Pap's Web Site

Page not finished I still have a dozen or so more pictures to post, spent too much time on the Body Armor bumper problems.

Photos and Information, all pictures are "clickable" for larger image *Feb 21-2010 still more to add in a day or so.

After much deliberation I ordered a Warn rear bumper, a Body Armor front bumper and a Lucrum Swing Out for the FJC . Since I do most of my work by myself I started by figuring out how to hold the bumpers off the ground for the install. Using my slightly modified Harbor Freight tire lift jack to support the bumper was the way to go. It wouldn't lift high enough so further work was needed to get the bumper higher.

This was a first test using the bare jack to lift the bumper with a piece of rope for stability. I moved the support arms above the arm stop tabs. It still wouldn't lift high enough. I drilled a piece of plywood and slid it over the round lifting bars to spread them for more lift and better support. I screwed together a couple 2x4's to help support the bumper better but later on I found out the 2x4's hit the exhaust pipe before the bumper could be fully seated so they came off.

Adding a plywood spacer for the two arms barely got it to the level with the top of the FJ bumper, about 21 inches. I clamped the whole mess onto a furniture dolly for mobility. Now it cranks up to over 30 inches. The two "C" clamp Vise Grips hold the tire jack to the dolly and the rope provides additional safety. Don't want to drop that bad boy on the concrete - or my head! Later I swapped the rope for a ratchet strap instead of having to untie the rope knots every time I needed to adjust things.

Well some of that worked and some did not. Here's the final setup for holding and moving the Warn rear bumper

The Warn bumper is a work of art, metallurgically speaking. There is so much more that you don't see when mounted. It has loads of structural bracing inside and the weld points for the bumper eyelets are just perfect. It's a natural for installing the Lucrum Swing Out.

Next comes the tough part, removing the stock bumper and cutting the plastic end caps correctly so everything will fit right. I will document this thoroughly because a two day search of forums and web sites did not turn up much more than a few photographs with little explanation. The first caution is DON'T do this if it's cold. The week I spent doing this temperatures averaged 20 degrees. In an unheated garage the only saving grace was no wind.

Working with the cold FJ plastic was miserable. I ended up breaking a few pieces, some of them very expensive, like the back up sonar sensors! I never used them anyway but it still ticked me off. The plastic keepers on them refused to budge. I should have used a heat gun to warm them up but hindsight is always 20-20. Get a set of plastic panel removal tools and tape off areas subject to scratching or scraping.

Cutting the ends of the plastic bumper cover was a little nerve racking. I studied the Warn instructions, read a few reports online and saw some pictures of a few Warn installs but when you have to do it yourself, it can be intimidating. Take your time, as they say, "Measure twice, cut once". I studied the instructions and pictures I downloaded then marked the areas to cut. My first cut was just to hack the ends of the cover off to make it easier to handle. Then using a hacksaw blade slowly cut along the lines.

The left picture shows one end before cutting and pieces cut from the opposite side. The right picture shows the finished end piece with the cutoff below.

On my installation I had to trim a little piece to clear the Lucrum main support, then a small notch to allow the Warn bumper to fit close with out distorting the panel.

The Warn instructions also were a little sketchy lacking. I guess whoever wrote them assumed a lot of points to be understood by the person doing the install. This page should help anyone trying this. The tire lift jack is just my way of supporting the bumper, most folks will have help or just use a floor jack or some other method. This was a one man install, most people have helpers to assist.

The Body Armor front bumper was really delayed so I started on the Lucrum Swing Out and Warn rear bumper. Go to the Body Armor write up to read that fiasco!

The Lucrum swing out arrived the 26th and on the 27th I started to put it and the Warn bumper on the FJ at the same time. Once I started I was committed to finish. Little did I realize how tough this was going to be. I did it all my self with no additional help.

Well, it took nearly 7 days to get this done but it's on the FJ now. At about the 5th day I doubted my sanity in starting this. The bloom was definitely off the rose by then! I spent an average of 6 to 10 hours each day. What made it tough was the weather and working in an unheated garage that some days never got above 20 degrees, something you Southern California types don't experience. I guess doing the Warn bumper and the Swing Out at the same time wasn't too smart. I bet knowing what I do now I could do the whole thing in 2 or 3 days!

Monday, February 01, 2010, 6:38:42 PM and 25 degrees! About 95% done here.

