Aftermarket rear replacement bumper revisited

[Jedi9]

Does it use the factory license plate lighting? the plate lighting was the one sketchy thing about the RC I didn't care for

 

[A-TEAM]

Same here, I would have preferred the RC bumper had cutouts to use the oem plate lights but the bolt lights are a pretty cool custom touch. Thats the one thing the shop messed up, the hooked up the lights but did not put the plate on lol. They wanted it for another day to do that I told them no worries ill handle it. Had it done it 20 mins with shrink connectors and split loom.

 

[A-TEAM]

Also one note I should make about using the curt class 5 hitch and the RC is the top plate on the receiver is very wide and I had to make 1/4” x 3/4” relief cuts to allow the RC to fit properly. Noticed it when mocking it up and did those cuts and painted myself before giving the parts to the shop to avoid a “incompatible parts” phone call

 

[Jedi9]

Good planning, The RC did clear the factory hitch fine and I was relieved to see a cutout to access the spare tire

 

[Bt10]

Does it use the factory license plate lighting? the plate lighting was the one sketchy thing about the RC I didn't care for

Not sure if that was a question for me, but since you compared to RC, I'll give the Wolfstorm credit for "trying" to use the factory plate lights. I did need to file the holes to get them to seat into the bumper. Their included brackets to hold the lights in seemed to work after some massaging, essentially bend to fit. It's good enough now.

 

[Jedi9]

Yes it was for you, the cutouts looked similar.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Realized I owed a pic to this thread.

View attachment 183526

Zoom in to see the 2 small button head screws above license plate light. 2 more hidden per side to bolt together 3 separate pieces, with foam in the joint. Not much welding on the face, but does need additional inside. Needs a couple of carriage bolts behind plate to hitch as noted previously. The lower tube is 5 pieces with deficient welding, so it's not very strong as delivered. BUT, it has potential with extra work to be decent, and it's half the cost of OEM plastic. Note that it does come with backup LEDs and shackle mounts and shackles, as well as the aforementioned backup sensor mounts and key prox mounts. I will be going for lightness. The OEM weighs about 20 lbs and this stripped of extras will probably be 40-50? Also note my truck is side exit tradesman hemi, but it is advertised to fit rear exit dual exhaust as well.

Be careful if you think about using the shackles for recovery purposes. The shop that built my rear bumper highly advised against using the bumper itself, and the hooks he added , for recovery or towing purposes. The bolts holding the bumper on aren't big enough for that purpose. Which is why we have the hitch receiver, and why the trucks without the hitch receiver have the ball mount hole go into the plate for the bumper support bar