I have not seen a post highlighting the tips and steps for installing the bumper yet so I thought I would put something together. This is really my first "how-to" so if I missed anything or if something isn't all that clear, please ask questions and I will answer and help anyway I can. And with that, on with the show!! (LOL!!)
I forgot to take a picture after unboxing to show the contents so I reached out to Klay and he sent me what he had. The picture shows the version with cut-outs for soft shackle mounts and hitch but I went with the hitch mount only version. Klay pre-assembles the rash guards to the bumper (like his rock sliders) so you don’t have to worry about doing that when the bumper arrives unless you want to paint/powder coat/polish finish the components. The included fasteners are not shown either but I will highlight them during the review.
First item of business is to remove your existing bumper and then the tank needs to either be lowered or removed completely. I started with just lowering but it became pretty clear real quick that life will be much easier to just remove the tank completely which is what I ultimately did. I am not including those steps here as there are already tons of how-to’s out there to reference. I had already removed it 6 months earlier when I installed my GenRight skid so everything came apart pretty easy this time around. I only broke one of the plastic fuel line clips this time around (LOL!!).
Once the tank is removed, it’s time to fit the bumper sub-structure and mark holes for drilling. The sub-structure sits inside the rear x-member and mounts to it and the frame rails. Two need to be drilled on the bottom of the frame (1/side) and two need to be drilled on the inner sides of the frame (1/side). Note: I had to un-bolt the pass side shock and undo the last exhaust rubber hanger to get everything out of the way enough to make room to drill the bottom passenger side frame hole (red circled area). The bumper sub-structure essentially locates itself once you get it up into position.
Not sure if this step is really necessary but I decided to drill both bottom holes first then re-install the sub-structure and finger tight the bottom bolts with the thought being that process will help better locate the side holes to drill. After marking the side holes (circled in yellow), I removed the sub-structure again to drill those holes.
In the kit, Klay gives you custom nuts with a “tail” to use for the 4 frame mounting locations. I ended up using a pair of hemostats (or one might call them roach clips depending on what decade you came of age in, LOL!!) for the side frame attachments. They worked great but if you don’t have them, you could probably use your fingers as well.
With the sub-structure now installed and the 4 bolts finger tight, I thought now was a perfect time to drill the two exposed holes (circled in orange) for the hitch mount. I matched the drill size to the hole diameter and it worked perfect. After finishing the drilling, I removed the sub-structure again to drill the bottom two hitch mount holes which are covered by the cross brace. This is one of those steps I don’t think you could do if you just lowered the tank. Or at minimum would make it a lot harder to do.
I apparently forgot to take an in between picture after drilling the top holes and before the bottom two holes because the only in process pic I have of this step shows all four already installed. Like the sub-structure, I used the hitch mount as my template for drilling the remaining lower two holes. The reason for the c-clamps is to bias locate the hitch mount tight against the rear x-member which will help when installing the shell. I found this out the hard way as I had to use a rubber mallet to get the shell into place the first time trial fitting. After one of my many conversations with Klay during the install, he suggested using the clamps for that reason. Klay also mentioned he is looking into ideas to potentially eliminate needing to use the c-clamps at some point but if that doesn’t happen, they work great, are easy to use and make it a lot easier to slide the shell on when you get to that step.
The top two attachments use regular nuts but the bottom two use unique nuts with a 90 deg bent tab to help get the bolts started because they are partially hidden by the sub-structure x-brace.
Now it’s time to pre-fit the bumper shell. I didn’t get an overall at this step but it’s pretty straight forward. Key here is to line up the shoulder bolts (circled in green) at the ends of the bumper before trying to slide it on. I used masking tape to hold the carriage bolts in place until getting the nuts started. Once the nuts were on, I alternated sides tightening the nuts to draw the bumper up tight against the x-member.
You know the bumper is aligned and done when the two factory bumper bolt holes line up (circled in blue)
I decided to powder coat everything flat textured black to match my front bumper so I disassembled everything again and off to the powder coater. Two and half weeks later, got everything back and started the final install. I followed the same process with the additional items noted in the steps below.
