Rock Lizard Bumper help, please! with pics of bolt holes

dirtykj · **Posted:** Sat May 19, 2007 5:21 pm

Dean and I are here at my house right now trying to get the Rock Lizard rear bumper installed in my '05 and it's just NOT going in. No way, no how.

Has anybody put the bumper on the '05 before?

My problem is the thickness of the center section of the rear bumper (on the car itself). We can't get the top of the bumper to rest on that and slide in (because the legs would rub against the pinch weld).

We tried three ways:

Sliding it in perfectly level. Doesn't work because the leg rubs against pinch weld and there's still 1cm preventing top of RL bumper to slide in.

Sliding it in with the legs tilted towards the ground. The front of the bumper rubs against body, can't go in further.

Sliding it in with the legs titled upwards. Same story with the "perfectly level". By the time it's in deep enough, it's stuck at the top of the center bulge of the body.

Help!!!!!!!! I'm going nuts.

DaveKJ02 · **Posted:** Sat May 19, 2007 6:51 pm

You have to cut the pinch weld where the "legs" go. There were pictures somewhere around here....

spencevans · **Posted:** Sat May 19, 2007 8:09 pm

I used a grinder on my pinch welds. Good luck and don't forget to post some pics.

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Sat May 19, 2007 11:22 pm

Grinder.

Had to do it to mine and it slid right on.

I did it all by myself. (a tough challenge to say the least)

With two of you, shouldn't be a problem.

dirtykj · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2007 9:09 pm

OK, I almost got it installed. I now have final adjustment issues.

The tolerance on the bumper is so tight that there's hardly room to maneuver much at all. I have it so that the bumper is centered. Look at the picture below:

But see the gap in the picture above? Well that's the problem. The right side went in real easy --- I could thumb-tighten the nuts and all. The left side was a pain to get in. I could not lift it up higher than this without lifting the car itself. The problem looks like this:

Hard to tell from this picture, but this is what happens: the forward part of the bumper is rubbing against the body of the car. It can't go forward any more.

The left side bolts cannot be tightened any more than this and the mounting arm is not flushed with the body (on the bottom) like on the right side.

Do I have a problem with my Jeep or something? It seems too tight.

Yes, I trimmed the bumper and no metal is touching where I trimmed. The wires have been routed into the notch and not in the way ...

I don't know what's wrong.

UPDATE: OK, I can get the left end to lift up more, but I could do this only by placing the jack at the left edge of the bumper and lifting it up (along with the car) and it looks like I'm tweaking the bumper this way.

Rock Lizard, ideas?

LiLredLibby · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2007 10:16 pm

I remember someone on here getting rear-ended in the left rear,was'nt you was it? Looks like your left side subframe rail is low on that side.I think all of these bumpers are made in a jig and test fitted,but I dunno?

Ron

dirtykj · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2007 10:22 pm

No I wasn't rear-ended.

I think I know what the problem is. The left side pinch weld seam is contacting the cross bar on the RL bumper!

The cross bar clears the pinch weld seam on the right side, but not the left. It looks like Jeep allows for more slop than Marty

So yeah, that's why when I placed the jack on the left corner and jack it way up, it lifted the car as well, but finally in this way, with the RL bumper feeling tweaked, I can get it flush to the subframe. I'm pretty sure it's tweaked because the right side I can still tighten / loosen the nuts without much torque at all (so if it wasn't tweaked then the torque required to tighten both sides should be equal, but in my case the left side is a pain in the butt; while the right side is nice and easy).

Marty, not sure what to do from here. I guess I can trim the pinch weld seam down by 5mm or so ... what do you suggest?

dirtykj · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2007 10:26 pm

LiLredLibby wrote:

Looks like your left side subframe rail is low on that side.

I thought it might be that, but if it was the case then the bumper should have lined up with the bottom of the rear gate, right? It's actually hanging down some on the left hand side. Look at the last picture --- see how it's hanging down a little on the left? This is without the additional lift on the jack on the left edge. This is its natural rest position.

LiLredLibby · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2007 11:08 pm

dirtykj wrote:

LiLredLibby wrote:

Looks like your left side subframe rail is low on that side.

I thought it might be that, but if it was the case then the bumper should have lined up with the bottom of the rear gate, right? It's actually hanging down some on the left hand side. Look at the last picture --- see how it's hanging down a little on the left? This is without the additional lift on the jack on the left edge. This is its natural rest position.

Hopefully the "creator" will chime in soon with some good advice,or maybe Tokyojoe....I think he installed one.I've installed a billion bumpers but not a RL on a KJ.The gap between the top edge of the bumper and gate led me to believe that the left side mounting point was lower if the framerail is the main mounting point. :idea:

If you have to,try bending the pinch weld rather than grinding it so as not to lose any structural strength.Good luck!

