>>>>>>>>>>>>> !! CONSUMER WARNING !!<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

FYI: JUST SO EVERYBODY IS AWARE, ROAD ARMOR PRETTY MUCH SCREWED ME... THE POWDER COAT WAS DEFECTIVE, THE WINCH COMPARTMENT WAS NOT SIZED CORRECTLY AND THE ENTIRE BUMPER REQUIRED AN OVERHAUL AT A COST OF ALMOST 1200$. ROAD ARMOR HAD OFFERED TO PAY FOR SOME OF IT, BUT HAS SINCE CUT COMMUNICATIONS AND LEFT ME OUT TO DRY. I WOULD NOT RECCOMEND THIS BUMPER TO ANYBODY!!!!

>>>>>>>>>>>>> !! CONSUMER WARNING !!<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


By popular demand I am posting up how I went about my installation of the Road Armor Bumper for my 2009 H3T.

For the record I am not a mechanic; therefore I take zero responsibility for damages that may occur to your own Hummer if you decide to use this installation walk-thru as your guide. This is meant as an information only article

Part 1: Removing the existing bumper

1) I started my removal of the existing bumper by first pulling off the tow hooks and mounts. To remove the tow hooks you need two 15/16" wrenches (or socket) to remove the shackle; then a 3/4" socket to pull the mounts.


2) The next step was to remove the plastic push locks located on the underside of the plastic fender on the outside. This disconnects them from the plastic shield behind. Just use a small flat head to pop the pin and then pry the clip assembly out. (No pic)

3) Now you should be able to pull the plastic fender forwards relieving two 1/2" bolts. Remove them on both sides.


4) After the bolts are removed you need to unbolt the skid pan below; again use 1/2" socket to remove.



5) Now that you have removed all of the points of attachment from the front you can proceed to start to pull the entire plastic bumper and metal cover off as a unit. To do this lift up on the lower part and pull outwards.... remember just to start, don't remove it fully yet.


6) Now that you have pulled it almost off, You need to un-clip the fog lights while letting it rest on the frame supports. Let me save you guys some time... ignore the blue clips on the side, you just need to pop the black clip on the top to disconnect them.


7) Remove the assembly.



8) Now you need to remove the end plate on the frame rail. You do this by pulling a single 3/8" bolt from underneath.
Note: It would have been easier to remove if I had pulled the skid plate underneath first.



10) You are now finished removing things! (except that skid pan which is still held on by two 1/2" bolts... take that off too)

 

PART 2: Installation of the new bumper

To start you need to prepare the frame rail extensions.


To do this you need to push the plastic radiator guard around a bit and put them on from below. That skid pan I mentioned earlier NEEDS to come off for this.



In the future the bumper will mount to the extension and bolt in like this:




And this unfortunately is where I have to stop... as it appears that R.A. left out the required bolts I need to put everything together with

E-mails have been sent.... stay tuned for updates.

 

Damn! I was scrolling down reading and getting all excited for the finish......lol

 

I actually finished it today; I went out and bought 30$ worth of bolts & nuts, I just assumed they would be using grade-5 galvanized bolts with washers. Hopefully they will riemburse me.

Everything past that point above was stupid simple; just basically bolt on. I did run into one major snag, the tow hook holes on the frame rail extensions did not line up at all. They will have to be re-drilled. Once I do that and tidy up some of the plastic shielding from the tire wells I will wrap up my post above.

 

I would see if they would cover the cost of stainless don't go with just galvanized they won't last as long! Looks interestig so far... What are those extensions made of? Do they indicate the thickness and grade metal used for them?

 

you didn't have to tell usyou don't work with your hands , the ring was a dead give away, no working man that i know wheres a ring lol

 

Hot Dipped Galvanized is not a bad way to go, way better than bare and the corrosion resistance is good enough for automotive purposes. You also can't get SS bolts with much higher tensile and sheer capcities than a grade 5 bolts so for sure you would never use it in place of a galvanized grade 8 bolt. As an example even OEM bolts on the tow hooks are just painted, not even galvanized.

The extension that slides into the beam looks like an HSS member; all the rest are either straight or bent plates; 3/16" thk. I am assuming everything is standard so it should be CSA G40.21 Grade 350W for the HSS and CSA G40.21 Grade 300W (or better) for the plate.

lol, I usually wear mechanics gloves but I was dinking around with my Camera trying to get pictures!

My day job of course is at desk for an Engineering firm

 

Welcome to the club

Im not sure about Road Armor, but I know some companies sell the mounting brackets seperatley and for a nominal charge. But definately give them a call first, because for the money you spent on that bumper i would definately follow up on it.

 

Thanks, I am enjoying the site!

The brackets provided are nearly perfect except the two holes for the tow hooks are drilled about 1/4" too high. Not sure why... everything else however matches up perfectly.

 

Ok, continuing on with the installation

The next step is to prepare your bumper; really all you need to do is pull your old fog lights out... pop them out of the housing and they squeeze perfectly into the new sleeve. One you get them in they are not going anywhere.




Then you will need 2 people... one person to guide the bumper and another to jack it up. I found that once you get it jacked high enough you tuck the side plastic in and that enables you to rest the bumper on the frame extensions. It takes some elbow grease, but by moving it around little by little you can get everything to line up pretty easily.

TIP: It makes it much easier if you install the 2 bolts on the frame extensions, but do not tighten them before you bring the bumper over.



Tuck the plastic in as you go;



One you get the bumper lined up here comes the hardest part. You now need to squeeze your hand into the small hole and do up 4 bolts on each side. This takes a lot of patience, your wrench and ratchets are going to be awkward to hold.... but rest assured it is do-able.



In this picture from underneath you can see two of the 4 bumper bolts and the 2 frame rail connection bolts.



Ok, this is the tow hook issue I was talking about... hopefully RA looks into it a bit and there isn't really a need for a special DIY procedure for anybody else.



So instead I am just going to pretend that magically I was able to bolt on the tow hooks with no problem; like this!



Here is a little trick to save you some time; when you are re-installing the shackles for the tow hooks, put the little plastic cap partially on first. Why? Because with the clearances to the edge you won't get it on after!




Now, you should tighten it enough that the shackle does not move... but if you give it a good pull it should freely swing out and stay there. If you leave it too loose it will bang around while you drive... too tight and you risk it seizing up so you can't hook anything onto it later.




Ok, this next part isn't really required... but I like to clean up things to be solid and look nice.

Basically you are left with a pretty obvious bracket glaring out from below your new bumper. So just unbolt it like so; now you are going to notice I am using a racket and a wrench... I found out after the picture the wrench is actually not required at all, that is a welded nut.



Once that is off you are going to notice that because the plastic shield used to be attached to the OEM bumper it is a bit flimsy and cleary in the way. So take this opportunity to just tighten things up, it not only pulls it out of the way, it makes it much more sturdy and less likely to get pulled out by accident.

So before & After:






Alright, we are all done



Hopefully this is helpful!

Cheers,
-SP