I think i made a mistake yesterday. saw an ad on CL with a guy parting out a 1984 jimmy. I asked if he had a brush guard and he said he had this push bar:
I thought, that looks great and for $20 i couldnt say no. after i got it home i lined it up with my bumper and realized that the mounts overlap the rivets (not sure if the are rivets, but the circles on the middle of the bumper) and doesnt line up 100%. now that i look closer to that picture i think it was an s10 jimmy that it came off of.
now heres the question of the hour: what would be involved with making this work on my suburban? or should i try and resell it and keep looking?
an hour later and i cant edit the post? hmm. oh well.
someone informed me that the rivets im talking about are in fact called carriage bolts. if that helps explain the problem im having, lets pretend that i'm not really this dumb...
i once had the same issue with a 1988 Bronco II, i got a fullsize push guard tho and just made new holes in the bumper and added steel plates behind the bumper to make a secure mounting point.
EDIT: heres a pic for an idea of how far off it was, dont mind my bad parking this was pics i took when a drunk hit my parked truck
i will try to take a pic later on how it lines up now.
was that guy right and those are called carriage bolts? might have to have my FIL dust off the ol' welder and extend the bottom mounts a little. top mounts are just fine. i think it will look good when its on and offer a bit o' protection up front. anything to help the plastic grill that breaks when up against a gentle breeze.
I'm not sure if those are carriage bolts or not, look behind and see if there are threads on the back, if so then yes they are. I would check but my front bumper is different then yours.
Good luck making it fit, your should't have much trouble.... But if you want to sell PM me a shipping quote and how much you want for it
Doesn't really matter if they are carriage bolts or regular ones. The bolts in the s10 pic look to be added and not in the stock location. They probably won't match the bumperbolts for your full size. So just drill holes and re-enforce the back as suggested.
That thing is more for looks than function anyway
with it bolted to the bumper like that, i wouldnt expect to use it as a battering ram. are you saying that it would be pretty weak? it would be nice if it could deflect a deer or a prius without damaging the rest of my truck too much. but honestly i dont expect that.
what i'm looking to get out of this is a little extra protection, definitely some beefier looks and a place to mount some off-road lights. am i asking too much from this bar?
It should offer some decent protection as long as you don't use cable ties in place of the top bolts! The bumpers are pretty tough, I've pushed junk cars around with my 1983.
yeah they are carriage bolts. they use a 3/4 socket or wrench to get them off. Those bars are more for looks or a good place to put some lights. You may be able to push some stuff but I would think hitting anything with speed and it won't do much. Had one on my truck before going to a winch bumper...... Better then nothing but does not protect the rad very well.
While scavenging misc. parts at the junkyard yesterday, I stumbled across another push bar. this one already on a full size blazer and is held on with the front carriage bolts on the bumper and then 2 more bolts on the bottom that go into the frame.
it was a huge pita to get it because one of the carriage bolts was messed up. the junkyard wouldnt allow me to bring in an angle grinder. so i had to run out and buy a new chisel and bfh. came back and went to town on it. ended up breaking off the left tab at the weld... not an easy job. im sore as hell today but i got it!!! and for $20 too.
you can see the bottom is bent inwards where the chain is connected, looks like someone got pulled out of something by that chain.
now just gotta weld a new tab on and enjoy! :ninja:
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