Well, I have these $300 military surplus 37" MTRs to go on my truck so that means I need bumper clearance.




So, I have this painted bumper from my daughter's truck. I get it on the workbench (tailgate) and measure my angle to get me about 2 inches of added tire clearance (at bottom edge of bumper, air dam is cut back around 4") . Sharpie and a straight edge....




Break out my DeWalt 4.5" grinder and get to cutting. I used my jigsaw to cut the plastic air dam. Easy Peasy




Use the orbital sander and some 80 grit to smooth it up and not cut my fingers off later.




I get it sanded all over with the orbital, then wet sand it with a red scotchbrite and purple power degreaser. Blow dry with compressed air.




Tape up the plastic air dam.




I primed with Duplicolor self etching primer and painted with Duplicolor satin black wheel paint. Supposed to resist weather, sun and detergents. After untaping the air dam, I painted it with flat Krylon plastic paint.




Got it bolted on, looks good. Went from chrome bumper to black, I think it looks pretty tough.















This was an easy and fun project. I am ready to get my wheels blasted and painted. I plan to use the same paint as the bumper. I am not sure I love the air dam. I may decide to remove it later, but I do like how it hides the spring hangers and radiator support. 37s here we come.

 

Good job and nice write-up ponykilr! Turned out really nice, and the bumper matches your blacked out grille and headlight surrounds nicely. Sharp looking truck!

Also, not to redirect your thread, but can you tell me what wheels you're running? I'm on the hunt for a nice set of wheels that will look appropriate on my truck. I haven't made up my mind yet, and I'm in no hurry, but I like yours and wouldn't mind looking into what they'd cost if they're still available.

 

I am not sure what brand the wheels on the truck are. They have larger holes than the Eagle wheels I see a lot. I do really like them but I am going to move to the 16.5s to run the Military tires. Not sure if I plan to sell the old ones or not. Here are the spoked wheels I plan to run with the MTRs.

 

Why not take the plastic air dam off to paint it? It is only a couple rivets

 

It's about 8 steel rivets, just not worth it to me.
I wanted to see if I like the air dam anyway, no need to remove it yet.

 

A grinder is my favorite tool!

It's amazing the tires the truck will clear with just a bumper mod.