part they suggested. Amazon would deliver it to me in 24 hours.
Meanwhile, I had emailed my guy at Dissent to ask about instructions for the BR200 install. He replied pretty quickly and said something about removing the taillights and 'tracing the wires back'. That got me to ask, "Why can't I just splice directly into those lines?" That seemed to be what Dissent was suggesting.
I drove to my local Napa, bought some 18 gauge wire in three colors, and bought a box of 10 splice lock connectors for 18/20 guage wires. When I ran my plan by the counter guy at Nana, he suggested I was on the right track. "Trust the manufacturer," he said.
These supplies along with lots of black electrical tape allowed me to splice into the five tail light wires. The dissent video showed their splices were long enough to hang from the plug hole to the ground, so I did the same. My wife then helped me check that each slice worked and that I had the functions for each splice correctly identified. Both splices correctly lit up the right parts of the BR200s when tested, so I was set.
I'll be sending back that Curt 56196 as soon as it arrives.
Before replacing the plastic plug hole covers, I whittled out a bit of the inside plastic structure to give the wires a way to pass through. I ran the wires through the bumper wing, up over the frame, and down into the spre tire area. Then I rand the BR200 harness through holes in teh cross member directly into the spare tire area. Here I will connect the wires and zip tie the extra length to the frame.
Conclusion
When I chose to manage my own repairs after getting rear-ended, I expected I would be taking on a bit job and that I would learn a bunch about my rig. I was right. What I didn't expect was a bumper install that would come with no written instructions at all. This document has info that I wish I'd had a week ago. Hopefully it will help the next person who chooses to install a V3 on their own.
