- Thread starter
- #521
nice addition with the secondary jerry can holder - good call!
RLC rear tire carrier / swing out / jerry can / custom fab bumper (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Willy beamin
- Start date
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Picked up from the powder coat shop today...
Drove home careful; w the tailgate down, the bumper barely fit inside the 200.
Placed in the garage on the same pallet that came with the MT4x4 front bumper.
Speaking of which, color match is pretty much spot on.
James at RLC does some quality work folks.
Shout out to Hugo at AZ Powdercoat in Phx, as well.
Drove home careful; w the tailgate down, the bumper barely fit inside the 200.
Placed in the garage on the same pallet that came with the MT4x4 front bumper.
Speaking of which, color match is pretty much spot on.
James at RLC does some quality work folks.
Shout out to Hugo at AZ Powdercoat in Phx, as well.
Inventory of pieces that came w the rear bumper...
These pieces were powder coated:
These pieces were not powder coated:
Here are the larger pieces:
And, lastly, was advised to pick up a slightly larger tire pin connector from EMS. So, powder coated the outside sheath:
Current plan is to install the bumper next Monday.
Am hearing chatter a few minor additional hardware pieces should be secured in the meantime.
Will keep this thread updated.
These pieces were powder coated:
These pieces were not powder coated:
Here are the larger pieces:
And, lastly, was advised to pick up a slightly larger tire pin connector from EMS. So, powder coated the outside sheath:
Current plan is to install the bumper next Monday.
Am hearing chatter a few minor additional hardware pieces should be secured in the meantime.
Will keep this thread updated.
Nice. The new pin fits in the sleeve welded to the swing arm, that sleeve will go in your part s bin. I used red loctite to get then t handle to stop trying to unscrew while snugging up the collar.
- Thread starter
- #525
you are all prepped up for the install, cant wait to see it - nice going!
Will followup w details later, but long story short we did this yesterday over 9 or 10 hours - and a couple hours prep Fri night. And that was just to get the bumper on - after Tex and DPA both had already had experience installing DPA’s bumper. The jerry can attachments were an easy peasy one man job, fwiw.
Note that without the assistance of @TexAZ and @DPA200, it would have been a lot harder. Grinder, ratchet straps, mallets, brute force manhandling - all part of the process. Having three for the install is highly recommended.
Very happy w the end result tho. Will get better pics up later...
Next, man up and cut the rear bumper and do the electrical. That may be a couple of weeks...
Note that without the assistance of @TexAZ and @DPA200, it would have been a lot harder. Grinder, ratchet straps, mallets, brute force manhandling - all part of the process. Having three for the install is highly recommended.
Very happy w the end result tho. Will get better pics up later...
Next, man up and cut the rear bumper and do the electrical. That may be a couple of weeks...
Last edited:
RET2
SILVER Star
Last view of your rear facia before chopping it up? If I had it to do all over I would keep mine intact and buy one from a junk yard to cut up and plastic dip the new 'wings' black to match bumper, thereby keeping the return to stock option open. It took me 2 weeks of running half azzed before I summoned the courage to cannibalize my stock unit.
Rolled the rear bumper to body attachment point up high tech style w vice grips, then applied white rustoleum paint where paint chipped. This allowed the wing brackets to fit.
Not entirely a point of no return, but makes the prospect of going back to stock bumper less likely...
Not entirely a point of no return, but makes the prospect of going back to stock bumper less likely...
Day shots...
Looking good man! Does that 2nd jerry basket hit at all....or just very close?
RET2
SILVER Star
Very close, question is too close? It would be for me.
Been running around w it. No rubs yet. Is more close than woulda expected.
RET2
SILVER Star
put 40# in it with a higher center of gravity and hit a rough trail and things could change... quickly 
I’ve put weight on it and shaken it aggressively. But, loaded on trail will be true test.
Will add some uhmw and tighten the handle attachment.
If still a concern, may drill new holes in the bottom of the jerry can holders or...
Re-weld this piece so the offset is out rather than in...
Will add some uhmw and tighten the handle attachment.
If still a concern, may drill new holes in the bottom of the jerry can holders or...
Re-weld this piece so the offset is out rather than in...
Or just add an offset bracket... easier than re-welding...
Well, spoke too soon...
The driver side is rubbing.
Passenger side is fine.
The driver side is rubbing.
Passenger side is fine.
Tightened the handle attachment, which seemed to help in general. The uhwm sheet should arrive soon, which will help w metal against metal when the swing arm is in go position.
As for the rubbing, this guy appears to be the culprit. Can’t help but think it was welded together as if it were meant to go on the passenger side. As you can see, in the driver side orientation, all the offsets go towards the vehicle.
