Relentless Fab front bumper

Hey guys i'm finally getting my Relentless Fab Summit bumper in the mail tomorrow. How difficult is this to do yourself? I have the tools and the ability to do this but I dont have the knowledge. Has anyone done a write up on relentless's bumpers? My main concern is if i have to do any cutting of the fenders.

 

Is it the DIY kit?

 

No it's pre-assembled

 

Oh well in that case it will be very simple. You have to take the grill out, there there are a few screws under the finder well that you will need to remove, and couple along the top of the bumper. I watched a youtube video and it showed where all the clips/screws were.

Once the bumper is off there is the aluminum crash bumper that you have to take off... that was kinda a pain for me. I had to attach tow straps to the bumper and a tree and pull it off. Nuts are 14mm/17mm FYI. There are 6 nuts facing the front of the truck and 2 on the bottom outsides of the crash bar.

Once that is off, then i would suggest getting someones help to mount it, as the bolt holes can be a challenge to line up alone, not to mention that someone should be holding it until you can get 1 or 2 bolt nuts on.

I just built a front and rear bumper from them so i recently went though all this....

Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

Absolutely, I appreciate the help. What did you coat yours in? I'm thinking that I want to Line-X it but im not sure quite yet.

 

I am having mine powder coated semi gloss black. I am dropping off my front and rear bumpers for paint this weekend!!!

 

Oh and about the fenders.... you will not have to do any cutting to anything currently visible. I got some scissors and cut the front excess of them off... you will see after you remove the bumper that there are a piece that is just hanging that mounted to the stock bumper. I have seen some people just tuck the fenders up into the new bumper, and some people just cut them off.

 

Definitely recommend having an extra set of hands to help heft it into place and adjust the fit. Along with taking all the front bodywork/ bumper below the headlights off, remove the bolt-on recovery/ tow hook on the lower left if your rig has it. I took an angle grinder and cut off the loop on the driver's side flush with the end of the frame, deburred and shot the raw edge with a rattle can. Die grinder or dremel tool w/a thin cut-off wheel to trim off the ends of the sheet metal supports that come out from under each headlight.

Remove the boxed frame inserts and get yourself some 1/2" hardware to run through the lower attachment points. I used flat washers stacked between the frame and bumper to level it out and get the gap correct at the fenders. Tighten those first to set it vertically and then snug up the front connection to pull it in tight using the stock flange nuts off the crash bar.

I had mine powder coated, IMO bed liner would be a pita as it would mess with the surfaces of the bumper that should sit flat against the frame.

 

The install is not very hard at all. Like Zac and others said it's just nuts and bolts to remove. I had no trouble removing my crash bar. With the new bumper the plastic inner fender liners will hang much too low in front of the tire. I cut mine short and ran a sheet metal screw through them up into the metal inner fender. I thought that would keep them from flapping at highway speed.

Line-x is probably the most durable thing you could coat the bumper with. The problem may be the quality of finish. From what I've seen, the gun and equipment they use for Line-x application lends itself to large flat areas and not smaller intricate shapes. What I mean is you may end up with sags and runs around the holes or pipes on the bumper. See if your Line-x shop has experience doing things other than truck beds with good results. Stuff like roll bars, bumpers or whatever.

I have the aluminum version of the Relentless bumper and just coated it twice with black gloss rustoleum. No primer even. After 2 years now it looks like it was peppered with a shotgun! There's all kinds of small paint chips missing. If it bugs me enough I'll probably just touch it up with a chip brush.

Lastly try to have a handful of 1/2" flat washers on hand to shim the bumper if need be. You may have to place washers between the truck frame and bumper to get the bumper to line up nicely with the fenders and front grille. I had to put 2 or 3 washers on the passenger side between the bumper and frame to get it to line up right. When you do the install it should become apparent if you need washers and where.

 

Have you ever had any problems with actual rust with the bumper looking like that?

 

Well my front bumper is aluminum so I don't worry about it much. I have a relentless steel rear bumper and steel rock sliders. Both have scratches and gouges down to bare metal with light surface rust but it's not getting worse. At least not in a hurry. The steel is so thick that it's kinda forgiving in the paint protection department. It would take many many years for 3/16" steel to become significantly weaker by rust.

I don't mean you can/should neglect doing touch ups. It's just that since the metal is so thick it gives you a little slack off time. I've been meaning to touch up my rear bumper for 2 years now but it's not really getting any worse so I keep putting it off.

 

Well so I got my bumper in and I totally forgot about this thread in all of my excitement.

The day that i picked her up.



After a little bit of calling around and pricing I decided on Line-X.



She's got a whole new look about her now.



On the other side



Now she just needs new fog lights and some shackles!

 

Looks nice !! I'm surprised own many people have these bumpers! I guess I shouldn't be, they do look awesome!

 

Thats sharp. Good looking set up.

 

I have the aluminum version, I think its a great bumper! I went with the DIY kit before that went away, but relentless was a great company to work with. Looks great on your truck as well!!

 

Relentless front and rear here. Love them!

 

Sorry to revive this old thread but I just installed my Relentless Fab Predator bumper on my second Gen and I can’t seem to get the trim pieces that go under the headlights back on and stay on. I think the fog light housing is hitting the support bracket. Did you have to trim yours or?

 

I didnt have any issues with my headlight trim pieces. The foglight looks to be a bit below that piece; and is also below the sheet metal support.



Did you happen to accidentally tweak the mount for the trim piece? I did that once when I had to remove the headlight assembly, but I was able to push the bracket back to its original positioning.

The only fitment issue I had was with the mounting holes where it meets the frame horns. I had to use a dremel to open two of the holes up, just barely. I tried for about an hour before I resorted to that and, voila, it mounted right up.

 

I might to remove the headlights and readjust things. I have the quad fog light version and one sits higher that the other which might be where its hitting. I have to work on my truck tomorrow anyways so I will look more into it and report back tomorrow.

 

So today I took a closer look and I do not have nearly as much clearance as you do. I also forgot about the washers that it came with so I am thinking maybe it is sitting too high? Do you might taking some pictures of the mounting bolts? I would really appreciate it!