After getting the inner reinforcement and hitch mount (if you ordered one with that feature) installed, there are two bolts on top of the hitch mount that tie into the bumper shell I didn’t have to worry about during the pre-fit because the holes are already in the parts but for final install these two attachments pose a unique challenge. The challenge is there is no clearance to get a wrench onto the nuts once the tank is in to attach these two fasteners and they have to be installed after the shell is installed. So, after a number of conversations again with Klay, he suggested using RTV gasket maker to hold the nuts in place and this is what you see colored red within the white circled areas. I am happy to report this idea worked perfectly. I let the RTV sit overnight to cure and continued with the installation the next day.
Klay is working on some ideas to allow the bumper to be fully installed before re-installing the tank but for short term support, he developed an assembly aide to hold the nuts in place without having to use the RTV. For all of us who have TJ’s and have their bumpers already, he is going to send out the assembly aide as his schedule permits and will include them in kits not yet shipped. This is not an issue on LJ’s though. I guess us TJ guys/gals are just lucky (LOL!!)
At this point, it is time to re-install the gas tank which needs to be done before installing the outer bumper shell. Once the tank is re-installed, it is now time for final install of the bumper shell. Follow the process I highlighted above with the additional steps noted below.
For the two lower factory bumper mount holes, I used the OEM bolts but the kit comes with replacement bolts if you need them. After seeing how the original bolts look vs. the purdy new powder coated bumper, I think I am going to freshen them up with a coat of textured black paint so they blend in better.
Now is the time to install the two fasteners at the hitch mount top location to the nuts with the RTV sealant. NOTE: If your Jeep does not have a body lift, you will need to loosen those bolts and raise the rear portion of the body for the clearance needed to tighten the fasteners. For those of you who do have a BL, there is sufficient clearance to finger start/tighten the bolts. To final tighten, I used the torx bit by itself and wrench that fit the bit shaft.
And with that, installation is complete!!
Overall quality of the kit and materials are top notch as you would expect coming from Flux Off-Road.
Bumper looks killer and matches the front pretty well. Random trivia, the bumpers were literally developed and made in opposite corners of the country but look like they could have came from the same company.
I forgot to take a picture after unboxing to show the contents so I reached out to Klay and he sent me what he had. The picture shows the version with cut-outs for soft shackle mounts and hitch but I went with the hitch mount only version. Klay pre-assembles the rash guards to the bumper (like his rock sliders) so you don’t have to worry about doing that when the bumper arrives unless you want to paint/powder coat/polish finish the components. The included fasteners are not shown either but I will highlight them during the review.
First item of business is to remove your existing bumper and then the tank needs to either be lowered or removed completely. I started with just lowering but it became pretty clear real quick that life will be much easier to just remove the tank completely which is what I ultimately did. I am not including those steps here as there are already tons of how-to’s out there to reference. I had already removed it 6 months earlier when I installed my GenRight skid so everything came apart pretty easy this time around. I only broke one of the plastic fuel line clips this time around (LOL!!).
Once the tank is removed, it’s time to fit the bumper sub-structure and mark holes for drilling. The sub-structure sits inside the rear x-member and mounts to it and the frame rails. Two need to be drilled on the bottom of the frame (1/side) and two need to be drilled on the inner sides of the frame (1/side). Note: I had to un-bolt the pass side shock and undo the last exhaust rubber hanger to get everything out of the way enough to make room to drill the bottom passenger side frame hole (red circled area). The bumper sub-structure essentially locates itself once you get it up into position.
Not sure if this step is really necessary but I decided to drill both bottom holes first then re-install the sub-structure and finger tight the bottom bolts with the thought being that process will help better locate the side holes to drill. After marking the side holes (circled in yellow), I removed the sub-structure again to drill those holes.
In the kit, Klay gives you custom nuts with a “tail” to use for the 4 frame mounting locations. I ended up using a pair of hemostats (or one might call them roach clips depending on what decade you came of age in, LOL!!) for the side frame attachments. They worked great but if you don’t have them, you could probably use your fingers as well.
