Front Bumper Lower Fascia Removal

[AXE]

I have been wanting to take off my lower front bumper fascia to spray it with Line X for durability and changing color to black.

It looked a little tedious with several trim clips and alot of bolts, mostly with shitty speed nuts to fasten them.

After looking at it, I figured 30 to 45 minutes and it probably took 2 hours because there are some hidden bolts you can't see that are behind the fog lights and damn hard to get to.

The tow hooks were also a bitch to remove in order to get to the bolts behind fogs. Tight spot and electric ratchets don't work on them unless they are wedged between bumper piece and fascia.

I don't recommend doing this unless you have a lot of tools for getting into tight spots and some patience. I thought this would take about 3 sockets and a couple of other tools. Took about 20% of my tool boxes and 10 trips back and forth.

Probably should have just wrapped it and called it good. We'll see if I change my mind after it's sprayed and back on.

 

[AXE]

Looks.like they had the bottom fascia mounted when some paint was sprayed. That's probably how those hidden bolts were installed. I'm gonna thread it up from the bottom when I reinstall it. Also reverse the bolt on the tow hook and it should be much easier to secure.

 

[wutang61]

I will tell you that it is much easier to pull the entire impact bar off and work on the assembly on a stand or sawhorses.

Pull the grill and shutter and you can remove the entire bumper assembly.

Looking forward to the results!

 

[AXE]

Yeah, I think pulling the front clip would be better.

When I pulled the skid, it looked pretty easy. All the visible bolts are pretty accessible. Then you figure out there's two bolts you can barely see near the fogs, then you decide to remove the tow hooks, then you cuss when there isn't enough room to turn a wrench! Then you cuss a little more when your electric ratchet head won't fit. Then you pull out a wooden dowell and wedge it in there and your ratchet fits and it all seems easy again. Then you cuss some more knowing you have to put those bolts back in.

If you ever needed to replace the fog lights or the corner bumper pieces you have alot of work. Better to pull the whole clip.

 

[ALLTRU]

I will tell you that it is much easier to pull the entire impact bar off and work on the assembly on a stand or sawhorses.

Pull the grill and shutter and you can remove the entire bumper assembly.

Looking forward to the results!

Extremely helpful images, thank you!

This YouTube video should help as well. Front bumper removal @ approx 10 min mark. He follows the same steps you posted. This is probably route I’m going as opposed to cutting metal.

 

[AXE]

I've watched that video. When I added my larger 295/70 R18 tires, I did trim about 1/2 off front bumper. It worked pretty well.

 

[ALLTRU]

I've watched that video. When I added my larger 295/70 R18 tires, I did trim about 1/2 off front bumper. It worked pretty well.

I recall the post. Same here, with +1 offset. Trimming metal gives me anxiety, but so does disassembling the front end… lol.

 

[AXE]

Got the piece coated with Line-X Premium, which should keep it glossy black to match paint.

It looks pretty good. It really makes the red tow hooks stand out a little better.

 

[AXE]

It was a PIA to reinstall too. Same hidden bolt was hard to get in. Also all those speed nuts were hard to get in place and centered. Some stay in place and others fall out. If you pull the locking tab out again, they tend to hold better.

Forgot I had this handy little Tite Reach tool from Amazon. It was laying right on top of my toolbox, eyeball high, still in the packaging for last 6 months. Would have made removing that bolt behind fog light much easier.

Also decided to buy the Milwaukee 3/8 inch extended ratchet. That thing is a beauty and I love all four of them.

Total cost of Line-X was $141. Total cost of all the tools I had out to do it was $1500.....LOL

It'll always easier the second time. We'll see how the HD comes.

 

[22redhotzr2]

I tried the hard way by trying to remove it with the bumper on, and it just took way too long. I found it much quicker and easier to just remove the bumper and then remove the fog lights to get to those hard to reach bolts. Had mine powder coated gloss black and then had ppf put on before I reinstalled it.

 

[AXE]

I tried the hard way by trying to remove it with the bumper on, and it just took way too long. I found it much quicker and easier to just remove the bumper and then remove the fog lights to get to those hard to reach bolts. Had mine powder coated gloss black and then had ppf put on before I reinstalled it.

Yeah, I could do it more easily now. But it's a PIA when you don't have much room to work. Without an extended ratchet arm or electric ratchet it's impossible. No way to turn the bolt with regular ratchet or ratcheting wrench.