Madjik Man's laugh-at/with-him "build"

oh ok

 

looks good man.

 

Looks good man, Going with the blackout too I see haha.
How was taking apart the valance? I am replacing mine tomorow

 

Very easy. Instead of trying to remove the valence from the bracket that holds it to the frame, just remove the bracket from the frame. You'll see two 14mm bolts per frame end (by the bumper stops). Remove those 4 bolts.

There are also two 10mm nuts (with rubber grommets on them) that you will need to remove as well. There is one per side kind of near the fender well behind/under the corner light. There are vertical thread hanging down through a hole in a bracket attached to the valence. Take off that 10mm nut thing and then gently pull the bracket over those threads.

Lastly there are two piece of crap plastic screws that hold the bottom of the valence to the frame. When I tried unscrewing mine they just turned and did nothing. So I had to break them apart (now using zip ties)

I'm on my phone but when I get back I can post pictures of everything if you want. Of course hit me up if you need help tomorrow.

 

Here are the two 14mm bolts. This is looking up from the ground on the passenger side. Very easy to spot. You can also spot the zip tie where that plastic screw was holding the bottom of the bumper to the frame.




Here is that 10mm nut with rubber washer. This is taken from inside the passenger side fender well looking to the front of the truck. This is below/under the corner light. You can see the blinker light wiring harness in the background for reference



And here is the (the remains) of that plastic screw holding the bottom of the bumper to the frame. This is looking straight up from the ground. And honestly the zip ties are holding it in place more securely than the piece of crap screws ever did.



Remove those four 14mm bolts (two per side), two 10mm nuts (one per side) and two plastic screws (one per side) and the bumper will come off. Now that I know what I'm doing, it would take less than 2 minutes to do so.

Let me know if you need any more help, today or tomorrow.

 

Thanks man above and beyond my expectations of an answer. Haha great work

 

Painted the former semi gloss black grille flat black to match the bumper

 

Thanks for the instructions man, Got my old one off, taken apart, and put parts on the new one, Just have to mount it now.

 

Lookin' much better. Got any pictures of the whole truck with the new painted front end?

 

Good job, OP! That looks really good. I voted color match for the fender flares on your other thread, but I think you can make them match the bumper it will look great.

 

I can get one tomorrow.

The thing that triggers my OCD now is I need to restore my headlights again.

They look even more awful now.

 

You're welcome.

When I mounted mine I just rested one end on my cat carrier for support while I worked on the other end. Any ole thing will do... just get a box or something. Makes life easier.

Thanks man. I'm really torn.

I'm leaning towards color matched because between the black front and rear bumpers and (hopefully soon) black sliders and black wheels, it'll break it up and be tied together all nicely.

We'll see.

 

Thanks dude.

I'm very happy with it.

So much so that if I can make a 95-97 grille/front end work with my 98 bumper, I'll leave it as is.

 

I do too.

If an 01+ fits with the 95-97 grille/front end then eventually I'll do that. But if I can save some bucks in the meantime I'll deal with this piece of shit.... after all I've been dealing with it for 13 years now

 

Thanks, man we have the same likes, I am going for the black rims through all black too, Your one step ahead as I had to replace my valance haha. Blacking out bumper should be this weekend. The color matching is all you on the fenders unless no one wants mine then I may try just for fun haha but no Im not copying you

 

Man I saw that one flare of yours. That's toast.

I know you're trying to buy a set of all four (which is what I would do if I were you)... then I'd paint them while they're off the truck and before you put them on.

 

3 in the shade, 3 in the sun. Please excuse how dirty my truck is... by far the longest I've gone without washing it.

 

You did an awesome job with that bumper man. Looks great! Pretty damn clean '98.

 

Thanks. I have to clean up the fender flares next.