2021 Ram 1500 Rear Bumper / Dissassembly

[llando88]

Hi, my 2021 Ram 1500 Big Horn Crew Cab was struck from behind in a low speed accident. Impact was slightly on the right. The right side of my bumper was moved slightly up and forward about an inch. My tow receiver and hitch appear undamaged. The bumper itself is slightly creased and scratched.



Insurance is going to cover, but I have the option to get it repaired or DIY, from what I understand.

Based on examining the bumper from underneath it looks like the impact was absorbed by the bumper bracket assembly. Looking at the parts diagram online, I think this is part no. 6840447AC "Bracket-Step Bumper".

68404447AC - Mopar Parts Giant

www.moparpartsgiant.com

This is listed as part 2 in the diagram.



Couple questions on this?

If I order this part, does it come with both brackets, i.e. left and right? Or I order one and it applies to left, or right?

If I do it, I'd need to pull the bumper, then swap the bracket in. Pulling the bumper looks straight forward. I have one wiring harness on the driver's side to unplug. Then 4x16mm nuts on the interior side, then 2x15mm bolts under the license plate. At this point from what I understand, the bumper should pull straight off along with the damaged brackets.

My problem at this point, is does anyone know how the bumper brackets get attached to the bumper? I'd need to simply swamp them out, but I can't exactly see where the access is to undo the fasteners (might be 11mm but not sure - there are a few, from what I can see looking under the truck).

Any tips or tricks appreciated.

If I do get this figured out myself, I'll post back with some pictures in case it helps someone else.

Thanks. Rich

 

[MannyN]

Hi, my 2021 Ram 1500 Big Horn Crew Cab was struck from behind in a low speed accident. Impact was slightly on the right. The right side of my bumper was moved slightly up and forward about an inch. My tow receiver and hitch appear undamaged. The bumper itself is slightly creased and scratched.

View attachment 160035

Insurance is going to cover, but I have the option to get it repaired or DIY, from what I understand.

Based on examining the bumper from underneath it looks like the impact was absorbed by the bumper bracket assembly. Looking at the parts diagram online, I think this is part no. 6840447AC "Bracket-Step Bumper".

68404447AC - Mopar Parts Giant

www.moparpartsgiant.com

This is listed as part 2 in the diagram.

View attachment 160034

Couple questions on this?

If I order this part, does it come with both brackets, i.e. left and right? Or I order one and it applies to left, or right?

If I do it, I'd need to pull the bumper, then swap the bracket in. Pulling the bumper looks straight forward. I have one wiring harness on the driver's side to unplug. Then 4x16mm nuts on the interior side, then 2x15mm bolts under the license plate. At this point from what I understand, the bumper should pull straight off along with the damaged brackets.

My problem at this point, is does anyone know how the bumper brackets get attached to the bumper? I'd need to simply swamp them out, but I can't exactly see where the access is to undo the fasteners (might be 11mm but not sure - there are a few, from what I can see looking under the truck).

Any tips or tricks appreciated.

If I do get this figured out myself, I'll post back with some pictures in case it helps someone else.

Thanks. Rich

Have a look at this video. Should be straight forward.

 

[llando88]

Thanks for the video, looks easy enough.

I ordered a 6840447AC "Bracket-Step Bumper", should have later this week. I took another look underneath this morning, found a plug on the driver's side I have to remove. I found the 4 (2 each side) 16mm nuts (connects bumper to brackets) and the two (behind license plate, connect bumper to hitch receiver assy) 15mm bolts. I fitted a 13mm box to the bracket mounting bolts (two, left and right; 6 bracket bolts, 3 ea side) and that seemed to fit. Hopefully my son can help me when I pull the bumper, otherwise I have a couple come along straps that should hold it in place as I lower it to the ground.

I don't expect this to take long. I'll post back with a summary once the new parts are in.

 

[llando88]

My parts are en route, but I did have a follow up question. There is a large electrical multi-plug on the driver's side, pictured below with the red arrow. Does anyone know what the release mechanism is for these kinds of plugs so I can pull it out of the harness?

Apparently this will have to come out in order for me to pull the bumper. Thanks.

