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Tomken 'Protec' Front and Rear Bumpers

Tomken 'Protec' Front and Rear Bumpers

Part #:

I still haven't decided which bumpers to put on the Rubi.  I now know what it is like to decide which shoes to wear with a dress.  Hmmm do I get the ARB, or the Durango, or maybe something else.  I just don't know.  Well until I do finally figure out what I want, I had these Tomken "Protec" bumpers sitting on a shelf in the garage.  I originally bought these a few years ago, 5 if I recall.  They came wrapped in newspaper in a flimsy cardboard box, with minimal instructions that looked like a 3 year old drew the pictures.  All that aside they looked good and solid.  The other thing I noticed was that the powder coating was only on the outside, and the inside of the bumper was bare steel.  So I shot it with some spray paint and hoped that it would work out.  I originally installed these on my '98.  It only took about a month before the powder coat started flaking off.  The other thing I noticed was that they loved to hold water inside the bumper,  it would leak in along the edge of the pegs.   So I would have to constantly unbolt a peg and drain the rusty water out.  

With everything that I have run these into, I figured I would have destroyed them already.  I also thought that they would rot away, but they haven't.  Would I buy them again, NO.  They are stronger than the factory bumpers so on they went.

Additional Parts:
Anti-seize
Tools Needed: 
T-30 Torx
T-55 Torx
13mm socket
15mm socket
17mm socket
18mm socket
18mm box end wrench

 

INSTALLATION:
Rear Installation:
1. Remove the 8 screws from the plastic end caps with a T-30 torx bit.  Be careful you don't get a face full of dirt. Rear bumper upper plastic bolts rear bumper lower plastic bolts
2. Now remove the 4 nuts and 2 bolts holding the rear bumper on.  The top nuts are right next to the body bushing, so a socket doesn't fit very well.  I loosened it up first with a box end and then backed it off with the socket.  I needed to remove the Tow hook also.  The back nut is attached to a metal tab, so it just pulls right out of the frame. bumper removal tow hook removal
3. Now comes the fun part.  You can do this 2 ways, one make a pattern of the mounting plate, or stick the bumper up on the back frame.  Since I haven't decided on bumpers I didn't drill the rear frame to completely mount this one.  Here is how I did it the last time.
4.  Place the bumper up on the frame and tighten down the 2 bolts on either side.  You will notice that one hole is round and the other oval, you may need to ream out the oval hole slightly to allow the bolt to go through.  Now mark where you will need to drill the other holes and then take the bumper back off. bumper inner bolts
5. Center punch the holes and start drilling.  Be careful that you don't hit the gas tank on the other side.  Once you get the holes drilled, deburred and painted you get to put the bumper back on.
6. Since I have little hands I figured that I would be able to get these bolts in and the nuts on without dropping the gas tank.  It didn't happen.  I did have to drop the tank, but I only undid the nuts on the back side and let it drop until it hit the trailer hitch in the bumper.  This gave me just enough room to work my hand in there and get the nuts on. bolts behind gas tank
7.  Now tighten everything up and you are done.  I did have a tow hook on the back, but once the bumper was installed it didn't fit right so I just left it off.  I did eventually put it back on as a good tow point. new bumper end bolts
old bumper
Old bumper= 17lbs
new bumper
New bumper= 30lbs

 

Front Installation:
1. I started by removing the 6 torx head bolts with a T-55 torx.  I also disconnected and removed the off-road lights with a 13mm.  I would later need to fabricate a bracket to hold these onto the new bumper. front bumper upper bolt front bumper lower bolt fog light harness
2. I then put the new bumper on and promptly ran into a problem.  This is where the construction of the mounting bracket on the bumper was obviously bad.  The holes were not drilled the same distance, size, or even in a line with each other.  So some judicial use of a grinding wheel, drill, file, and hammer brought things a little more into alignment.  This was actually done when I installed it the very first time, so this installation all the modifications were already made.  It still didn't prevent me from cross threading a bolt.  The problem this time is that I had done the winch install previously and now had to take the winch back off.  I needed to take out 2 of the washers from either side of the anti-sway bar bracket that I had previously installed.  I also took out the longer bolt and put in the original.  You will need the 17mm and 15mm sockets for this.  Now with only 1 washer the spacing was correct to level the winch out again.

new bumper bolt hole mod

3.  Once you manage to get all 8 bolts aligned and started you will be on the home stretch.  Just tighten them up and you are done.

new bumper gap

4.  Forgot the off-road lights, well since I like having them I made a set of brackets out of 1"x 3/16th flat stock.  Real easy to do, cut 2 pieces - 2 3/4" long, drilled 5/16th inch holes 3/4" in from each end.   Drill and tap the bumper and bolt it all together. front fog light bracket fog light mod fog light installed
old bumper
Old Bumper= 21lbs w/o lights
new bumper
New Bumper= 29lbs with lights (lights are 2lbs ea)

 

  N-m Ft. Lbs. In. Lbs.

FRONT BUMPER SCREW

104 77 -
FRONT TOW HOOK SCREW 108 80 -
REAR BUMPER BOLT 67 50 -
REAR TOW HOOK BOLT 67 50 -

This page last updated: 16-Apr-2008

Content and Design © 2002-present WanderingTrail,  Ronald Seegert
Common Sense and Safety should always be observed when working on your vehicle or doing modifications. Jackstands, wheel blocks, disconnecting the battery are a few of the basic safety precautions that should be used and may not be mentioned in the write ups on this site. You are responsible for your own installation, these write ups are a helpful guideline and should not be taken as an official installation instruction. My write up may be different from the kits currently out there, so alwasy double check the manufacturers installation instructions when installing anything. I try to keep the site up to date with changes that have occured as I discover them, but may not have the latest unless someone lets me know. If you feel that an install is above your capabilities after reading my write ups, I recommend getting together with a club and getting some help. Only a few times have I needed to employe some actual help from a shop to get something done. Usually welding or A/C work. While I have spent many years working on mechanical systems, I am not an expert, nor do I pretend to be one. I hope these write ups have been useful to you.
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