Can't Get My Rear Bumper Off

[Brian Grohgans]

Working on removing the rear bumper on my 96. Each side has a bracket that attaches to the bumper on one end and the frame on the other. There's only one bolt at each end of these brackets. I removed the bolt on the frame side on each bracket but this did not free up the bumper at all.

My bumper is the type that you could put a weak hitch right onto the bumper; it looks like this middle part of the bumper has four more bolts that attach on the inside of the frame rails. Unfortunately I cannot get at these bolts without removing my actual hitch. Tried to remove my actual trailer hitch but couldn't get it by hand or with my crappy electric impact gun.

Was planning on pulling the bed today but I just spent most of my day off struggling with the bumper (and failing). I'm just looking for confirmation that these bolts do indeed have to come out to remove the bumper before I waste anymore time.

 

[cvar]

Rear bumper has 2 brackets per side. You removed only the minor bracket. The main bracket (#4 in diagram below) is still sandwiched between the hitch and the frame. The hitch's 6 bolts are holding your main bumper brackets, so you must remove the hitch.

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/fr/full.aspx?Page=21

http://www.ranger-forums.com/attachments/project-logs-82/52293-mystery-leaks-99-3-0-newbie-trainer-110702rearbumperbrackets-jpg?dateline=1349471599

BTW, you don't need to remove the bumper to remove the bed.

Sounds like you just need a "cheater bar". That's a 3 foot piece of pipe that slips over your socket wrench handle. Its leverage gives you WAY more power than an air wrench. Mine is 3/4" dia. steel pipe. You'll need that for the 6 bed bolts.

Oh, and try heating stubborn bolts with propane torch, to break the thread's rust bond. Lastly, go buy some awesome "PB Blaster" and let it soak in before you start cussing.

 

[Brian Grohgans]

Thanks for the photo.
Im Doing a body lift and painting the frame at the same time. Bumper is coming off for the lift, bed is coming off to make painting easier.
Ive hit these bolts with tons of pb blaster, ill get em eventually, just wanted to make sure I was still sane...
The directions for my lift just said remove the two brackets which is why I was a little thrown; all good now though