A couple things came up during the swing out install. No real problems, just typical kinks and a few changes I made, some by necessity and a couple I did because I thought it would work better.

The link bracket for the door to cargo rack had to be installed differently than the instructions show. I did it the way the pictures showed at first and the link jammed against the angle iron when I tried opening the door. I flipped the angle iron over to make it work.

The plastic sleeve for the gas piston didn't fit, the hole in the sleeve was too small. I used a spade bit to ream it out to 3/4" inch and that problem was solved.

Now it slides fine.

I rigged up my tire jack to support the Warn bumper so I could dolly it around the garage and raise and lower it the right amount to slide it on the FJ frame.

I found some high weld spots and edges on the bottom of the main spindle brackets that was scratching the Warn bumper. I had to remove the warn bumper so many times to check the fit I lost count. It was early during this process I noticed the scratching. The bracket bolts weren't completely tight yet just enough to make sure I had them in the right position. I ended up with about 61 15/16" inch center to center when I was finished.

The threaded pocket for the ball socket had a rough edge and the spindle had a few weld lumps.

I leveled off the high spots with a large file and sprayed the bracket underside with truck bed coating. It was a pretty good match. I also had to spray the top of the warn bumper.

I had to notch the Warn bumper because it hit the primary bracket before the bumper flanges lined up with the frame holes.

You can see where the primary bracket was scratching the bumper.

I initially used the pressure latch that was supplied to hold the two swing arms in place where they join. I really didn't like the little rubber knob moving around as much as it did.

I opted to replace the latch with a Heavy Duty Toggle Latch with Padlock Hole. That really locks the two ends in place and is way more solid.

This thing is pretty strong, it will hold Ultimate: 1,500 Lbs. Working: 600 Lbs. Notice pop rivets.

I had to shorten the 6 inch bolts by 1/2" inch. The two rear bolts hit the body before I could fully tighten them. I cut all four off just for good measure in case I was lying on my back and groping around for the parts. I couldn't find 5 1/2" bolts.

Cutting 1/2" inch off bolt, primary bracket template lying on workbench bolts fit with plenty of thread capture and clearance.

I didn't use and of the sheet metal screws, opting instead for heavy duty pop rivets on the toggle latch and gas piston mount. I hate sheet metal screws!

After getting everything aligned before locking down all the screws and nuts I found I had to cut about half and inch off the bottom of the secondary bracket where it bolts to the frame in the tapped 3/8" inch hole.

I also added two vertical support bars to the cargo rack made from some flat "U" channel I had in my scrap metal pile. And I inserted a short piece of 1/2" inch conduit inside the tire carrier side channel for extra support for the off road lock bolt.

More comments , no pictures

Another minor glitch was trying to insert the seal in the bottom of the swing out bearing pocket and the dust cap in the top. Some of the powder coating got over the edge of the pocket and the seal wouldn't go right in. Same for the top where the dust cap fits. One of them had a slight nick also. I used a fine curved file to clean the edge and give all openings a slight bevel. Again, no biggie and I guess I forgot to take a picture. That must have been one of the colder days!

On the next to the last day I got in a hurry to finish this project and in my zeal to wire up the license plate light, I read the instructions wrong and tapped into the green wire on the tow hitch cable and not the "green wire with black stripe" on the vehicle harness. I saw "green wire" on the instructions and tossed them down and went to work.

An hour or so later I was trying to figure out why it didn't work. I removed the vampire tap from the green and put it on the brown wire on the trailer side of the harness. Works fine now. I wanted it on that side incase I have to remove things later. I realize some FJ's don't come with the hitch and trailer harness so that's why you show tapping into the main chassis harness.

I guess I got things fairly right. I've seen other pictures of the Warn/Lucrum installation and clearances on the plastic seem similar. I only had to trim the plastic for the primary brackets below the bumper line because my brackets were almost touching the body. I actually put some butyl rubber on the body to keep from banging the paint while I installed and removed and re-installed everything several times.

Clearances seem okay, may need to tilt bumper/swing out brackets up a little but that'll be in warmer weather. Butyl rubber patches

Here's the end result. The gas tank is about 3 gallons so no problem on the top rack. The generator is about 45 pounds.

I'll need to move my rear view camera now because the stuff on top cargo rack blocks a bit of the rear view.