Misaligned Rebel Bumper

[STR]

I finally got around to fixing my bumper. After delivery of my 2020 Rebel I noticed that the bumper was not aligned. While it’s hard to see in the picture, it was leaning on the driver’s side by approximately 3/8”. I could fit my hand between the grille and the headlight filler panel on the passenger side, but could not fit a finger on the opposite side. Even the tow hooks were not aligned, so I knew that the bumper wasn’t centered on the frame brackets.

I ultimately took it back to the dealership and we walked the lot to see if there were fitment issues with other Rebels on the lot. Of the 6 that we looked at, 3 were good and 3 were as bad or worse than mine. The service manager informed that it was within appropriate variance, but he really had no clue. He said that he’ll have the body shop look at it if I want. Against my better judgement I decided to let the body shop look at it. Three days later I was informed that my truck was ready and to come and pick it up. I went to pick it up hoping that they didn’t screw anything up and I immediately noticed that they did absolutely noting. I talked to the body shop manager, who informed that it could not be fixed without removing the front clip, repositioning the headlights, cutting the frame, welding... bla, bla, bla, and that he knew I didn’t want them to cut the frame on a new truck. I could go on, but I won’t... typically BS.

OK, here’s how I fixed it in about 40 minutes. I removed both lower front wheelhouse liners. Unplugged the harness (fog lights, parking sensors, etc.) on the driver’s side. Removed the 6 bumper bolts (3 on each side) and dropped the bumper. I noticed that there was some play in the bolt holes, but none in the bumper guide pin holes (1 on each side). So I could either cut the guide pin(s), or enlarge one of the guide pin holes. I elected the latter, which afforded enough play to properly reposition bumper. It is now perfectly aligned.

If your bumper is not properly aligned, and you don’t feel like fixing it yourself, then just tell them that it’s not as complicated as they might claim. Also, for those wanting to paint the lower bumper skid plate, which is silver on the Rebels without the Black Appearance Package, this is how you remove the bumper to access the fasteners, which is pretty easy.

 

[mikeru82]

Good info. Looks a lot easier to remove the 5th gen Rebel bumper. When I painted the skid plate on my 2017 Rebel I looked into removing it, and it was not worth the time. So I masked it off and covered the entire rest of the truck. Drop cloths are cheap LOL...it's amazing how far over spray can go.

 

[Scram1500]

Maybe we should all get together and open a Ram service department. It seems most of us here can do more than the dealerships are capable of

 

[Dusty1948]

What a difference a dealer's service dept. makes.

My DT came with a badly aligned grill, bumper, and box-to-cab. The service manager never blinked an eye and scheduled service and the alignments were done to my satisfaction.

Some of the dealer stories I hear in here are depressing.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 038547 miles.

 

[STR]

^^^ Good the hear. Generally a body shop can make more money on insurance claims rather than warranty work, so they don’t want to be bothered. What’s bad is the lying... Just like everything else, there are good and bad dealerships. If you find a good one, it’s certainly appreciated.