Nothing better than the nice cold feeling of your garage floor after a long day of work, grabbed a couple beers, turned the radio on, and installed my new bull bar.

First n foremost, it was a breeze. I am not mechanically inclined one bit, and even i was able to git-r-done. I followed the directions that were included by first removing the front bolt on the tow hook, followed by loosening up the rear bolt and sliding the tow hook off. Then i put the front bolt back in a couple turns to help keep the backing plate in place as i cranked the rear all the way out.

stock tow hooks, see the two bolts? yup take them out.


(for those of you who havent done this, there is a small backing plate inside the frame rail that you want to keep your eye on while doing this so its easier to line everything up when putting it back together without having to fish around in there for it.)


Then i held up the westin mounting plate and carefully started threading the stock tow hook bolts back in, making sure i wasnt cross threaden them. After a couple beers this can be tricky, i mean come on, i only have two hands, laying on my back water dripping in my face from the slush melting off my bumper and a guy like me not knowing what the hell is going on. So anyways, yea its really not that difficult at all. If you ever played with lego's or lincoln logs as a kid your golden. A little hand eye cooridination goes a long way. Ok back on topic.... heres what it looks like once you get that far. (FYI dont tighten them down all the way right away, your going to want some slop in the bolts for final adjustments)



Here where it gets interesting if your doing it yourself. Trying to hold up the bull bar and slide in the bolts (with a washer on it) through the mounting holes to help take some of the weight and awkwardness out of it so you can start to put the other washers on and thread the nuts on. BUT since im such a big guy i just rolled up on my side and the let bull bar sit on my side and used my leg a little bit to help get things settled in so i could start snugging it all up. Hence i didnt get pictures of myself doing that step.

Once she was gettin nice n tight i took some measurements off of my liscence plate, and the floor, and used a small level to make sure it was sitting just right. Even running my fingers over the top of the bar underneath the valence to get just the right gap on both sides. I was very particular with this step so it added alot of time to the install, that and all the times i stopped to have another beer. Overall if i did one again it wouldnt even take me an hour. These are very VERY EASY to install.

Next step, get some lights up in that thang! Hope this helps for some of you guys!!






I will post more pics after i get some sleep. I do plan on taking my liscence plate completely off, and the first time i get pulled over or warned for it i will just drill two holes in my bumper and bolt it back in up higher. not a big concern for me right now.

o btw, yes i know my truck is dirty. its wisconsin, get over it. LOL

 

Hi

Just move the license plate up. Bottom 2 holes of LP into top 2 holes of LP bracket. Then get some thick double side tape, and stick to top of LP and front bumper, all done. Thats what I did.

Vince

 

thanks for the tip Vince.

 

Looks good man..

I am going to get one in the spring in chrome to match my side steps and add a second set of lights to it. Had one on my SUV and loved it.

 

HA! It isn't stock anymore Looks good Now for more lights!

 

Looks sweet man

 

Looks good!

Install is a breeze and having a 2nd person to help told the bar in place helps a ton!

So when are you going to get some nice off-road or fog lights to stick on there?

- NCSU

 

Question - So does the Bull Bar replace the tow hooks? Meaning you can't use the tow hooks with the Bull Bar on?

Thanks

 

Yes it replaces the hooks.


Im looking at getting some 130W KC SlimLites with the black housing. Probably this weekened so they are here by next weekend so i can have time to monkey around with wiring. which is something i know NOTHING about.

 

If you need some help shoot me a PM. I didn't know anything about it before I hooked up my lights either.

- NCSU

 

Looks good man but to bad you had to give up your tow hooks. I'm not willing to give mine up but then, I get in the nasty stuff alot.

 

My lights arrived via the little brown truck this morning. WHOO!

 

Looks great, do you remember what the exact size tools you used. I pick mine up tomorrow and may not have the patience to make it home before I install, parking lot installs are so much fun. I am also getting some lights to mount on. I'll post pics too if it is okay.

 

Yeah its ok you can post some pics, and no i dont remember what i used for tools. just a socket set and a cresant wrench could get the job done.

 

Didn't have the ability to take the install pictures, camera died while installing and taking how to pictures on another truck doing a CAI. But here is the finished product, my KC lights are to big to fit.