WDYD Avid rear bumper and swing arms look good

[Quailhunter]

Over the weekend I installed an Avid rear bumper with dual swing arms. 80% of the effort involved removing the original pieces, cutting 3.5” off the end of the frame, and cleaning up the old weld lines. Once that was complete the installation went very smoothly. I don’t have a lot of experience with such parts, but I am an aerospace engineer, and this was a quality piece of work.

Only one mild gripe … they did not include new mounting fasteners. The old ones kind of work but they really should have bigger heads and beefier washers. I found a great selection of such stuff at Belmetric and will swap them into the vehicle when they arrive.

 

[Thelandbruisers]

What did you end up doing to the exhaust? Any pics?

 

[bencallaway]

I've been running this bumper on my 80 for 2-3 years. Its taken a beating and held up pretty well. I was frustrated when I got it because the 2" receiver was too small to receive anything. I've got a super heavy 37" spare mounted on it and I hopeful it will hold up. Havent tested it on a full blown trip yet.

 

[Rusty Marlin]

No turning back when the angle grinder comes out...
The bumper looks good.

Too bad to hear about the 2" receiver hitch issue.

 

[Quailhunter]

I've been running this bumper on my 80 for 2-3 years. Its taken a beating and held up pretty well. I was frustrated when I got it because the 2" receiver was too small to receive anything. I've got a super heavy 37" spare mounted on it and I hopeful it will hold up. Havent tested it on a full blown trip yet.

Your post got me very worried so I just tested various items. A standard Reese and a standard Haul Master both fit fine. Another off-brand fit OK but was snug. Would probably wire brush and lubricate it. Then I tried a Harbor Freight luggage carrier and it did not fit at all. The corners were basically square without any relief. So it appears to me that most units will work but a few may need attention on the corners.

 

[Quailhunter]

What did you end up doing to the exhaust? Any pics?

I just cut it off above axle. That was the recommendation in their installation sheet. A friend does muffler work and I may ask him to do something better eventually.

 

[bencallaway]

Your post got me very worried so I just tested various items. A standard Reese and a standard Haul Master both fit fine. Another off-brand fit OK but was snug. Would probably wire brush and lubricate it. Then I tried a Harbor Freight luggage carrier and it did not fit at all. The corners were basically square without any relief. So it appears to me that most units will work but a few may need attention on the corners.

Yea I ended up with an extension that I grinded the corners off of and used a small sledge to force in there. I only use mine for a bike rack.

 

[davidp14]

looks great! what was your wait time for the bumper?

 

[Quailhunter]

Nearly a year. I like the folks at Avid very much, but they are a small business with a great product, and their supply chain simply failed. They estimated 3 months in February 2022 and slipped 3 months at a time after that. About 6 months after I placed my order they took their ’80 rear bumper off their web site - they just could not get the parts fast enough to make a sales commitment. Good for them for that. I hope the supply chain stuff settles out and lets them run a more normal business again.

 

[jkl72-40]

How much does it weigh?

 

[Quailhunter]

How much does it weigh?

Not sure exactly. I think that FedEx had the pallet at 180lbs. I would guess the bumper with the swing arms is 120 to 150 lbs. Enough that it feels heavy when two decent sized guys lifted it into place. The mounting fixtures for the spare tire and the Jerry cans are probably 20 lbs each. The sheet metal is 3/16”.