2in body lift kit and front bumper dilemna

[Purple Pixie]

Ok so maybe I was a bit of a nob entrusting my beloved truck to a garage, to fit a 2 inch body lift kit with no prior experience of such a job but my hubby didnt have a clue what to do and so sort of talked me into it... anyway had the work done and its ok (feels really strange to drive now but im sure i`ll get used to it), the thing thats really p*ss*d me off is the fact that the front bumper is still in its original position and makes my truck look as if its been in an accident! I didnt think the front bumper would be attached to the chassis, stupidly I thought it was attached to the body and thus would go up with the rest of it... What should I do now, can the bumper be repositioned to make the front end look more normal? My hubby wants to fiddle with it and is itching to get drills and stuff out, im scared! Someone tell me what to do, please.

Distressed Pixie!

[steve s]

get some brackets made they will lift the bumper ,and i hope yours is a 3 lt and not a 2.4 as the rad will need lowering aswell.makes the surf look good doesn't it

[Scorpion]

I see from your info that you have a 3.0 ltr so no need to worry about dropping the radiator. When I lifted mine I fitted brackets for the bumper, I had drawings somewhere but can't find them at the moment. Anyhoo, it's an easy job to lift the bumper, let your hubby loose with his drill!

[Rustinho]

I'm loving the name "purple pixie".

In terms of bumper relocation brackets I saw some stuff at B&Q the other day that would probably do the trick but it was being sold off as an "end of line" thing. They were painted (brown) brackets mixed in with loads of cupboard fixings, right angled brackets for building cupboards with, etc, so it might be worth a look there...

[TFB]

yep a nice easy job, nip along to a local machine shop or metal suppliers and scrounge bit of plate steel, two bits about 3 x 3 should do.
Take the bumper off, mark on the plates the holes on the chassis for the bumper, drill them out then make two more holes 2"' further up on the plate.
Use the orginal bolts to mount the plates to the chassis and use 2 new nuts and bolts to mount the bumper to the plate.
The bumper also has a couple of fixings in the corners that mount in the wing.
The brackets on the bumper will need to be bent a little to ease past the plates.

Just out of curiosity, how long did the garage take to do the job?

Regards
TFB

[Purple Pixie]

Yes Steve, the truck certainly does look better, need to get some wheel spacers now and push those wheels out a bit. What size spacers would you reccommend and does it really make a difference what they`re made of? Seen spacers on e-bay made from steel, alloy or alluminium.

Scorpion, my hubby did get his drill and other bits n pieces out while I was browsing this site and the clever little hobbit managed to make brackets and lift the bumper. The front end looks normal again. Yay!

Cheers guys for your advice, greatly appreciate it.

Happy little Pixie.

[Purple Pixie]

Hello TFB, the garage had 2 men working on the truck and the boss said it took about 3 1/2 hours to do the job. He charged £150. Not sure if thats good or bad...

[steve s]

havnt got spacers on mine so cant help with that .just go the hole hog n get more outset wheels oh and muds

[Apache]

Seen spacers on e-bay made from steel, alloy or alluminium.

Be wary of cheap spacers from eBay. Last thing you want to be entrusting the safety of your truck to is cheapo spacers of unknown origin / quality. Best in the long run to spend the extra cash and get some decent ones from Roughtrax.

Time to do bodylift? Yes, if you've never done one before, about 3 hours or so sounds reasonable. £150 sounds cheap for two guys on it. Labour's normally around £50-ish per man hour.

[Purple Pixie]

Steve, im loving your wheels, what size are they? (diameter and width of wheel, not tyre!)

[TFB]

Hello TFB, the garage had 2 men working on the truck and the boss said it took about 3 1/2 hours to do the job. He charged £150. Not sure if thats good or bad...

I'd say that was good price, 7 man hours - so just over £20 an hour

Regards

TFB

[steve s]

Steve, im loving your wheels, what size are they? (diameter and width of wheel, not tyre!)

the same as standard 15 " just more outset the tyres are 31-10.50-15 again standard