I just finished mine. I painted the top part of the bumper to match my body cladding. Left them bottom valance black

 

Aftermarket is iffy. Some of mine are OEM but they are hard to find so I understand your willingness to go aftermarket. I suggest Autoparts Warhouse, that is where I got most of my aftermarket pieces for the conversion and the pieces are good quality. I did get the header panel off ebay and it is sucky. Came broken in 3 or 4 places and had to be repaired when I got it here.

Also, give 1A Auto a look, they are a sponsor here and I have heard good things.

 

Finally got the package. Had to schedule for delivery and all.

The box as it arrived on a pallet.



The headlights are Eagle Eyes brand. This makes me a little nervous as my current headlights are Eagle Eyes and they have developed condensation inside. The fog lights are Depo, I am not familiar with this brand.



The bumper brackets. Two have ford stamped on them. The other two appear to have the brand label intentionally ripped off.



The grill is marked Y.C.C parts.



Now the bumper. Box is marked Auto Power.



The bumper came with a little ding and some small scratches. I called Sinister diesel as soon as I got home and opened it. Rob started right off with something like "well it says on the box inspect before accepting this package". I said no one signed for it (I left a note UPS please leave it) and the damage is minor enough that I had to unwrap and inspect to notice it... Rob kept dancing around "we mark the box saying you must inspect before accepting". So I came right out and said" So basically you are saying you are not responsible". He said " pretty much, yea". Rob said "send me some pics and we will see what we can do". Rob sent me an email almost right away


Scott,

After looking at the bumper and the damage on it upon arrival. I can send you a free hat & t-shirt or I can give you a $100 dollar store credit on your next purchase.


Thank you,
Robert McCrickard
Sinister Diesel"

I am not mad, these things usually get messed up on me. It is not bad enough to make a fuss over. Beware, you accept it "as is" from MKM.






On a lighter note, I got to install the billet inserts on the new grill. I will try to get the bumper pad painted to match this week. I am not sure how much time I will have to wrench this weekend. I have been stupid busy at work.

 

I have depo headlights on my hhr. Excellent quality

 

Man I would not be happy to spend that kind of money and have a damaged product.

 

Screw them, that's just bad customer service.

 

Well that's good to know, will not be ordering anything from them. As far as the headlights go. I have eagle eyes and my fog started condensating and holding water. I popped it out and drilled 2 small holes and it fixed it

 

I hear you guys, they could have tried a little harder. I let Rob know how I felt.



Rob,

I am not being a jerk but here is my ordering experience with MKM.

When I placed the order initially, I mentioned I was a member of FTE and asked if MKM could apply any discount. No discount and not even a courteous answer "no". After the order, I never received confirmation of shipment. Days later, I called and spoke with a lady that emailed me a tracking number. MKM never told me I would have to arrange for delivery. I called UPS and they said "we have been trying to contact you for delivery and had no response". Finally got my package 2 weeks later.

After a rather expensive purchase I can honestly say you could have tried a little harder to achieve customer satisfaction. Such as, offer me a replacement bumper at cost, or a discount on the purchase. Offering a free advertisement tee shirt and hat or $100 store credit was an insult. This is the age of internet reviews. The business you will lose from me and anyone who learns of this sort of customer treatment will far exceed your 100 dollar offer.

I understand you have a boss and take orders. This does not seem to be a wise way of business. This has been a rough purchase and an unexpected disappointment.

 

+1. At least with Ebay you get buyer protection. I'll bet they got most of those parts off Autosdepo anyway.

 

Shepherd, I guess I was expecting a higher lever of quality and customer service going non ebay way. Turns out I got the same cheap parts at a higher cost.

There is some hope after my email to Rob.
Here is the email. He was busy when I called so I left my contact info with the lady whom answered my call. Have not heard back from him...

Scott,

I understand your frustration, when we spoke on the phone the other day, you did not mention anything about the delayed shipping or the phone calls. We would have dladly taking the matter up with UPS and get the problem resolved in a timely manner. Now, for the damaged part, as I explaned to you it is the receivers resposibility to inspect for damaged parts before signing for the package. After speaking with you and your words were "I can live with the scatch, it's no big geal" I was willing to help with the situation and see what I can do for you. Again, we were unaware of the phone call with UPS, which is not on our end for the delay. If you can give me a call, I can go over a few options with you.


Thank you,
Robert McCrickard
Sinister Diesel

I never said "it's no big deal" I may have said something like "it's not bent in half, and it's not that bad". I did say "I can live with it" after he suggested they were not responsible. We can see he sticks to his package marking - "Now, for the damaged part, as I explaned to you it is the receivers resposibility to inspect for damaged parts before signing for the package."

 

I sent another email this morning to rob with my cell phone number. I called mkm mid day and left my cell phone number with the lady. She said he would definitely call me today. No phone call or email from Rob. Wish I had two more hands so I could give mkm four thumbs down. Spread the word, mkm is not a good company to do business with...

 

I did part of the conversion (no bumper). I took my time (a year) and bought up OEM parts as they popped up. I got like new headlights off ebay, a F450 grill off ebay, and then the header panel from a local yard which after seeing the truck I could have gotten everything from it.

After piecing together my collection of OEM parts I finally set the time and started work. Link in my sig, the conversion actually starts on page 3 or 4 or so.

 

Thanks for all the pics. Eventually i want to do the swap also. I am planning on going with the oem chrome 05 and up bumper and the oem SD billet looking grille. Not sure on headlights though?

 

Got everything installed today. First off, I have found out for myself why everybody says BUY OEM. You can cuss, struggle, and get frustrated or just buy OEM. I am the type to make things work, but it could have went smoother.

Started inside the warm house today. Here are the bumper parts.





This is ALL the parts that come in the only bag of parts.



began assembley





Fog light mounting hardware was NOT included in this package. I had perfect carriage bolts laying around.



Here is the Flimsy joke of a header panel that came pre broken for me. Not to worry, it broke right at the headlight mounting place later on both sides! The OEM header paner was twice as thick and weighed twice as much.



This is the back side of the header panel. I mounted the brackets that bolt up to the truck.



Old header panel still mounted


No header panel.



Most or all of the bolts taken off the old bumper need to be used with the new kit.



One of the hardest tasks was getting the old air dam bolts off. The new air dam mounts right to the 05+ bumper. None of the hardware or holes on the truck will be reused. The holes are across the bottom near my boot.





This is a pic of how the new bumper pad mounts to the bumper. The cross brace top screw goes though the new bumper pad also. The bumper pad is two parts. A plastic backing for strength and mounting purposes, and a more flimsy plastic cover that snaps onto the backing. There is no reason to seperate the marriage at any time during the install.



I painted the bumper pad with Dupli Color Color code AQ for T500 Ford Arizona Beige paint. The color match is close.



All I can say about mounting the headlights is it did not go great. Broke the header panel at both top mounting places. I ended up making a custom (rigged ) mount for the passenger side. I wish they gave me plug and play harness adapters, splicing the pigtails killed some time.

Well here it is fellows. Not sure if I will reinstall the wagg bumper guard.









A pic of the before and of the temporary bumper guard after.

 

Looks great. Nice job on the upgrade.