 

[MannyN]

Ther should be a lever on the white lock mechanism to turn it, then you can pull the plug. It will be tight, but it'll come out.
Watch this video, at 3:20 you can see the lock and the lever.

 

[llando88]

@MannyN Thanks for the video and info, that's very helpful. I plan to knock this out this weekend. Going to spend the time in the garage with the Lemans 24 race on the radio.

 

[llando88]

Got this knocked out today.

To answer some my own questions:

Yes, the bracket part specified above comes with both Left and Right pieces.

The electrical plug I asked about is retained with a bail (white plastic) and two camover locking tabs. You can see this easier from above, it the bumper is pulled slightly out (must undo 4x16mm nuts and 2x15mm bolts). Release by pulling up on the bail, this also pushes the connector out. So easy a Caveman could do it.

I started around 7 and was done by 10, including time locating my 10mm socket (Bwahahahahahaha, for reals). Actually it wasn't bad. I was thinking for some reason the bumper would be unwieldy, and it was just me, so I tied a couple come along straps to hold it. Didn't need to. I suppose the bumper weighs, maybe, 10 lbs, if that.

I opted to replace both brackets, since A) I had them already and B) although the passenger side bracket was the most bent, turns out the driver's side was slightly also.

Pulling off the plastic trim was a pain, there are 100s of release clips (ok, maybe 20 but it seemed like it) you have to undo. Also very late in the process I realized (of friggin' course) I had to undo the two LED license plate lights (aforementioned 10mm) assemblies. Much more bueno after that. Then trim cover just popped off. I wished I had removed the LED licence plate assy's first. You have to remove the plastic trim to get to the T40 Torx bolt heads (3 per bracket). The 13mm bolts (three per brackets) are easier.

Brackets came from moparpartsgiant ($62 shipped via Fedex), and are OEM. The studs on them had some kind of threadlocker; green, which I've never seen before. I dunno what the torque value was (no shop manual) but I put in the region of 50-60 lbs (guess) on the nuts/bolts, slightly less on the T40/13 mm bolts. They are tight.

I had all the tools, I just had to pick up a set of three 3/8" wobble extensions (HF, $9.99) to reach some of the fasteners. Just the usual stuff; trim tool, flat blade, 10mm, 13mm, 15mm, 16mm, my 1/2" cordless driver, various ratchets, and a Torx T40 bit / T40 T-wrench. Oh and my 2 1/2 lb dead blow to pop the clips back in place at the end.

Shown below, mid stream, new brackets just behind existing bumper assy.


Plastic trim, removed. Note clips. That's what you have to undo in order to access the T40 bolts holding the brackts. LED License plate light assys and 10mm bolts are to the right, lower. I'd remove those first, next time.


Plug disassembled. Like I said, it was surprisingly easy.


Truck is now good to go. Bumper position is now back to as per factory, looks straight, and my hitch is 100% functional. Ok I have a very small dimple in the cover from the accident, but hey it's a truck. I wasn't going to spend $926 to swap it out for new, that's for sure. As a attempt to reduce the risk of this happening again, I got one of those "taillight" receiver LED lights you plug into the trailer harness. The truck has high mounted brake, but I feel like this might help drivers behind me see me more clearly. Anyway it was only like $15 and doesn't look horrible.

 

[MannyN]

Good Job, I knew you can do it.

 

[llando88]

Can't believe my luck, I was rear-ended AGAIN Wednesday afternoon.

This time the guy must have been going a lot faster. My bumper brackets are toast, as is the bumper skin, all the polymer inserts, and my left exhaust hanger bracket.

What scares me is the receiver got hit pretty hard as well, hard enough to distort the steel slightly. Thing is, this is attached to the actual frame rails, so I am hoping/praying that the receiver can be unbolted just like all the other parts and renewed.

After this maybe I need to put a big flashing orange sign on the back of the truck. Geez.

 

[turbojimmy]

Got this knocked out today.

Thanks for posting this. I had to do the job today and your write-up was a big help. My step pad didn't come off as easily as yours did - I broke about 6 clips. It seems to be okay, though. If it starts to lift over time I'll just replace it. The Mopar part is only $65 but I didn't have time to wait for a new one.