I got my new rear bumper today. I did not take a picture of the bumper, but the first thing was to remove the old bumperettes.
it makes it a lot easier if you put the jeep on the lift. then of course, it is difficult to get your hand in to hold the nuts. sometimes people drop the tank to get at them, but I found that my short 11/16 socket on my 1/2 inch drive ratchet is just the right size to fit in there and wedge against the gas tank. then I removed it with another ratchet. piece of cake.
then since I always do stuff by myself I had to figure out how to lift the bumper into place and get the bolts started. First I tested the bolts that came with the bumper, and of course the holes in the frame are too small to fit the bolts so I enlarged them with my die grinder. I used a piece of cardboard to make a template of the bumper bolts, then enlarged the holes a bit more than necessary to get the bolts in. Then, the bumper weighs about 75 pounds so it is pretty awkward to hold it in place. once again the lift proves its value.
I set the bumper on my rolling project center and lifted the jeep to the right height, then started the outside 4 bolts.
I removed the cart, lifted the jeep back up, and finagled the new bolts in. my fingers are just barely long enough to be able to reach and start the nuts by turning the bolts and just holding the nut in place. then once all nuts were started I tightened them using the same technique I used to take the old ones out. then I drilled a small hole through the bottom strap holes into the frame and just used self tapping bolts to hold them in place.
then I put the D-rings on.
finished. All said it took less than an hour.
