ARB Bumper Install

[RBBailey]

OK, so I'm trying to figure out how to go about drilling, then securing the bolt into the vertical holes on the crush cans on the ARB. It's an 04 Disco, with an earlier DII bumper going on. If I drill the hole, fine, I can do that, but then there is an obstruction (factory welded piece) in the end of the frame that would block any attempt to get the nut in there, let alone meet it up with the bolt coming in from the bottom. So, what do I do?

If you've ever installed one of these, you probably know the four bolts don't come anywhere near holding it tightly on the frame. The vertical bolt is a must, or you aren't going anyplace.

Help?

 

[jafir]

Can you take a photo of what is in the way? I don't recall there being an issue on my 2003. But I wasn't using an earlier bumper.

Is this a new bumper or a used one?

 

[RBBailey]

Thanks for the reply, I think I have it figured out. It's just that reading the ARB instructions, it does not actually say to drill all the way through the frame from top to bottom. And the bolts I have are too short to go all the way through, confused me. So something must be missing; although there is a bolt for each hole, they must be the wrong bolts! Guess I have to go get a new drill bit, and some new bolts.

 

[RBBailey]

So, this still isn't working...

The photo shows the front end of the frame of the truck (left side) with the mounting bracket (crush cans) for the bumper fixed in place (right side). The arrow is pointing to the alignment hole that you are supposed to put a bolt through after drilling that spot out in the frame.

According to ARB, I need to drill a vertical hole through the frame in order to lock the crush cans into place. Once you've got the crush cans in place, ready to mount the bumper onto, you realize that the two horizontal bolts shown in this picture simply cannot be tightened down enough to keep the bumper from moving. The only way to pin it into place is to make a new hole and lock it in the spot where you need it with a vertical bolt through the frame. This is all detailed, cryptically, in their instructions.

The problem I have it that, as you can see in the photo, the bottom hole for the vertical bolt, the one that matches the hole on top of the crush can, is too close to the horizontal bolts -- they intersect! You cannot put a bolt through the new hole once you have drilled it. In fact, you can't actually drill all the way through the frame at that spot because there is a factory built "bulkhead" welded into the frame at that spot. Even if you take the horizontal bolt out, you still have not way of inserting a vertical bolt through a that spot.

I'm disabled at this point, need to get this figured out, I would appreciate any wisdom anyone can throw at me on this. I know a lot of people have used the ARB on their DII, there has to be someone who has come up with a solution.

 

[jafir]

If you loosen the horizontal bolts and push the crush can in so that the new bolts holes don't interfere with the exiting holes?

 

[RBBailey]

Not enough clearance. I might be able to shave off enough of the metal in there at that point, but it doesn't seem right. And that would be a stupid job to have to do with a rat tail file..... However, that's the only think I can think of as well, and it's the only thing I can imagine doing at this point.

 

[Devildog01]

Just take the crush cans off and mount it directly to the frame horns. Mig a bead on the sides for good measure.

 

[RBBailey]

Kind of think that won't work -- the bumper would be digging into the tires -- that's 8 inches of distance.

And the holes in the bumper itself are not drilled to match the holes on the frame anyway, so...

 

[Devildog01]

It worked fine on my d2.

 

[KyleT]

Never seen that on a arb. But on my rte I went all the way from the top of the frame to the bottom.

 

[Some Dude]

That's a weird frame extension. The ones I've seen either had no plate on the bottom (the shitty old design) or a plate that ran all the way back to that square hole on the left of your photo. When I did mine, I had to pop the little yellow plugs out of the frame so the plate would sit flush and then line up and drill out the square hole.

Frame clearance issues aside, if you pull the crush can off and just throw the hardware in the holes to check clearance, can the vertical bolt be cheated back far enough to clear the lower horizontal bolt? For reference, it should be M10 hardware.

This is probably exactly what you don't want to hear, but if I were you, I would either weld that sucker on or weld some plate to the top and bottom of the cans to extend those plates farther to the rear. And by that, I mean I would have a shop do it because I'm not a welder.

Take a look at the 03-04 instructions to get an idea.
http://store.arbusa.com/Assets/PDF/3432120i.pdf

 

[roverMc]

I just left those out on my 2003. I haven't had any problems and have used an 8000 lb. winch several times. The holes on my ARB are diagonal if that matters???

 

[jafir]

I just left those out on my 2003. I haven't had any problems and have used an 8000 lb. winch several times. The holes on my ARB are diagonal if that matters???

There were staggered on mine too. I did drill them and install the bolts. It looks like the 2003/2004 bumpers have MUCH better impact absorbers.... this is probably why people have issues with the 1999-2002 version bumpers twisting. That and people leave out the pinning bolt where the bumper bolts to the crush can.

 

[pdxrovermech]

drill and tap it? its not really load bearing like the other two. dont recall having your issues with any i've installed. That said the newer designs are a bit more generic, so maybe its different.

 

[RBBailey]

Well, I got one drilled through top to bottom with acceptable outcome. It keeps the bumper from going full sag, but even though I've cranked the thing down so tightly that the crush cans are flexing, it still moves up and down about a half inch. The pinning bolt seems to do the job.

I will revisit the issue when I get around to putting a winch in there. A vertical bolt on the other side too? Or maybe just a bit of a weld.

See you tomorrow, Neil?