MID12sSSS Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 When our SSS trucks were being assembled from 2003-2007, the cladding and bumpers were all put on by hand at the GM factory. They may be slightly crooked, or installed too far this way or that way.. So, if you're as OCD as i am, or just want a clean looking truck with crisp body lines, you're gonna have to go back and make some adjustments... Not all of your bumpers may be as bad as mine was, but every morning when i walked passed my truck, i saw the gap in the front bumper and thought to myself, "i need to fix that someday".. Well this week i finally made time and got it done.. I dont take any credit for this technique. Its been done before by some of the "OG"s on this forum ie. Chris and Brian, and a few others. After seeing how much nicer an SSS can look with a few body adjustments, i knew i had to do this mod myself. It totally transformed the entire look of the front end of my truck. No more droopy broken jaw look... Im sure there are other ways to go about this, but this quick easy mod should only take about 2.5hours. It took me a bit longer as i had to take pics and go through some trial and error. Hopefully this thread will make for a smoother install for the next guy. Anyway, heres a quick "how to" thread with information and pics to help anyone who wishes to fix their unsightly factory bumper gap themselves... If you dont have time to read this incredibly long "how-to" and just want to see the end results, simply scroll to the very end of this post. If you're doing this mod yourself and want to know the step by step procedure, grab a beer and get ready to mod! Some before pics of the ugly factory bumper gap that this mod will fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MID12sSSS Posted January 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 First step.. Pop the hood and remove the radiator cover... This is easily done by removing the center of each of the 7 plastic rivets with a pick or special pliers, then lifting the whole cover off. Next step.. Remove the grill. Start by using your fingers, or pliers like so, to pinch the tabs together and gently pull the grill from the vehicle. Be gentle when pulling the grill. Start with the two upper tabs, then the side tabs, then the lowers... To release the side dabs, since you cant access the rear of the tabs to pinch the clip, just give it an easy pull like so... Now that the grill is out of the way, we can start removing the bumper... Theres only a total of 6 bolts holding the bumper on. You can see 2 of these bolts just by looking down passed the radiator. There is one on each side.. The next 4 bolts are accessed from under the vehicle.. Since my truck only sits like 14" off the ground, there was no way i was fitting underneath it, so i had to lift my truck up. If you dont have access to a lift, you can simple use a jack and jackstands. Some of you at stock height might not have to lift your truck at all.. 2 more bolts can be seen by looking just under the center of the bumper. There is a bracket bolt near each tow hook... Yes. Our trucks have tow hooks that are completely and entirely useless... The bolts you need to remove are circled. Dont mind the bolt i removed in the picture. No need to remove this bolt. I only had to because i had to remove my heat exchanger bracket. The last 2 bolts are on the outside support brackets. After these last 2 bolts are removed, the bumper is ready to come off... Once the bumper is off, there are only 2 modifications that need to be done to the brackets.. One is to notch the main brackets so that they'll clear the frame when installed in their new location... Cut the brackets on the line i have marked. I cut this line with a circulating saw disc. It made short work of it. Afterwards you can file the burrs and paint the brackets if you wish.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MID12sSSS Posted January 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Next step is to cut a channel into the outside supports so that the bumper can be adjusted. Heres what the bracket looks like. And heres the cut pattern you'll want to trace.. Easiest way to cut this is to remove these 2 bolts to remove the bracket and take it to a work bench. Make the cut, then reinstall.. Here was an occurrence of trial and error. Removing the bracket would have been easier. I tried cutting the channel with my circular saw disc again, and it was a pain in the neck. So i took a plasma cutter to it. PS, if you plasmacut, wear protective clothing. I developed pretty good flash burns on my arms from not wearing my welding jacket. But i was in a hurry. Lol. \ The cut turned out great after some filing, but i had to run a tap through the hole on the other side. Haha. The slag blew into it and gummed up the threads.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MID12sSSS Posted January 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Now that the modifications are done, its time to reinstall the bumper. Be sure to put rags on the edges of your bumper to prevent scratching the fenders, bumper, or headlights during reinstallation. Get someone to help you lift it if necessary. Nothing is worse than putting a ton of effort into making a vehicle look better, and end up doing the opposite by accidentally dropping and cracking your bumper or scuffing something up real bad.. When reinstalling the bumper, you'll see where the main brackets use to mount under the frame, but instead will now go above the frame. Thanks to the notch you cut into the bracket, itll slide right over the frame, giving you the upward movement you need to close the bumper gap. Heres how it bolts up from factory. The bracket goes under the frame, and a bolt comes from the top and goes into the speed clip/nut on the bottom. You'll want to remove the clip as i am doing in this picture. Next, move the bracket up onto the frame, rather than below it, then bolt it on as so. Install this bolt loosely for now, as you're going to be making adjustments to get the bumper to sit perfetcly. (I pryed up on the bumper and snuck a 1/8" shim/washer in between the frame and bumper bracket for a little extra lift..) Next install the outside bumper bracket bolts. Install these bolts loosely as well. (this pic was taken early in the modding process. Youre mount should have the channel cut into it so it can easily slide up and down. Lastly, install the top 2 bolts (the first 2 we removed). You'll need to put large spacers under these parts of the bracket. I used 1" cylinder spacers. You could use an oversized nut or something else if need be. Be creative. Lol. Now its just a matter of getting it to fit to your liking. Already, youll notice the bumper sits a lot higher because its sitting up on top of the frame rather than bolted below it, thus eliminating the gap. Hold the bumper where you would like it and bolt everything back up. Have someone help you hold the bumper in place while you tighten up the bolts if need be. The very last step is to stand back and admire all your hard work! This simple mod will transform this... Into THIS!! What an improvement! All for just 2-3 hours of work. Makes a huge difference in the appearance of your truck. Thanks for reading and hope this helps! Sure would have been nice to have a write up for guidance when i went to do this mod myself. Thanks for reading and HAPPY MODDING!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MID12sSSS Posted January 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Lol! Thank god for autosave... My web browser crashed and i thought i lost everything. Luckily, it was all still there because i probably wouldnt have taken the 2 hours to retype this again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown 346 Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Sweet write up. Definitely doing this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueAKSSS Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Awesome write up, definitely worth the work to clean up the lines on the front end. Now I want to do this to my truck whenever I get around to repainting my front bumper, grill and mirror caps I will do this mod when I reinstall. Great work, looks awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downeast Johnny Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Great job on the write up and pictures Brandon. Very easy to comprehend what needs to be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muggs Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Very good write up bro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ_978 Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 awesome! since day one my bumper has allways pissed me off because it was crooked deff going to have to do this, this spring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bouch252 Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 That has always pissed me off!!! Great write up!! Gonna start working on this soon! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian22030 Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Sweet write up, it's encouraging to do this mod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnss Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Great write up. When the Front end of my truck starts going back together. I will be doing this for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcapone Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Waaay righteous bro, nice work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limited360 Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Awesome write up... I need to do this as my gap is off side to side a little bit and I do have OCD!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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