SoCalChuckster

Many of you have seen the pictures from the few of us who have recieved our awesome new bumpers from LOD. I spent most of the day today installing the rear bumper (with the help of "Silver Rubicon", thanks again Steve) and taking lots of pictures, about 40 something pictures in total. The only real set back we had when installing the bumper was the lack of instructions and we were shorted a few nuts and bolts from LOD. Thankfully i live near a Lowes and Chris from LOD is always very helpfull and just a phone call away. I want to appologize in advance, since im not as computer savy as others and only know how to post five pictures per post, so this will be a mutiple post write up.

So first things first. Take off the spare tire and remove the stock spare tire carrier by removing the eight bolts. Cut the wire to the third brake light, leaving enough wire so you can reuse it if need be. After removing the stock spare tire carrier i then re-installed the eight bolts to plug up the open threaded holes.



To remove the stock bumper there are four metal brackets holding the bumper onto the rear crossmember. Two brackets are located on the rear of the crossmember next to the exhaust and two brackets are located on the sides of the crossmember. These bolts are circled in red in the pictures.





Take the piece of crap rear bumper (which is surprisingly very light in weight) and give it away, its not worthy of being on or near your jeep anymore lol.

SoCalChuckster

Have a friend help you lift this masive beefy rear bumper onto the back of the jeep. The mounting plates on the bumper fit flush on the outside of the framerails. It is a very tight and secure fit, showing just how good this bumper was designed by LOD. Each side of the bumper's mounting plate has four holes. The first two holes closest to the front of the jeep will line up with two threaded holes in the frame. Use the short bolts and washers to secure the bumper to the frame and to properly allign it. For the rear set of holes, the top one utilizes a hole already in the frame. The bottom hole will have to be marked and drilled. If you do not have a right angle drill (which i wish i had after this install) you will need to mark the hole, remove the bumper and drill the hole. Drill these holes out to 1/2" through both sides of the frame and secure with the bolt, two washers and nut. Before you remove the bumper there is one more hole you will need to mark and drill. On the bottom of the rear crossmember there are two holes for bolts on either side of the hitch. The passenger side utilizes a hole already in the crossmember. The driver's side must me marked and drilled. Secure both of these with bolts, washers and nuts.

SoCalChuckster

Now that the rear bumper is installed, it is time to install the tire carrier. The tire carrier mount has a zerk fitting, making it able to stay lubed throughout the year. Look inside of the tire carrier mount and clean out any metal flakes and powder coat flakes left over. Spread a generous amount of lithium lube onto the large tire carrier pin located on the bumper, and onto the tire carrier mount itself. Have a friend help you slide the tire carrier rack onto the bumper, and a rubber mallet helps too as it is once again a tight fit. A large metal bracet is then bolted onto the bumper behind the tire carrier pin. This bracket covers the top of the pin and also has an extra hole in it for the spring loaded pin in the tire carrier to lock into place so the tire carrier stays locked open when opened all the way. Chris from LOD suggested that i place a large washer between the top of the tire carrier pin and the bracket, to prevent any excess rubbing. Secure the three bolts from the bracket to the top of the bumper, and the one bolt throught the hole on the top of the bracket into the threaded hole into the tire carrier pin.

SoCalChuckster

Here is a close up of the spring loaded pin and the hole it falls into. This pin allows the tire carrier to stay open and prevents it from swinging back into you.

SoCalChuckster

Install the supplied latch using the four bolts provided into the threaded holes on the drivers side of the tire carrier. Attatch the supplied U bolt and two lock nuts onto the latch. The U bolt is what secures the tire carrier to the bumper. Tighten the nuts to you desired taste. The U bolt is adjustable so in the future if the tollerances change and you have a rattle, you can tighten or loosen the U bolt to rectify the problem.

SoCalChuckster

Screw on the adjustable rubber mount onto the rear of the tire carrier. It should be snug, but not tight, against the rear door of your jeep. This adds to the stability of the tire carrier and also helps prevent any type of rattles. The rubber mount is high lighted in red in the picture.

Lastly bolt up the spare tire carrier mount using the three bolts supplied. The exposed threads on the middle bolt is one of the two bolts utilized as the Hi-Lift mount. The spare tire mount slides over the bracket you just installed. The mount has three coresponding vertical holes. These holes make the tire mount adjustable depending on the back spacing of your tires/rims. Select the hole that works best for your tires/rims and use the supplied nut and bolt to secure the two brackets to each other.

I ordered my bumper with the optional lights, and it arrived at my door step with the lights already installed in the bumper. I havent had time to wire it up...but i dont think you need a write up to do that lol.

Thats it....sit back...have a beer...and marvel at the beauty that LOD has created for our awesome JK's.

SoCalChuckster

Some more "look at the sexy bumper" pictures.

SoCalChuckster

more pictures...

SoCalChuckster

The two bolts in theh red boxes are the Hi-Lift jack mounting bolts just FYI

SoCalChuckster

last bunch of pictures