Ron

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2007 11:47 pm

I had to grind the rear pinch weld flat with the mount surface.Your bumber does fit a KJ the right way,every bumber was test fitted on a KJ before it was shipped.You may need to grind more of the weld off,don't grind the bumber mounts,that weaken the bumber.The rear pinch needs to look like this on both sides where the mounts bolt up to the uni-body(see pic below).

dirtykj · **Posted:** Tue May 29, 2007 12:12 am

tjkj2002 wrote:

I had to grind the rear pinch weld flat with the mount surface.Your bumber does fit a KJ the right way,every bumber was test fitted on a KJ before it was shipped.You may need to grind more of the weld off,don't grind the bumber mounts,that weaken the bumber.The rear pinch needs to look like this on both sides where the mounts bolt up to the uni-body(see pic below).

It's not contacting where I cut it off! It's contacting elsewhere. And, it's NOT the mounting arm that's contacting --- it's the cross bar on the RL bumper itself.

dirtykj · **Posted:** Sat Jun 02, 2007 6:18 pm

OK, I beat down the pinch weld on the bumper a little and it helped a bit.

I also took out my gas tank skid and this allows me to see what the problem is. I am just going to post the pictures and that's all I'm gonna do today.

First, this is on the right-side (the exhaust side). Note how it's lined up nicely.

Now, this is the gas-tank side. Note how the alignment goes from bad to worse.

First bolt (closest to spare tire):

Middle bolt hole

Third bolt hole

Here's why I can't move it any more to the right:

and

My KJ is just not jig-approved.

I'm probably just going to take a BFH and hammer the cr@p out of the mounting arm to get it to bend, I guess ...

Rock Lizard · **Posted:** Sat Jun 02, 2007 6:56 pm

Dang, man, why didn't you give me a call? OK, in your last post, you show the one side the holes lining up, put a few bolts in those holes just getting the thread started, but don't tighten them down at all, just so they are in position to start tightening down. On the otherside, after you have the bolts started in the lined up side, move the bumper forward or back, whichever way to get those holes lined up front to rear. Now, for the alignment of the holes side to side, like the one at the end of the mount, put a large swrew driver or rod or hole finder in the middle hole into the frame/nut, and pull the tool toward the tire and that will pry the mount over so those holes line up. Using the prybar/holefinder/whatever makes everything very easy to get those holes lined up, but get something in those holes to pry the mounts to where you need them.

I'm sorry I didn't have any instructions for you guys. Not sure why you are having fitment problems. As mentioned, every single bumper has been test fit on an actual jeep before shipment. Those in the first batch of bumpers, those bumpers were test fit three times, fully bolted up, with Ted helping me because there is no way I could do it myself, so I know they fit. Yours is the first in twenty five bumpers that I have heard of fitment problems, but please email or call if you have anymore troubles. I guess I'm still not quite sure I understand what you are having clearance issues with.

Rock Lizard · **Posted:** Sat Jun 02, 2007 6:57 pm

OH, and don't beat the crap out of the bumper, because a hammer isn't going to easy bend that mount. Use something to pry it over as I said. It will move over with this method.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Sat Jun 02, 2007 7:09 pm

I know exactly what Marty is talking about. My the holes on my Hitch didnt line up and I had to use the hole that Marty is talking about. works out great.

dirtykj · **Posted:** Sat Jun 02, 2007 7:18 pm

After a lot of banging and cursing I got the arm shifted enough so the friction against the bolt is tolerable and I could manage to get ALL the bots in the gas-tank side in.

This is without my gas tank skid --- not gonna tackle that again.

So to summarize my fitment issues and close this thread:

(1) The gas-tank side mounting arm is off when put up against the mounting holes in my KJ, and

(2) Bumper is right up against bare metal on the left side of the Jeep

(3) The crossbar on the RL bumper makes slight contact with my pinch weld seam (this is not against the required cuts), but trimming it down slightly helps.

riptricket · **Posted:** Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:06 pm

how did you remove the fascia stuff on the rear? is it still useable, or is it trash?

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:20 pm

I'm trying to sell my rear fascia though it does have some trail rash on it. The only unsellable/usable parts removed would be the trimmed flare pieces....and any broken rivets/plastic snap-ons.

riptricket · **Posted:** Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:22 pm

so i have to cut the rear fascia off?

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:24 pm

riptricket wrote:

so i have to cut the rear fascia off?

No,it's bolted and rivited on,only takes about 10 min to remove.

Rock Lizard Bumper help, please! with pics of bolt holes

Who is online