Matt's Garage

[Matt]

OK ROUND 2!

Woke up early so I could do some cutting/grinding before the wife left for work.

It's nice out too so I pulled the jeep out and hosed off the rear... was tired of getting dirt/sand in my eyes!



This was the main culprit of my misery last night. The bumper needed to go higher but this dowel was interfering, already at the top of the hole is was designed to go into. I have a feeling those holes on the back of the frames are more manufacturing purposes only and not held to very tight tolerances like the rest of the body/frame; might explain why this fit on Jon's and not mine.



Also shaved down some of the edges to add clearance where it was a tight fit and digging into the body. If it goes on i'll probably grind away more in the spring when i pull it off for paint.





..... round 2 starts soon. I think the only other thing i'll want to do is increase the hole size in the frame rails; maybe to 5/8" or so.

[07JeepXK]

Are there not holes in the wings of the bumper where the bumper mounts on the sides of the XK?? My stock bumper has two holes on each side where it slides in and locks to the Jeep

[Matt]

No you take those off. I'm going to write up a step-by-step for Jon once I get this thing on properly.

I need to figure out what to do with the rear TPMS module. Hoping i can get my hands in there to reinstall the screws with the bumper in place. I'm also hoping it's not sitting where the front edge of the bumper wants to be!



Granted i do have my TPMS turned off so I can remove it if i want.... but i'd like the ability to turn it back one if they ever make rubber stems that work.

[07JeepXK]

Why would you take those off? Are those helping support the sides of the bumper?

I'm glad my XK doesn't have all that TPMS crap!

[Matt]

They're not needed for the steel bumper due to all the framing. Also the stock bumper can be "flexed" outwards to take it off, this wouldn't work on the steel bumper because you cant pull it outwards.

[Matt]

Well i lost round two. .. and it might be TKO

[LWM]

Well i lost round two. .. and it might be TKO

I wish I could be there to help, I am disappointed that this didn't just slide in like the others. This is the first one with the new fabricator but I was told he bolted it to my Jeep so it should have fit perfectly if he really did bolt it on (I sent him a voice mail to confirm he did what he told me he did).

[Matt]

I hear ya man... check out your in-box I just sent you a ton of pics.

[lekmedm]

*ouch*




...and he's done...

[Matt]

Yeah that's pretty accurate man.

And Mark you know me and how irked i get when there's something I can't fix.... this one's definitely a killer. Stuck between a rock & hard place as well since there's no clear path of where to go from here. I can't easily put my stock bumper back on (need to order parts), fenders are already cut, etc.

Gonna need some hard drinks tonight.