2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission stock front bumpers junk?

[JDKammin]

I bought my 96 a couple of years ago from a retired farmer. The front and rear bumpers had some dents, no big deal. Last year, I replaced both bumpers and the front was a factory bumper from the local Dodge dealer. Here I am a year later and the front bumper appears to be sagging on the ends and the gap between the bumper and front fender is not parallel. I know I did not hit anything with the bumper. Is there an adjustment for aligning this back up? I would like to go to a bumper like a Buckstop or similar, but have a Curtis snowplow mount on the truck.

 

[CJ Johansson]

Yes, the stock bumpers are pretty much just trim pieces. You can pick them up with one hand. A Buckstop, on the other hand is a real bumper, weighs around 300 lbs. This could be an issue for a snow plow.

As to your question on adjustments, yes, the bumper mounts to the frame with, I seem to remember, 4 bolts, 2 on each side. The bolts are through slots, I think the slots are on the brackets. Anyway, you can adjust the bumper by moving the brackets on the slots.

It's likely the bolts holding your bumper were not tightened quite enough and vibration has caused your bumper to shift a bit.

-cj

 

[JDKammin]

Thanks CJ. I emailed Buckstop to see their thoughts about the snowplow mount.

 

[BigPapa]

There are 2 braces running from the ends of the bumper to the frame. These are most likely the culprit behind your sagging bumper.



Scott

 

[CJ Johansson]

By the way, I have a Buckstop on my '07 Megacab. I'm seriously considering putting one on my '98, but it just doesn't get driven as much.

The Buckstop is really top quality, very well built. They are kinda spendy, but they will work. I even got a discount on my insurance after I put it on.

Install was very straight forward and it fit perfectly. The only tough part would be moving the bumper into place due to it's weight (I used my Cat tracksteer with pallet forks so it was easy for me). The instructions have you support it with a floor jack while installing, which I did and it works well. If you had a couple of helpers and could roll the jack on a concrete floor instead of gravel like me, it wouldn't be too difficult to get into place.

-cj