Body mount bushing options / solving Bumper alignment

Greetings! Back again in search of knowledge.

I'm working on fitting up a new plate bumper, and find it is sitting about 1/2 " too high. It interferes with the body panels about 1/8 inch, halting my progress. What's the desired gap between bumper and body? I'm thinking 1/2 inch?

The fabricator suggests that either the body mount bushings are compressed, or front end damage at some point is affecting the fitment. I'm trying to find a resolution that will let me get this hunk of steel bolted on.

Has anyone measured a new factory bushing for the front body mount on a 2000 EX cab? Would love to compare that with the current body and frame space on my original bushings.

Do any body mount mfgs offer body lifts in small increments? 1/2 taller than my current height would solve my fitment dilemma.

Is OEM rubber that much better than aftermarket?

 

Heres what mine look like, Just replaced them last year. You could also use washers to adjust the height.

 

is that a body lift, or does the mount on a 2001 look that different?

 

Body lift, the washer is the end of the rubber mount but you can see the height difference. I just bought the full set from energy suspension.

 

so mine's smashed flat then, we're thinking huh?

 

Yep make sure you get new hardware when you do it. The 2 smaller bolts that hold the flat washer part of the cab mounts were junk so I had to cut them off. The large single bolts seized in the mount so I had to replace those as well.

 

Your bushing are worn out or replaced with the wrong ones.

Do what you need to line things up to suit your needs.

 

Replaced cab mounts with a set of stock height polyurethane bushings (energy suspension), and gained about 1/4 inch of height. I hit all the threads daily with PB blaster for a few days before hand. Some heat from the propane torch and they all came off. Ran a 10mm x 1.25 tap and die thru all the threads, and put the same bolts back in with some anti seize. 14mm ratchet head wrench was a big time saver for removing the 2 bolts holding the flat washer from above, without having to lift the body more than about 2.5 inches.

It was not enough to give me the needed clearance (bumper now mounts, but zero gap from bumper to body panel). Looks like I will be stacking some washers. What's the consensus on minimum gap to avoid contact between bumper and quarter panel?

 

Lookin good. I guess it depends on how hard you plan on pulling on the bumper and how rigid it is. Also how much your cab is going to move around. I'd guess 1/8" should be fine.