As for the rubbing, this guy appears to be the culprit. Can’t help but think it was welded together as if it were meant to go on the passenger side. As you can see, in the driver side orientation, all the offsets go towards the vehicle.
The more I play around and tweak this bumper, the more I absolutely love it.
Last night, repositioned the bumper down slightly so the lift gate does not make contact with the top of the bumper any more. A secondary benefit is the jerry can holders moved slightly away from the back of the vehicle. (Still might tweak the driver side jerry can attachment piece, tho.)
Cut the old bumper and installed; am pleased w the result. Will take some daylight pics to share.
The reposition did cause the bumper to be slightly angled down. My wife says only my ocd self would notice.
To remedy, could add some minor spacer to push the wing support down or play around w the <1/8” space still avail when liftgate is down.
The latter, I don’t really want to come up any more as I’d like to add 1/16” uhmw right in that 1/8” space and don’t want to take up any slack in the liftgate drawbridge wires.
So, that leaves do nothing or spacers at the wings.
The spacers would increase the gap between top of new bumper and bottom of the cut old bumper - which is currently about flush. Additional minor trimming would then ensue. Total gap would be about the width of the spacer - 1/8” or 1/4” at most - so wouldn’t be horrible. Actually, since currently running virtually no gap, adding a gap would give margin for error on the trails. But, given the support braces and how tight this bumper is installed, I’d be hard pressed to ever need the margin. Never dropped a decent amount of vehicle weight on the rear end before. But, that could change in the future.
So, am leaning towards running as is, install the BB sliders that just came in and upgrade to 2703 up front and 2724 out back to give some lift back after the weight gain.
At that point, I may revisit the wing spacer idea. Welcome thoughts, tho.
Last night, repositioned the bumper down slightly so the lift gate does not make contact with the top of the bumper any more. A secondary benefit is the jerry can holders moved slightly away from the back of the vehicle. (Still might tweak the driver side jerry can attachment piece, tho.)
Cut the old bumper and installed; am pleased w the result. Will take some daylight pics to share.
The reposition did cause the bumper to be slightly angled down. My wife says only my ocd self would notice.
To remedy, could add some minor spacer to push the wing support down or play around w the <1/8” space still avail when liftgate is down.
The latter, I don’t really want to come up any more as I’d like to add 1/16” uhmw right in that 1/8” space and don’t want to take up any slack in the liftgate drawbridge wires.
So, that leaves do nothing or spacers at the wings.
The spacers would increase the gap between top of new bumper and bottom of the cut old bumper - which is currently about flush. Additional minor trimming would then ensue. Total gap would be about the width of the spacer - 1/8” or 1/4” at most - so wouldn’t be horrible. Actually, since currently running virtually no gap, adding a gap would give margin for error on the trails. But, given the support braces and how tight this bumper is installed, I’d be hard pressed to ever need the margin. Never dropped a decent amount of vehicle weight on the rear end before. But, that could change in the future.
So, am leaning towards running as is, install the BB sliders that just came in and upgrade to 2703 up front and 2724 out back to give some lift back after the weight gain.
At that point, I may revisit the wing spacer idea. Welcome thoughts, tho.
@JZelnick - Congrats! Excited for you. yes, definitely remove the stock bumper, set it aside somewhere safe, and install the RLC bumper. I’d recommend running around for a little while w just the rlc bumper on before trimming the stock plastic bumper.
When you are confident the rlc bumper is where you want it, retrieve the stock bumper, take your measurements and cut.
I used a combo roto zip and jig saw (w metal cutting attachment) as I tried getting creative maximizing how much of the stock bumper I could actually salvage. Other tools will also work.
Finished it off w black trim that masked the rough cuts.
The install of the bumper itself isn’t the easiest. Recommend doing it w 2 other sets of hands. And be willing to get creative to make it work. It may not be perfect, but the asymmetry of the rlc bumper helps mask most imperfections and it is an awesome bumper.
Post pics; interested to hear your experience as you do the install!
When you are confident the rlc bumper is where you want it, retrieve the stock bumper, take your measurements and cut.
I used a combo roto zip and jig saw (w metal cutting attachment) as I tried getting creative maximizing how much of the stock bumper I could actually salvage. Other tools will also work.
Finished it off w black trim that masked the rough cuts.
The install of the bumper itself isn’t the easiest. Recommend doing it w 2 other sets of hands. And be willing to get creative to make it work. It may not be perfect, but the asymmetry of the rlc bumper helps mask most imperfections and it is an awesome bumper.
Post pics; interested to hear your experience as you do the install!
