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phone pole bumper and grill delete mod(advice needed)

naterb27

Full Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2017
Messages
26
Location
Lafayette, IN
so a couple months back i decided to perform this mod as opposed to the minivan bumper extension. i hit the pole going relatively slow like less than 25 in a pretty good snowstorm. it bent the hood a little and the grill was shattered, the bumper kinda looked like a taco. i am a mechanic at a Subaru dealer, one of the other techs and i looked at it and nothing major was hurt and the bumper and grill added up to less than my deductible. i managed to straighten the bumper enough to drive for the past couple months. i straightened the hood decently this weekend, not perfect but enough so that i could hide it with a bug deflector.

but now I'm at a deciding point. I've been hoping to get to a junk yard and pull a bumper and grill and maybe a hood, but all the local yards don't have an av, silverado, Tahoe, or suburban with the front clip in one piece. craigslist ain't much help either. i am starting to consider building my own bumper and grill, then wait until i have more cash for a ram air or cowl hood. my question is where to start. road armor and arb look tough, but i sure as poop ain't paying over a grand for one, the price on the move bumpers isn't that great either for something I'm putting half the labor into. i don't really like to looks of these bumpers either, they look tough but too complex and flashy for my tastes. anyone build their own that's not based off of the arb type stuff? I've seen the tube bumper 4 wheeler did for the ultimate adventure av and I'm not opposed to something like that. I've also seen a NBS silverado with one of those old school tow truck push bumpers and it didn't look bad. i just need something simple and tough. any suggestions?

i also need suggestions for what to do with the grill. i was thinking just some perforated/expanded steel hung between the headlights, but don't have many examples to look at that don't use the stock grill as a base.
 
Having 18+ years with the local phone company, I'm curious as to how bad you hurt the pole?  :laugh:


I'm going to assume with your post that your avy does NOT have the cladding, correct?
 
yeah its a wbh i could have sworn i had that in my sig but now that i check i guess not. there was a bit of a divot from a bolt that i had in the front plate hole, and was a fairly new pole on a very rural road. we really didn't even hit that hard but the bumper crumpled pretty easily. one more inch and the SIR sensor would have gone off. had i chosen the minivan mod i think it would have been much worse. the road was a sheet of ice but i got some traction from the snow in the ditch, just not enough. the next day i asked the gf if she would mind a winch bumper "for the extra protection" she was all in until she saw the price. haha. i was thinking about building a bumper anyway this summer, just more reason to now. honestly figured it'd be Bambi who took out my stock frontend.

another thing i though to mention is id like to be able to use my highlift without folding the bumper or dropping 3 tones of truck on me. also a winch may be in the future but not this year.
 
ygmn can you send the brush guard instructions to me please? Tried your gallery and it wont load at all. I'm definitely in need of those asap!
 
Loads for me:
http://www.chevyavalanchefanclub.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=175

Page 5 where they are located
http://www.chevyavalanchefanclub.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=175&page=5



 
For some reason...user error that is...my phone wasnt wanting to download them yesterday. I did get them to work. Thank you so much. Out of curiosity, when looking underneath the truck it appears I have to drill or cut through the bumper and front of cladding. What does the upper bolt on the L bracket attach to in the back?
 
TOp bolt goes thru metal bumper behind cladding.

Bottom goes into tow hook mounting but you keep tow hooks.

Man it was a longtime ago when I installed mine... like 16yrs or so ago.
 
So, just to be clear before I start hacking away, the L bracket goes through the cladding and attaches to the bumper skin under that? I do not have to but a 2 inch hold in the bumper itself for that to slide through, in order to flush everything properly?
 
I forget but you mount the bottom first and have someone hold it up and bracket goes thru hole in cladding and rests against steel bumper you drill 1/2 hole thru.
These brackets I think have a stud on them to fit thru this 1/2" hole.

Now the hard part you have to lay on ground and reach up to install the nut on to this stud. PIA.

If you are adding lights like I did do it before you mount guard.
 
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