With the sub-structure now installed and the 4 bolts finger tight, I thought now was a perfect time to drill the two exposed holes (circled in orange) for the hitch mount. I matched the drill size to the hole diameter and it worked perfect. After finishing the drilling, I removed the sub-structure again to drill the bottom two hitch mount holes which are covered by the cross brace. This is one of those steps I don’t think you could do if you just lowered the tank. Or at minimum would make it a lot harder to do.
I apparently forgot to take an in between picture after drilling the top holes and before the bottom two holes because the only in process pic I have of this step shows all four already installed. Like the sub-structure, I used the hitch mount as my template for drilling the remaining lower two holes. The reason for the c-clamps is to bias locate the hitch mount tight against the rear x-member which will help when installing the shell. I found this out the hard way as I had to use a rubber mallet to get the shell into place the first time trial fitting. After one of my many conversations with Klay during the install, he suggested using the clamps for that reason. Klay also mentioned he is looking into ideas to potentially eliminate needing to use the c-clamps at some point but if that doesn’t happen, they work great, are easy to use and make it a lot easier to slide the shell on when you get to that step.
The top two attachments use regular nuts but the bottom two use unique nuts with a 90 deg bent tab to help get the bolts started because they are partially hidden by the sub-structure x-brace.
Now it’s time to pre-fit the bumper shell. I didn’t get an overall at this step but it’s pretty straight forward. Key here is to line up the shoulder bolts (circled in green) at the ends of the bumper before trying to slide it on. I used masking tape to hold the carriage bolts in place until getting the nuts started. Once the nuts were on, I alternated sides tightening the nuts to draw the bumper up tight against the x-member.
You know the bumper is aligned and done when the two factory bumper bolt holes line up (circled in blue)
I decided to powder coat everything flat textured black to match my front bumper so I disassembled everything again and off to the powder coater. Two and half weeks later, got everything back and started the final install. I followed the same process with the additional items noted in the steps below.
After getting the inner reinforcement and hitch mount (if you ordered one with that feature) installed, there are two bolts on top of the hitch mount that tie into the bumper shell I didn’t have to worry about during the pre-fit because the holes are already in the parts but for final install these two attachments pose a unique challenge. The challenge is there is no clearance to get a wrench onto the nuts once the tank is in to attach these two fasteners and they have to be installed after the shell is installed. So, after a number of conversations again with Klay, he suggested using RTV gasket maker to hold the nuts in place and this is what you see colored red within the white circled areas. I am happy to report this idea worked perfectly. I let the RTV sit overnight to cure and continued with the installation the next day.
Klay is working on some ideas to allow the bumper to be fully installed before re-installing the tank but for short term support, he developed an assembly aide to hold the nuts in place without having to use the RTV. For all of us who have TJ’s and have their bumpers already, he is going to send out the assembly aide as his schedule permits and will include them in kits not yet shipped. This is not an issue on LJ’s though. I guess us TJ guys/gals are just lucky (LOL!!)
At this point, it is time to re-install the gas tank which needs to be done before installing the outer bumper shell. Once the tank is re-installed, it is now time for final install of the bumper shell. Follow the process I highlighted above with the additional steps noted below.
For the two lower factory bumper mount holes, I used the OEM bolts but the kit comes with replacement bolts if you need them. After seeing how the original bolts look vs. the purdy new powder coated bumper, I think I am going to freshen them up with a coat of textured black paint so they blend in better.
Now is the time to install the two fasteners at the hitch mount top location to the nuts with the RTV sealant. NOTE: If your Jeep does not have a body lift, you will need to loosen those bolts and raise the rear portion of the body for the clearance needed to tighten the fasteners. For those of you who do have a BL, there is sufficient clearance to finger start/tighten the bolts. To final tighten, I used the torx bit by itself and wrench that fit the bit shaft.
And with that, installation is complete!!
Overall quality of the kit and materials are top notch as you would expect coming from Flux Off-Road.
Bumper looks killer and matches the front pretty well. Random trivia, the bumpers were literally developed and made in opposite corners of the country but look like they could have came from the same company.
