ndnashlenss
Member
- First Name
- Ashlen
- Joined
- May 16, 2022
- Threads
- 3
- Messages
- 12
- Reaction score
- 2
- Location
- Somewhere in, Texas
- Vehicles
- 2022 F-150 XL Regular Cab 5.0
- Occupation
- I work in a hospital
- Thread starter
- #1
Hi, So i ordered a bull bar from amazon during the memorial day sale. It was the tyger auto.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NGTYX4D?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
My truck didn't come with factory tow hooks, the covers over the front bumper are held in by two 5.5mm screws and then they pop out. Good on ford for doing that, the previous gen people had to cut the bumper seen some unsightly holes. Got my leatherman and sawed off a little bit more of the plastic trim going back keeping the width of the original covers. I could have used a heat gun with exacto knife but I went with the little saw instead, it cut fine once I made the initial cut. Your going to have to make a wide cut for 2 reasons one is to align the bracket for the bull bar and second is to get a ratchet in there to tighten the bolts. I noticed that my frame is a closed end, which sucked and was a royal pain to get the u brackets, bolts and washers to install.
If I pushed too hard with either the washer or the bolt it would push the u bracket into the frame and I would have to realign it all over and start from scratch, there was very limited space to put both of my thick hands in and hold all the hardware in place while I finger tightened it. It took me an hour and half of dropping bolts, washers losing u brackets in the frame but I eventually got it. From there it was a cake walk just align the bull bar and install the bolts. It can be done with one person, I held it in my lap and pushed it in place with my knees. I could not get a torque wrench in there or my impact, but I used my ratchet and wrench to tighten it, I might go back and put a dab of blue loc-tite for my peace of mind. Then get some sand paper and clean up the edges on the plastic underneath where I cut.
I understand bullbars are not for everyone and can be a damage multiplier, but for my use case, I didn't want a heavy ranch hand or bumper replacement for a few reasons, I wanted to keep the oem fogs, didn't want an extra 100-200 pounds on the front end without upgrading to stiffer springs, it would cause it to sag in the front. Truck already has a bad factory rake. Also I may take apart the front end from time to time to do new mods, since its just me doing the work on the truck either in the apartment complex parking lot or in my parents driveway taking off 100-200 pounds once in a while is not feasible. I did buy it because the license plate bracket I got with the truck the screws stripped the plastic housing no matter how many times I got them rethreaded they kept stripping, I also wanted a place to mount my rough country fog lights more securely instead of the license plate bracket adapter I initially had.
I am pleased with the results I would definitely not do it in the middle of the day in Texas heat though. I am not sure if I decide to get a different bullbar or grill guard if it will work for my truck, almost all of the other bullbars I looked at their instructions are designed for trucks with factory tow hooks. Seems like options are limited for the time being.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NGTYX4D?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
My truck didn't come with factory tow hooks, the covers over the front bumper are held in by two 5.5mm screws and then they pop out. Good on ford for doing that, the previous gen people had to cut the bumper seen some unsightly holes. Got my leatherman and sawed off a little bit more of the plastic trim going back keeping the width of the original covers. I could have used a heat gun with exacto knife but I went with the little saw instead, it cut fine once I made the initial cut. Your going to have to make a wide cut for 2 reasons one is to align the bracket for the bull bar and second is to get a ratchet in there to tighten the bolts. I noticed that my frame is a closed end, which sucked and was a royal pain to get the u brackets, bolts and washers to install.
If I pushed too hard with either the washer or the bolt it would push the u bracket into the frame and I would have to realign it all over and start from scratch, there was very limited space to put both of my thick hands in and hold all the hardware in place while I finger tightened it. It took me an hour and half of dropping bolts, washers losing u brackets in the frame but I eventually got it. From there it was a cake walk just align the bull bar and install the bolts. It can be done with one person, I held it in my lap and pushed it in place with my knees. I could not get a torque wrench in there or my impact, but I used my ratchet and wrench to tighten it, I might go back and put a dab of blue loc-tite for my peace of mind. Then get some sand paper and clean up the edges on the plastic underneath where I cut.
I understand bullbars are not for everyone and can be a damage multiplier, but for my use case, I didn't want a heavy ranch hand or bumper replacement for a few reasons, I wanted to keep the oem fogs, didn't want an extra 100-200 pounds on the front end without upgrading to stiffer springs, it would cause it to sag in the front. Truck already has a bad factory rake. Also I may take apart the front end from time to time to do new mods, since its just me doing the work on the truck either in the apartment complex parking lot or in my parents driveway taking off 100-200 pounds once in a while is not feasible. I did buy it because the license plate bracket I got with the truck the screws stripped the plastic housing no matter how many times I got them rethreaded they kept stripping, I also wanted a place to mount my rough country fog lights more securely instead of the license plate bracket adapter I initially had.
I am pleased with the results I would definitely not do it in the middle of the day in Texas heat though. I am not sure if I decide to get a different bullbar or grill guard if it will work for my truck, almost all of the other bullbars I looked at their instructions are designed for trucks with factory tow hooks. Seems like options are limited for the time being.
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